Art Openings

MASS Gallery opens the doors to its new East Side home

Scott Eastwood: They Never Die They Just Go To Sleep One Day

MASS is back, Austin.

The unique visual arts and live performance gallery — founded in 2006 by emerging local artists and University of Texas grad students, with the help of Fusebox Festival’s Ron Berry — has been without an official home since 2010. But MASS Gallery has returned to the scene with a bang, relocating to a brand new 1,500 square foot gallery at the East Side’s 507 Calles Street complex.

MASS has come a long way since its first home in a rent-free auto shop in the Blue Theater complex, and the dozen or so members of MASS (including artists, writers and educators like Jules Buck Jones, Erin Gentry, Scott Proctor and Xochi Solis) are more than ready to unleash their latest work in such an inspiring new space.

“MASS fills a gap in Austin between museums and smaller galleries,” Andy Rihn, local Austin artist and fellow MASS member says. “Artists can go big in the 1,500 square foot space with high quality support to see it through.”

And MASS’s new home features much more than a sprawling gallery space. The new location also includes five studios (rented to local artists) and two additional spaces for an office and gift shop in the future. (Not to mention great neighbors, like Hops & Grain Brewery, Sky Candy and soon-to-come restaurant Mettle.)

But Rihn says he’s most excited about the “boundary pushing” at the newly opened gallery, whose unique reputation was always built on the amalgamation of art forms, including visual arts, music, theatre and film, allowing a unique community of Austin artists to take their ideas as far as possible, beyond the white washed walls of commercial galleries. (This crowd doesn’t need walls anyways. Check out their recent Alley Cat Project, an outdoor art exhibit inspired by feral cats and scattered throughout the East Side.)

Showcased artists are also expected to organize community outreach activities, artist talks, film screenings and other events meant to actively engage the public in new, creative ways, like the official re-opening festivities.

The grand re-opening, Friday, January 18, will feature the latest work from two local solo artists: Scott Eastwood’s They Never Die They Just Go to Sleep One Day and Scott Gelber’s DOOM II: Hell on Earth (both run through February 23).

The inaugural exhibitions will showcase conceptual black and white drawings, sculptures and installations, as well as a special live performance by Gelber that will kick off the evening around 8 p.m. Food and drinks will be provided by Tapas Bravas, Hops & Grain, and Ambhar Tequila, with live tunes courtesy of DJ Ben Aqua.

Scott Eastwood: They Never Die They Just Go To Sleep One Day

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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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