It'd be a lot cooler if you read

Matthew McConaughey's debut children's book hits shelves this September — with an Austin photo op

Matthew McConaughey Camila Alves McConaughey

Will this be the third NYT bestseller for the McConaughey family?

Photo by Tyler Schmitt

Austin's patron saint and Minister of Culture Matthew McConaughey is engaging a new audience. The Academy Award-winning actor, philanthropist, gun reform advocate, and UT Austin professor already became a New York Times best-selling author in 2020 with his autobiography, Greenlights. Now, he's returning to the page with a new illustrated book for children.

Titled Just Because, the book will hit shelves on September 12. According to a promotional website, the work is a "soulful and irreverent collection of life lessons" that will explore the "contradictions ... all around us" and how "they make us who we are."

McConaughey announced the new endeavor on his Instagram page, speaking in the simultaneously poetic and cryptic manner we all know and love:

"... This is a collection of life lessons that I hope's going to empower young readers, big and small," he says. "[I] hope it's going to help them celebrate the poetry of human relations and interactions, mine and yours; hope it reminds them that one person's appetite may just be another's indigestion. True that. Hope it lets them know that they are not alone in this world and this wild adventure that we call life. And I hope it helps them realize just how full of possibilities that we truly each and all are. Why? Just because."

The actor will promote the book with appearances at select bookstores around the country, starting at Book People on September 9. The Austin event is the only Texas stop on the tour so far, and tickets are available here. Attending guests who purchase Eventbrite tickets will receive one signed copy of the book, plus a photo-op with the author for up to four people.

The book may be the actor's second literary venture, but it is the third release from the McConaughey family as a whole. The actor's wife, Camila McConaughey, released a children's book in 2021 titled Just One Bite, which landed almost instantly on the New York Times bestseller list.CultureMap interviewed the Brazilian-born model, entrepreneur, and healthy eating advocate about the inspiration behind her book shortly after its release.

Will this third McConaughey installment share the same bestselling status? Only time will tell.

Copies of the Just Because are available to pre-order here.

New

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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