Blanton Museum of Art

Are you on a budget while in Austin? Art Museums are always a perfect go-to activity when you’re low on cash while traveling. Luckily, Austin, Texas has a great art museum: Blanton Museum of Art. This museum offers European painting, contemporary American art, contemporary Latin American art and the famous “Austin” building by Ellsworth Kelly.

 

How Much Is It?

Although it’s not completely free (like the Saint Louis Art Museum), it still is pretty cheap. The entrance fee for an adult is only $9 and is cut down to only $5 if you’re a student who can show their ID. Plus, it’s absolutely free to children 12 and under, teachers and active military (IDs required).

 

What About Parking Costs?

Parking is extra. The museum has it’s own parking garage that charges $0 for the first 30 minutes, $3 for the first hour, $6 for two hours and so on. You can also attempt to find parking on the street or a parking spot with a meter. Just note that the parking garage is much more convenient, especially since you can keep your car parked their while also visiting the Bullock Texas State History Museum and the Austin Capitol Building.

 

What Type of Art is There?

This museum offers a variety of art. From pictures on the wall to, well, the actual wall. Literally. Blanton Museum of Art is the holder of the one and only art piece “Stacked Waters” by Teresita Fernandez (check out the photo below).

Along with this unique art piece, you can also find artwork that allows you to actually touch the art. Of course, you can’t touch all the art but you can touch the piece called “Missao/Missoes” by Cildo Meireles (see below). This art piece is to symbolize the relationship between material power, spiritual power and tragedy by incorporating coins, communion wafers and bones. You’re entirely encouraged to touch the pennies (just don’t take any – even if there are 600,000 of them)!

 

Austin by Ellsworth Kelly

The most famous part of Blanton Museum of Art is “Austin” by Ellsworth Kelly. This piece isn’t just a picture on the wall. It’s an entire building. Getting into the building is included with your general admission ticket.

“Austin” by Ellsworth Kelly is designed to turn light into artwork. Each side of the building has a different design of colored glass windows that shine different throughout the day based on where the sun is. Meaning that the artwork may seem different each time you visit. Not only do I love the bright colors of the art, but I definitely admire the work it took to build such a structure (check out the pictures below).

 

What else to see?

If you’re looking for something else to go along with your adventure to this wonderful museum, check out the Hamilton Pool! It’s around the same price and is one of the top places people check out while in Austin.

 

Need more information about Blanton Museum of Art? Check out their website here. 

 

So what are you waiting for? Buy the Plane Ticket to Austin today so you can stare at some beautiful paintings!