The Texas Vietnam Heroes exhibit is a personalized tribute to honor and remember each of the Texans who died in the Vietnam War. Every veteran is represented on a handmade dog tag in a display that may be touched and photographed. Visit this exhibit in the Great Hall of the LBJ Library before July 28 when it will move to San Antonio.

Members of the Future Forum will gather at the Library on May 20 for a lively evening debating the premise of Erica Grieder’s new book, Big, Hot, Cheap and Right: What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas. Co-sponsored by Texas Monthly, this event is free for Future Forum members and open to non-members for a fee. Register online to attend.

Finally, former LBJ Library director Harry Middleton taught his last class at the University of Texas in April, and C-SPAN was here to record it. Middleton reflected on his years as a teacher in this article in the Austin American Statesman published last weekend.

Here’s our Question of the Month: Some people claim that bag searches in schools and body scans in airports are intrusive and unconstitutional. Others believe that protecting the  public from harm justifies these procedures. Do you think that security measures should outweigh privacy rights?  Visit the Legacy Gallery in the LBJ Library Great Hall where an interactive Impact Table gives you the opportunity to voice your opinions and vote. You can also vote on our website.

RIDE DETAILS:

Meet at Mellow Johnny’s at 9:30 a.m. and ride to Austin’s Cultural Campus partner organizations: LBJ Presidential Library, Visual Arts Center, Harry Ransom Center, and Blanton Museum of Art. Representatives at each location will share highlights about art and artifacts on view. This is a co-ed group ride perfect for cyclists of all levels and riding abilities. Total distance is about six miles.

Helmets and waivers are required. Ride may be cancelled in the event of inclement weather. Check the Mellow Johnny’s website for updates.

Need more info? Email julie@mellowjohnnys.com.

Han and Mihalyo’s structure, titled Diffuse Reflection Lab, is a mixture of dioramas and engaging, interactive spaces—one room, modeled after a café, is filled with magazines, tables and chairs, often occupied with visitors or studying students. Drawing inspiration for their installation from the shiny newness of downtown Austin, against what they found to be an otherwise modest city fabric, and the notoriously intense Texas light, Lead Pencil Studio fills these spaces with an array of reflective surfaces and objects. Each wall, room and object is used to consider different reflective surfaces and their properties, as well as how the reflection of light informs and defines spaces.

Students from the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Art and Art History and School of Architecture played a vital role in the completion of Diffuse Reflection Lab. Working alongside Lead Pencil Studio, these students enjoyed the valuable opportunity to have hands-on involvement in all aspects of the installation—from planning and development, to implementation and staging.

To gain insight into the artists’ perspective on Diffuse Reflection Lab be sure to check out the VAC’s recent artist documentary on Lead Pencil Studio.

Diffuse Reflection Lab is on view through May 11 at the Visual Arts Center.

Etchings that depict holdings from the Ransom Center’s collections. © Thomas McConnell Photography 2004.

The Harry Ransom Center has launched a website to highlight the images in the widow etchings on the exterior of the building. “From the Outside In: A Visitor’s Guide to the Windows” provides an opportunity to discover more about the Ransom Center’s renowned collections of literature, film, photography, art, and the performing arts.

The physical renovation of the Ransom Center, completed in April 2003, included the addition of two glass-enclosed atria on the first floor. The atria are surrounded by windows featuring etched reproductions of images from the collections and offer visitors a hint of the cultural treasures to be discovered inside. These architectural elements literally take the “inside out” by showcasing materials from the Center’s collections and making the images viewable from both the interior and exterior of the building.

This online guide identifies each image from the perspective of a visitor viewing the windows from the exterior of the building. Volunteers and docents have written more in-depth descriptions of twelve of the etchings, and readers can learn more about the image and its creator. Some of the highlighted images include doodles from Samuel Beckett’s Watt notebook, Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange, a typescript page of Carson McCuller’s The Member of the Wedding, and John Tenniel’s illustration from Alice in Wonderland.

A PDF version of the “Guide to the Windows” is also available.

Showcasing the Briscoe Center’s unparalleled photographic collections, News to History highlights the thirteen presidential administrations from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama. The exhibit features the iconic images that captured the interaction of each president with their era.

“Historians use a wide variety of sources to interpret the past, but the still photographs shot by photojournalists are among the most compelling sources we have for documenting and understanding our history,” said Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center. “The photographs we are displaying in News to History are an outstanding example of the value of this resource for teaching and research.”

“We are delighted to partner with the Briscoe Center in providing our visitors with a riveting journey through 80 years of Presidential administrations,” said Mark Updegrove, director of the LBJ Presidential Library.

Since 1992, the Center has conducted an ambitious program to collect and preserve the historically valuable imagery produced by photojournalists. The photographers whose work is displayed in News to History have placed their archives with the Briscoe Center. Today, the Briscoe Center preserves the largest single collection of photographs of the U.S. presidency outside of Washington, D.C.

In addition to photographic holdings (such as slides, negatives, prints, and tear sheets), the photojournalism collections comprise such archival materials as personal papers, correspondence, diaries, news stories, and three-dimensional artifacts. The combination of these materials provides researchers with remarkable primary source evidence for interpreting history. The Briscoe Center is an organized research unit of the University of Texas at Austin.

For more information, visit The Briscoe Center for American History.

Presented by the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music and Austin's Cultural Campus.

Here’s what to look forward to on April 6:

Blanton Museum of Art: Founded in 1963, the Blanton Museum of Art is one of the foremost university art museums in the country and holds the largest public collection in Central Texas. The Blanton is particularly well known for its collection of modern and contemporary American and Latin American art. Inspired by these collections, musicians from the Butler School are presenting the enchanting Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by the famous twentieth century Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, along with other sumptuous works for classical guitar and bassoon.

Harry Ransom Center: The Harry Ransom Center is cherished in Austin for offering fascinating exhibitions of literature, photography, film, art, and performing art. This spring they present a major exhibition of Arnold Newman’s photographs of innovators, celebrities, and cultural figures. One of Newman’s most iconic images features Igor Stravinsky at a grand piano. Taking inspiration from this photo, the Butler School of Music moves one of its priceless Steinways to the Ransom Center for a collection of chamber music pieces with piano, including the classic masterpiece “Arch Duke” trio by Beethoven.

The Visual Arts Center: The Visual Arts Center (VAC) is a place where art exhibition and education intersect, drawing together a uniquely diverse community of students, faculty, guest artists, and creative voices from around the world. Situated in the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin, on April 6 VAC visitors can explore the popular, annual exhibition of UT student work. The Butler School of Music also presents a concert of music by UT student composers. Come hear lively, colorful, fresh-off-the press chamber music, and discover a new generation of brilliant, young Longhorn artists, composers, and musicians.

Texas Memorial Museum: Natural history with a Texas focus! Texas Memorial Museum is the place to see Texas dinosaurs and fossils, wildlife, and gems and minerals. Marvel at the 30-foot mosasaur that swam here when the area was covered with a shallow sea. Wonder at the Texas Pterosaur – largest flying creature ever found, with a wingspan of 40 feet. Gather beneath the Pterosaur on April 6, as the Butler School presents musicians as archeologists, preforming 17th century music on replicas of antique instruments.

LBJ Library and Center: The LBJ Library houses the historical documents, telephone recordings, video, artifacts and photographs of President Lyndon Johnson to let researchers and the public render their own verdict as to his place in history. The Library features three floors of interactive exhibits to educate visitors about legislation passed during LBJ’s years in the White House. To celebrate LBJ’s heroic legacy for African American civil rights, the Butler School presents a concert of jazz from the 1960s. Enjoy famous tunes by Miles Davis and Charles Mingus, brilliant African American composers that overcame oppression and segregation to change the history of music and American culture.

Visit the participating museums’ websites for directions and parking information.

About 150 UT alumni loaned the Blanton works from their private collections for this special exhibition.

This spring the Blanton Museum of Art presents Through the Eyes of Texas: Masterworks from Alumni Collections, an exhibition of nearly 200 extraordinary objects from the art collections of University of Texas at Austin alumni across the country. Here are four reasons to visit the Blanton before this special exhibition ends May 19:

1. ART HISTORY FROM A TO Z
Through the Eyes of Texas allows visitors to experience significant works that span 4,700 years of art. There are Mayan vessels, tribal masks, Chinese jade, Renaissance paintings, and Old Master prints and drawings, showcased alongside modern and contemporary works by major artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Ed Ruscha, Vija Celmins and Kehinde Wiley.

2. SEE A MASTERWORK UP CLOSE
The unique nature of the exhibition enables the Blanton to display works outside the scope of its permanent collection—art and artifacts not normally on view in Austin. Highlights include a 1916-19 Water Lilies painting by Claude Monet, a Robert Rauschenberg “Jammer” from 1975, multiple works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, an ancient Chinese urn from the Liao Dynasty, and more!

3. LOOK, LISTEN, AND LEARN
Through the Eyes of Texas also explores the stories behind the objects and the lives of the collectors who, after leaving The University of Texas at Austin, have gone on to significantly impact the art world here and abroad. The voices of museum professionals, university faculty, art scholars, and art collectors can be heard in the cell phone audio guide developed exclusively for this exhibition.

4. INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING PROGRAMMING
The Blanton provides many unique learning opportunities. Public programs at the Blanton are free to attend if you’re a member or UT student, faculty, or staff member. Otherwise, the programs are included in the low cost of museum admission. On Thursdays, museum admission and public programs are free for everyone. Visit the Blanton’s events calendar for details …
March 30, 3 PM: Curator gallery talk, Annette DiMeo Carlozzi
April 4, 12:30 PM: Perspectives, Veronica Roberts
April 11, 12:30 PM: Perspectives, Hao Sheng
April 13, 2 PM: Lecture, Reiko Tomii
April 18, 12:30 PM: Perspectives, Julia Guernsey
April 18, 6 PM: Art Gazes, Paul Bolin
April 27, Noon – Midnight: Fifty Fest, the Blanton’s BIG Birthday Party (FREE!)
May 9, 12:30 PM: Perspectives, Francesca Consagra and Catherine Zinser
May 16, 6 PM: Art Gazes, Veronica Roberts

WHAT TO READ NEXT:
Blanton Blog: Curator on Organizing the Blanton’s First Exhibition on UT Alumni Collecting

Still from "Screening Room" with Suzan Pitt, 1975

On Thursday, March 28 join the Visual Arts Center (VAC) for the second edition of Focus Group, a new screening series centered on experimental film in its various formats, including but not limited to 16mm, 8mm, and digital video.

This spring, as part of Focus Group, the VAC presents monthly screenings of Screening Room, the 1970s television series that invited independent filmmakers to screen and discuss their work on a commercial affiliate station (ABC-TV). The unique program, developed and hosted by filmmaker Robert Gardner, gave equal exposure to animation, documentary, and experimental film by artists such as Jean Rouch, Jonas Mekas, Hollis Frampton, Yvonne Rainer, and Michael Snow. The filmmakers presented on the show are now considered among the most influential contributors to their respective genres. Produced and released by Studio7Arts, an organization founded by Robert Gardner to support nonfiction media, the rarely seen Screening Room episodes are still invaluable today to creative thinkers, regardless of what medium they work in.

For the March edition of Focus Group, the VAC presents the July 1975 episode of Screening Room with Suzan Pitt. An animator and painter whose surreal films have gained her worldwide acclaim, Pitt pushes the boundaries of the animated form, sometimes working with live actors or using animation in operatic stagings. In this episode of Screening Room, Pitt screens and discusses the films Bowl, Garden, Theatre, Marble Game, Crocus, Cels, Whitney Promo, and Jefferson Circus Songs.

Focus Group is presented in collaboration with Experimental Response Cinema, an Austin-based collective of avant-garde film and video artists, whose members choose videos and films to precede each screening. For this episode of Screening Room, Rachel Stuckey will lead a presentation on women animators and showcase films by Janie Geiser, Daina Krumins and Gunvor Nelson.

Screening is 7-9PM, Thursday, March 28 in the University of Texas at Austin Art Building (ART), Room 1.102. For directions and further information please visit the Visual Arts Center’s website.

Photo by Pete Smith.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940), one of the Ransom Center’s most famous and frequently borrowed works of art, is on display through July 28.

Since 1990 the painting has been on almost continuous loan, featured in exhibitions in more than 25 museums in the United States and around the world in countries such as Australia, Canada, France, and Spain. View a map of where the painting has traveled in recent years.

The painting was most recently on view in the three-venue exhibition In Wonderland: The Surrealist Activities of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States, organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and exhibited subsequently at the Musée National des beaux-arts du Quebec in Quebec City and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City. The painting travels next to The ARKEN Museum of Modern Art in Ishøj, Denmark, for the exhibition Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera, running from September 7, 2013 to January 5, 2014.

Kahlo (1907–1954) taught herself to paint after she was severely injured in a bus accident at the age of 18. For Kahlo, painting became an act of cathartic ritual, and her symbolic images portray a cycle of pain, death, and rebirth.

Kahlo’s affair in New York City with Hungarian-born photographer Nickolas Muray (1892–1965), which ended in 1939, and her divorce from artist Diego Rivera at the end of that same year left her heartbroken and lonely. But she produced some of her most powerful and compelling paintings and self-portraits during this time.

Muray purchased the self-portrait from Kahlo to help her during a difficult financial period. It is part of the Ransom Center’s Nickolas Muray collection of more than 100 works of modern Mexican art, which was acquired by the Center in 1966. The collection also includes Kahlo’s Still Life with Parrot and Fruit (1951) and the drawing Diego y Yo (1930).

View the video documentary “A World of Interest: Frida Kahlo’s Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird,” which highlights the painting’s return to the Ransom Center.

This special screening will be accompanied live by The Invincible Czars, presenting their original score for this silent film classic.

FREE for Bullock Museum Members/$10 for non-Members
Reservations required. Please call (512) 936-4649.