Austin’s art scene is heating up this summer — literally and figuratively — with more than 100 artists on display across the city. As temperatures soar, these exhibitions radiate warmth, passion, and energy, offering an escape from the Texas heat.

Featuring everything from painting and photography to sculpture, mixed media, and digital illustration, these exhibitions celebrate a wide spectrum of creative talent. Check out emerging artists are on display at Cloudtree Gallery’s Summer Salon; bask in the reflective warmth of Becky Wilkes’ exploration of love and loss at the Georgetown Art Center; and witness Patrick Puckett’s bold figurative works shine at Wally Workman Gallery.

Austin Public Library

Group Exhibition: Staff Art Exhibition — Now through July 31
The formerly hidden talents of the Austin Public Library staff are on display in this exhibition. Featuring more than 35 artists, this showcase highlights a vibrant mix of mediums, including painting, photography, digital illustration, sculpture, and collage. Through this collection, the library hopes to celebrate the power of creativity and the diverse perspectives that exist within its community.

Davis Gallery & Framing

Group Exhibition: Annual Summer Group Show — Now through August 2
Davis Gallery shows an eclectic mix of talent from its family of artists, all with diverse styles and mediums. Highlights include Dana Younger’s playful but thought-provoking 3D sculptures that merge classical forms with pop culture imagery, John Sager’s collages that weave together fragments of different worlds into captivating compositions, and Cookie Ashton’s mixed-media pieces, bursting with wild, colorful energy.

Art For the People Gallery

Group Exhibition: Captivating Colors — Now through August 15
Featuring a lineup of local Austin artists, this show explores how color functions as more than just an aesthetic element; it becomes an active force that shifts how we view the familiar. From bold and daring hues to subtle and nuanced palettes, this exhibition highlights color's ability to shape mood and narrative. Highlights include Christina Green-Martinez, whose plein air paintings capture nature in action; Leslie Kell, whose dreamlike cinemagraphs layer video and still imagery; and Estevan Nuñez, whose monochromatic portraits have evolved into vivid explorations of everyday life.

Cloudtree Gallery

Group Exhibition: Summer Salon Session 1 — July 5-26
This is the 3rd annual Summer Salon, a lightly curated exhibition designed to support emerging and beginner artists as they take their first steps into public showcasing. For this series running since 2023, Cloudtree features a mixture of 2D and 3D works across all mediums, offering artists a platform to grow in their practice while connecting with a creative community.

Yard Dog Art

Bruce Lee: Saddle Up, Cupcake! — July 5-26
A folk art gallerist and co-founder of the Webb Gallery, Bruce Lee creates vibrant works on unconventional canvases like vintage cotton sacks, canvas, and ledger paper. Drawing from a rich tapestry of influences — including his grandparents’ missionary work in 1930s Kerala, South India, and the esoteric books and folk art they brought back — Bruce’s art is infused with mystery and nostalgia.

Georgetown Art Center

Becky Wilkes: Till Death Do Us Part — July 5 through August 3
This exhibition is a poignant multi-media exploration into the emotional complexities of aging, grief, and mortality. Through photography, Wilkes chronicles her parents’ final year. The images offer an intimate portrayal of their daily lives, capturing moments of vulnerability, resilience, and connection. What emerges is not just an end-of-life narrative, but a love story.

Wally Workman Gallery

Patrick Puckett: Large Vision Models: The Lions of Enchantment — July 12 through August 3
Known for his bold brushstrokes, vibrant colors, and unapologetic confidence, Puckett’s work features figures set against lively, abstracted environments that juxtapose light and dark. His signature style incorporates deliberate abstraction, with uneven proportions, dark shadows, and raw texture.. Together, these elements explore Southern life and the tension between external vibrancy and internal solitude.

  

Photo courtesy of ICOSA

ICOSA's summer show, Apophenia, features 19 artists in a group exhibition

ICOSA

Group Exhibition: Apophenia — July 4 through August 2
This exhibition explores the concept of apophenia, the tendency to see meaningful connections or patterns in unrelated or random things. The collection features works by 19 talented artists, including Alvaro Arroliga, KevRon Madden, Bao Nghi Ngo, and others. The exhibition's title also reflects the curation process of seeking cohesion among pieces that were independently submitted by different artists, where connections may emerge organically or be entirely invented. With themes spanning individuality, perception, and the dissolution of consensus reality (reality as is generally agreed upon), the show invites viewers to question the patterns they see and the meanings they assign.