Austin Museum Day
Sunday, September 20, 2020
Explore Austin-area museums — for free! The 23rd Annual Austin Museum Day is a free celebration of art, culture, history, music, nature, and science.
This year’s Museum Day will look a little different due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic:
Some of the museums will be open to the public and you’ll be able to visit them in person to see their exhibits and participate in their activities.
Some of the museums will be participating in this year’s Virtual Museum Day event, happening on our Facebook page.
During this event there will be a schedule of activities, like craft projects, virtual tours, gallery talks, and more, hosted by different museums around Austin throughout the day! We’ll also have access to resources from some museums so you can engage with them at any time that works for you.
We are working to make Museum Day accessible to everyone, whether it is in-person at your favorite museums, or as a way for you to explore somewhere new around Austin right from your own home! Where will your curiosity lead you this Museum Day?
We will provide updated information about each museum and the schedule for the day closer to the event. This page as well as the Virtual Facebook event are the best places to check for updates.
Let us know you are participating, and tag your photos and posts with #ATXMuseumDay2020 and #atxmuseums!
Visit In-Person
Schedule for Virtual Museum Day Livestream
Digital Activities
Visit In-Person
Plan to visit these museums in-person to experience an exhibit, walking tour, or special event. Be sure to check their websites for updated hours and instructions about visiting.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
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Discover late-summer blooms, Texas trees and trails at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, or enjoy an audio tour from anywhere. Advance reservations are highly recommended and capacity is limited.
Texas Military Forces Museum
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The Texas Military Forces Museum will be open to the public on September 20th for Austin Museum Day with limited visitors allowed inside. Be sure to look for the special Museum Day scavenger hunt. Also, check out this exhibit video showing the life of a 36th Infantry Division soldier in WWII: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJb6EiWeSgE
Pioneer Farms
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Experience the 1800s in Texas like no place else, with new exhibits including a Freedman’s House under restoration, talk to settlers in their log cabins, see Longhorn cattle and farm animals, take guided tours, walk nature trails, hear live music, see blacksmiths and other artisans at work and more — in a safe outdoor setting. No cabin fever here, just cabins. No cabin fever here, just cabins — and family fun.
Flower Hill Urban Homestead Museum
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Join the Flower Hill Urban Homestead Museum for a self-guided tour of our 1.38 acres of historic Texas Wildscape. Self-guided tours of the grounds will be offered by appointment only via the website. Tours will be scheduled every 30 minutes from 11am—2pm for 10 guests or fewer. Masks are required for entry to the grounds. Parking for this event available at the West Side Village Parking Lot (1312 W. 6th St.).
PLEASE NOTE: There is NO parking on Flower Hill’s grounds; accessible parking and access information available upon request. Reserve your spots directly at https://www.flowerhillfoundation.org/austinmuseumday
Millett’s Opera House
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Captain Charles Millett (1832-1890) built and opened and then managed Millett’s Opera House in 1878 at 110 East 9th Street as Austin’s first state of the art performing arts venue. More than 140 years later, Millett’s Opera House remains a remarkably beautiful, welcoming performing arts venue that regularly hosts performing artists.Tours of our facility will be conducted on the hour every hour starting at 11 am with the last one occurring at 3pm and will last approximately 45 minutes each.
Neill-Cochran House Museum
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This year the Neill-Cochran House Museum will be welcoming guests in-person and virtually. Our front lawn will be open for socially distant activities including Civil War Reenactors, Victorian Ladies, art, and lawn games. It is also a perfect place to come enjoy lunch under the shade of our 100 year old pecan tree. While at the museum you will also have the opportunity to explore the groundbreaking exhibits If These Walls Could Talk and Reckoning with the Past: Slavery, Segregation, and Gentrification in Austin. You can also explore the If These Walls Could Talk exhibition virtually at https://www.nchmuseum.org/
UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum
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Join us at UMLAUF Sculpture Garden+Museum as we celebrate Austin Museum Day with hourly Public Tours from our experienced docents, scavenger hunts, and close looking sensory tours for the whole family! UMLAUF is open for up to 30 visitors at a time, so reserve your free admission today on our website: umlaufsculpture.org!
Mexic-Arte Museum
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The Mexic-Arte Museum is open to visitors with two new exhibitions. Mexic-Arte Museum proudly presents ELA (Emerging Latinx Artists) 25: Intersección: Choque & Alivio, Intersection: Shock & Relief, (formally known as YLA, Young Latinx Artists) which celebrates the last twenty five years of exhibitions featuring emerging Latinx artists. This exhibition will showcase artists converging at the crossroads of aesthetic interests and cultural history. The exhibition aims to discover shared life experiences, a (s)mashup or crash (choque) at intersecting lanes of similarities and differences as expressed in the artistically diverse artworks. In reaction to this historical era of identity politics and civic unrest, these artists respond in a visual dialogue, drawing from their cultural experience and sociopolitical consciousness. This year’s exhibition will be curated by Dr. George Vargas, Curator and Director of Programs at Mexic-Arte Museum.
In observance of the Mexican holiday the Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos, Mexic-Arte Museum presents The 37th Annual Day of the Dead Exhibition. Since 1984 when the Museum presented its first Day of the Dead exhibition, La Muerte Vive (Death Lives), this exhibition pays tribute to the tradition that celebrates the return of the dead by their families and friends on October 31 to November 2.
Visiting us in person that day? Please make sure to review our Health Protocols before planning your visit and schedule your 1-hour Museum appointment on our website. Our Museum hours are 12:00PM to 5:00PM on Austin Museum Day, Sunday, September 20. We are open to the public M-F from 10PM to 6:00PM, and from 12:00PM to 5:00PM on weekends.
City of Austin Cultural Arts Division, Austin Art in Public Places Program
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Enjoy a self-guided outdoor tour of Austin’s Art in Public Places collection that is concentrated in downtown. https://bit.ly/AIPPwalking
The Williamson Museum
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Mourning dates back to the beginning of human existence. The Victorians expanded on the traditions of mourning and made them part of their highly structured system of etiquette. Visit The Williamson Museum and experience our new exhibit that remembers and embraces mental health through a moment of grief.
Austin Museum of Popular Culture
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AusPop is currently hosting an exhibition celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Armadillo World Headquarters! Please join us on Austin Museum Day this year! AusPop will be open at our new location on North Lamar Blvd. We ask that you reserve a time to visit either online, call us to make a reservation, or email us at info@southpop.org.
Please check out our Exhibition Website at https://www.southpop.org/once-upon-a-time-in-austin for how to reserve your visit, more details, a selection of images from the exhibition, and videos with Armadillo performers, staff, and more!
Brush Square Museums
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Follow the famous O. Henry’s footsteps through downtown Austin on this Brush Square Museums walking tour exploring his historic haunts along the way.
Landmarks
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Join Landmarks for a self-guided, socially distant tour across campus on your smartphone. If you’re not near campus you can still take the tour virtually from home. On this 40-minute tour, you’ll learn about several key works of art sited along Speedway, UT’s main pedestrian thoroughfare. Included are modern and contemporary sculptures that span different decades and artistic movements, and that feature a variety of materials and styles. https://landmarks.oncell.com/en/home-222840.html
Save Austin’s Cemeteries and Oakwood Chapel
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Take your own self-guided walking tour at Historic Oakwood Cemetery, which is the final resting place of many people who participated in the Texas Revolution from October 1835 to April 1836. Residents of Oakwood were present at every important moment during the Revolution – they fought at Gonzales, Bexar, and helped defeat Santa Anna at San Jacinto. Two men narrowly escaped death at the massacre of Goliad and Susannah Dickenson survived the Alamo. Following the Revolution, many of these individuals were instrumental in building the Republic and their legacy can be seen in present day Austin. See the guide here:https://www.sachome.org/texas-independence-walking-tour
Blanton Museum of Art
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The Blanton is sold out of tickets for Austin Museum Day. Due to COVID-19 operations, the museum will not be accommodating walk-ups; only visitors with advance, timed-tickets will be admitted. If you’d like to visit us another time, you can reserve tickets online for weekends, Free Thursdays, and other days here.
Schedule for Virtual Museum Day Livestream
These institutions are providing programs for you to enjoy throughout the day on the Virtual Facebook Event. Some of the institutions (indicated below) will be streaming on their page.
9:15am Women and Their Work
9:30am Texas Memorial Museum
10:00am Bullock Texas State History Museum
10:30am Flower Hill Urban Homestead Museum
11:00am The Williamson Museum
11:15am LBJ Presidential Library
11:30am Austin Museum of Popular Culture
12:00pm Mexic-Arte Museum
12:30pm Neill-Cochran House Museum
1:00pm ESB Mexican American Cultural Center (live on their site 1-3pm)
1:30pm Elisabet Ney Museum (live on their site 2-4pm)
2:10pm Dougherty Arts Center (live on their site 2-4pm)
2:00pm Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (live on their site 2-4pm)
9:15am – Women & Their Work |
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On view virtually at Women & Their Work is Melanie Clemmons’ exhibition, Likes Charge. Visit the exhibition from our website at womenandtheirwork.org. Check out a thought-provoking artist video featuring Melanie Clemmons speaking about her exhibition.
9:30am – Texas Memorial Museum |
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What does it take to be a paleontologist? How are fossils made? Join us for virtual tours of our fossil galleries and a sneak peek of our new 4th floor exhibit. www.texasmemorialmuseum.org
10:00am – Bullock Texas State History Museum |
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Celebrate the strength and diversity of our community! For Austin Museum Day the Bullock Museum is hosting a virtual event that will highlight the strengths and diversity of Texans through select digital content from the Museum’s online collection. Join a Museum Educator in an art making activity that is fun for the whole family, and create a beautiful butterfly as a symbol of hope and kindness to share with neighbors. Craft supplies suggested: Scissors, Crayons/markers, Items for decorating, glue/rape, ribbon/string, hole punch, and Butterfly Template https://bit.ly/3cbzPkF.
You can also explore this theme further with artifacts, videos, music, and more art making activities at https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/visit/calendar/education/austin-museum-day-20200920.
10:30am – Flower Hill Urban Homestead Museum |
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The Flower Hill Urban Homestead is a celebration of the working class lives of American civil servants, the unsung foundation of our great city and society. By using pieces of the past—including three centuries’ worth of furnishings, textiles, and texts; a gorgeous Texas wildscape, which is home to six historic out-buildings, ponds, and rockeries; and the whole Smoot family story—combined with the Flower Hill Foundation’s unique drive to play an active role in the world today, the Foundation will establish an inclusive space where Austin’s fundamental beliefs are celebrated and a culture of creativity and civic mindfulness is cultivated to take on the challenges of the future. Learn more about Flower Hill and take some behind the scenes tour with the home’s original resident. www.flowerhillfoundation.org
11:00am – The Williamson Museum |
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Mourning dates back to the beginning of human existence. The Victorians expanded on the traditions of mourning and made them part of their highly structured system of etiquette. We’ll discuss mourning traditions, customs, and even cemetery symbolism. Join in and learn about our new exhibit that remembers and embraces mental health through a moment of grief. http://williamsonmuseum.org/
11:15am – LBJ Library |
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This Museum Day, you can visit the LBJ Presidential Library – virtually. Experience the virtual tour for the Votes for Women exhibit, which is a celebration of the passage of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. Explore the Gifts And Giveaways exhibit to explore gifts Lyndon Johnson gave throughout his political career from campaign giveaways to formal exchanges with heads of state.
Online, explore our exhibits “Votes for Women” and “Get in the Game: The Fight for Equality in American Sports.” Step into the Oval Office replica, follow the journey of voting rights, watch Lady Bird Johnson’s home movies, and much more. And as a bonus – download our LBJ-related backgrounds for all your virtual meetings & calls. http://www.lbjlibrary.org/the-best-of
11:30 am – Austin Museum of Popular Culture |
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Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Armadillo World Headquarters and its impact on live music history within Austin’s borders and beyond. southpop.org
12:00pm – Mexic-Arte Museum |
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First in English, then en Español.
The Mexic-Arte Museum will be providing a free streaming activity for Austin Museum Day, where families and children of all ages can participate in an interactive Papel Picado art activity in observance of the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, and to celebrate our 37th Annual Dia de los Muertos Community Altars Exhibition. Craft supplies suggested: 3 8.5×11 sheets of tissue paper, loose leaf/copy paper with printed template (https://bit.ly/3kvTuPe), scissors, a yard of string, and straight pins.
El Museo de Mexic-Arte ofrecerá una actividad en vivo gratuita para el Dia de Museos de Austin, donde familias y niños de todas las edades pueden participar en una actividad artística interactiva de Papel Picado reflexionando sobre la tradición Mexicana Dia de Muertos y para celebrar nuestra 37a Exposición Anual de Altares Comunitarios del Dia de Muertos. Materiales sugeridos para esta actividad: 3 hojas de papel de seda de 8.5×11, hojas sueltas/papel de copia plantilla impresa (https://bit.ly/3kvTuPe), tijeras, una yarda de hilo y alfileres. www.Mexic-ArteMuseum.org
12:30pm – Neill-Cochran House Museum |
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The Neill-Cochran House Museum is launching our new online video tour. Whether you are new to the Neill-Cochran House Museum, or a frequent visitor or member, the video tour is a great way to learn about our history. This Museum Day visit us virtually, we can’t wait to “see” you! www.nchmuseum.org
ESB Mexican American Cultural Center
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Viewers will see and hear the story of the ESB-MACC told through our coloring book, “An Empowered Village and its Citizens”, as well as take a virtual walk inside the Sam Z. Coronado Gallery. For our activity, students will be introduced to the ideals that motivated Mexican Independence, and invited to stand up for these values so that they can finally be completely realized. To participate in the activity, students will use colorful paper, markers, scissors and glue to create a “flag of the people”, representing some of the many different kinds of people that fought for the ideals of the independence movement. http://www.vivamexico2020.net/
Elisabet Ney Museum
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The Elisabet Ney Museum is hosting a virtual event titled “Look at Me!” As part of the Ney’s Portraiture Month, which will take place throughout September, we are going to present a portrait activity with local artist, Jennie Tudor Gray, from 2 to 4 pm. This will be a zoom-based program, so please sign up to participate at eventbrite.com/e/118325949099. For more information, you can visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/events/779639809455876/.
Dougherty Arts Center
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Local artists are opening their virtual doors to the public for a look at life inside their studios and the environments they have created to best cultivate creativity. This Museum Day, the Dougherty Arts Center will give access via Zoom links to sessions from 2-4pm where attendees can view artists while they work in their private studios, ask questions about their process, and discuss works in progress. Simply enjoy watching an artist at work or engage by asking a question. Select which artist’s studio to join, you may leave a studio session at any time and enter others as you see fit. Entrance will be granted to the public promptly at 2pm, visit https://spark.adobe.com/page/fWSM0O7RQEyay/ to join.
Digital Activities
Explore specially curated digital activities from these museums, right from your own home!
Art Galleries at Black Studies |
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https://www.the-narrative.org/
Check out the Art Galleries at Black Studies’ (AGBS) online offerings from your couch! Sift through our newest platform, “The Narrative,” for playlists, virtual shows, and more. Complete an online bingo card, and submit it to enter into a raffle for some cool AGBS swag. Curiosity required, PJs optional!
Asian American Resource Center |
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Examine the roots of racism in Filipino American conceptual artist Fran Flaherty’s mixed media works on silk. She reclaims images of her ancestors from illustrations in a 1590 European Manuscript. Visit the AARC exhibits website to view online galleries. To participate in Flaherty’s community-based art project, “Reclaiming Our Indigenous Roots”, visit www.tiny.cc/Colonized_Women_
Austin History Center |
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The Austin History Center is closed due to COVID-19, but we stay busy doing digital document delivery so that researchers can continue their work. We’ve put together a curated experience of some new online content for Museum Day 2020, including Hidden Austin: Stories from the Original Square. https://library.austintexas.
From there you can also explore our entire website for access to all our content and services. We hope to see you soon!
Blanton Museum of Art |
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#ArtWhereYouAre Studio Activities Louise Nevelson Art–create your own mixed-media sculpture using items easily found at home! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kg5_rZUht8&feature=emb_title
Richard Long Art-Making Activity for All Ages–create your own land art sculpture using items found out in nature! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0RF02U7rmw&feature=emb_title
Joan Mitchell Art-create abstract art at home inspired by Joan Mitchell. Mitchell’s vibrant and gestural paintings often expressed her remembered feelings about specific places, describing her works as “remembered landscapes.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVhbw2RCo98&feature=emb_title
Briscoe Center for American History |
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www.briscoecenter.org
Get special virtual access to the Briscoe Center’s exhibit “On with the Fight,” and explore the history of women’s activism from suffrage to the ERA: www.briscoecenter.org/on-with-the-fight
Chateau Bellevue – Home of the Austin Woman’s Club |
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Built in 1874, Chateau Bellevue is romantic and elegant, with French Romanesque arches, beautiful courtyard grounds, a spacious ballroom, ornate hand-carved woodwork and stunning stained glass windows. Use our interactive virtual tour and videos to learn about the people and stories that make up the history of this beautiful and fascinating building. https://austinwc.org/
Interactive Tour: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=W43aafoqUEb
Video Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJXaRzD954Q&app=desktop
The Contemporary Austin |
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https://thecontemporaryaustin.org/event/austin-museum-day-2020/
The Contemporary Austin is proud to take part in the Austin Museum Partnership’s annual citywide cultural celebration. This year, we are proud to present a virtual Museum Day experience, Busy Bodies: Exploring Figurative Art and Movement at The Contemporary Austin. From oil paintings to bronze sculptures, to vinyl murals and performance art, the figure has inspired artists throughout the centuries.
Learn about three contemporary artists whose work uses the human form as a jumping off point, then get creative and make some body-centered artwork of your own! Check out art projects, virtual tours, and conversations with educators, all inspired by works of art on view at the museum.
Harry Ransom Center |
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Join us for a one-minute peek into a sample of the thousands of materials available online in the Ransom Center’s digital collection. Get to know a Nobel Prize-winning author, listen to a poet read their own work, explore our magic collection, brush up on your Shakespeare, or study the art of a master—60 seconds at a time. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLT2W8pNPmv7wvHoe9_v71AkKN6x74MKK
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center |
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Attention: Register in Advance! As a virtual offering for Austin Museum Day from 2-3pm, artist-in-residence Merideth Hillbrand will host a discussion on inspiration and process for “Some Fields the Track Runs Through,” currently on display at the Center. Dive into the ideas behind the art which takes cues from botany, architecture and poetry. Hillbrand explores the relationships between German botany photographer Karl Blossfeldt, fantasy architecture and concrete poetry.To find out more and register for this free artist talk visit: https://www.wildflower.org/event/artist-talk-hillbrand.
MathHappens Foundation |
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MathHappens is continuing its 10 part series of Math in the Chronicle, look for us opposite the calendar. On Museum Day and going forward, we will be making available a new page on our website that features ways to take a self guided math field trip in Austin. We’ll share some favorite places, exhibits, installations and mathematical connections that you can explore anytime.
Explore these activities:
Find out more about the MathHappens Foundation and the ways we’ve partnered with local museums to teach math in context by selecting this video with UT student Josephine Sheng as your host. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ART15tZ_E&t=2s
A quick demonstration of the mechanics of Gerrymandering. https://youtu.be/MdSXFW69jsQ
This video from the International Day of Mathematics Committee in Paris features a knotty math problem presented in a most fun way by University of Texas Professor, Dr. Jennifer Austin about 3 minutes into this very entertaining international mathematical montage. https://youtu.be/S3Cy6O0SssY
Learn about the Huntington-Hill Method of Calculating Congressional Apportionment by UT student Anh Nguyen. https://youtu.be/a4abfMAx51c
Spanish Language:
UT Mathematics student Ximena Garcia shows how to use the free software Geogebra to construct an Equilateral Triangle. https://youtu.be/GDvEQ5CiSRE
Former MathHappens Staff member, UT graduate, and now current middle school math teacher Paola Garcia explains in Spanish how to make a square root spiral! https://youtu.be/vVJKy4I7KuM
Millett’s Opera House |
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Captain Charles Millett (1832-1890) built and opened and then managed Millett’s Opera House in 1878 at 110 East 9th Street as Austin’s first state of the art performing arts venue. More than 140 years later, Millett’s Opera House remains a remarkably beautiful, welcoming performing arts venue that regularly hosts performing artists. In his first every virtual tour, Captain Millett will introduce visitors to the remarkable performances and artists who inhabited Millett’s Opera House during the time he was its manager. The self guided twenty minute power virtual tour will be located at https://millettoperahouse.com/tours and is accessible by computer or cell phone, preferably with audio so you can enjoy the beautiful music and hear Captain Millett speak publicly for the first time since 1890.
Pioneer Farms |
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Enjoy a video of a blacksmith demonstrating how to make a decorative leaf filmed right here at Pioneer Farms.
https://www.pioneerfarms.org/pioneer-tv. Also, check out some scenes from Pioneer Farms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjIVw41KSNU&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JohnPhelps
Save Austin’s Cemeteries and Oakwood Chapel |
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View the Oakwood Chapel’s digital exhibition To Vote, which recognizes Austin’s suffragists in 2020 during the 100th Anniversary, the 55th, and 45th Anniversary of all women gaining the right to vote in America. Many people who worked hard for that right are buried in Austin’s municipal cemeteries. http://sachome.org http://www.austintexas.gov/page/oakwood-cemetery-chapel-resources
Texas State Capitol, Capitol Visitors Center, and Texas State Cemetery |
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The Texas State Capitol, Capitol Visitors Center, and Texas State Cemetery, are joining forces to share a virtual Austin Museum Day experience. Visit https://tspb.texas.gov/atxmd/ to download family activities and take a virtual tour of the Capitol, Capitol Grounds, Visitors Center, Governor’s Mansion, and State Cemetery.
https://tspb.texas.gov/prop/tc/tc/capitol.html, https://tspb.texas.gov/prop/tcvc/cvc/cvc.html, and https://cemetery.tspb.texas.gov/
Visual Arts Center |
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The Visual Arts Center is celebrating its 10th anniversary this fall! Head to our website to revisit the moments that sparked conversation around art and contemporary society over the past ten years, from immersive performances to compelling exhibitions. While you’re there, be sure to check out our upcoming exhibitions and plan your next visit—the VAC reopens on September 25! utvac.org
Special thanks to our supporters who make Austin Museum Day possible:
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