Fusebox Festival

Do the robot: The Dionysium lends their trademark debate and hilarity to Fusebox

On the first Wednesday of the month, the Austin-based debate and lecture series, The Dionysium, meets at the Alamo South Lamar for their monthly revel in honor of the god of wine and theatre. This month, however, the team of intellectual rabble-rousers are packing up their PowerPoint and their gavel and heading over to the Fusebox Hub to participate in the 2012 Fusebox Festival.

This month, following the general Fusebox trend of colliding art and science in revolutionary and transcendent ways, The Dionysium dedicates Wednesday night's performance program to everyone's potential binary-talking overlords: Robots!

The crack team of Dionysium staffers has assembled an impressive collection of Austinites and Fusebox presenters to explore their takes on those terrifying, emotionless robots who threaten to enslave us and burn the ever-loving humanity out of our sentient minds. (Does everyone share my distrust of these machines? Have you people even seen Terminator 2: Rise of the Machines???)

In addition to the musical accompaniment of Graham Reynolds and The Golden Arm Trio, the evening will include a robot-themed dance piece by local favorites Little Stolen Moments; a performance by the band Pony Trap and their robot drummer, Robot Baby; a presentation by Phil Soltanoff, the director of the fascinating Fusebox feature, An Evening with William Shatner (asterisk); and a sneak preview of the live radio serial drama The Intergalactic Nemesis' second book: Robot Planet Rising.

Again, with the robots rising to conquer us... I'm telling y'all!

Luckily, the culmination of the show is a head-to-head debate regarding the likelihood of a Skynet occurrence and the potential for robots to one day dominate humanity. Dionysium President L.B. Deyo will match wits with A.I. expert Mike Roberts who worked for NASA and understands a thing or two about robots and their nefarious plans.

When I asked Deyo about his preparations for the debate, he simply said: "My challenge for the debate comes primarily from having to debate Mike. My primary credential for this debate is my high score at Ms. Pac-Man. Michael's credentials include a stint at NASA. I'm screwed."

However, to calm my fears (that I know I cannot possibly be alone in), Deyo adds, "I will say that if robots do take over the world, your best bet is probably to spill Coca-Cola on them. I've never known a piece of electronics yet that could survive a Coca-Cola bath."

Until I hear otherwise, I'm trusting the President. Regardless of how the debate goes, he already gets my vote.

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The Dionysium: Robots sparks to life Wednesday, May 2, at the Fusebox Hub. Tickets are available through the Fusebox Festival website.

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Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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