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Austin Children’s Museum to debut interactive ‘Think.Do.Make.’ exhibit Feb. 2

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Think.Do.Make opens Feb. 2 at the Austin Children's Museum

A new exhibit, Think.Do.Make., opens at the Austin Children’s Museum Feb. 2 and will last until the downtown location closes late this summer. The exhibit is a sneak preview of the new museum coming to Mueller late this year.

The exhibit will be hosting interactive features that mix science and engineering with art, invention, design and building challenges. The idea behind the exhibit is to enable visitors of all ages to ask questions, test ideas and discover new connections.

The exhibit has three components: Nano, Build and Flow. Nano explores the cutting edge science that is invisible to the naked eye, Build helps discover the design secrets of nature’s architects, and Flow is a playful invention launched by the power of moving air.

Think.Do.Make. will be featuring the PlayHive, the highlight of the exhibit, which is a hive-shaped play structure inspired by bee hives and is built by local architects at ThoughtBarn. It will be installed beginning at 10:30 a.m. the day the exhibit opens so that visitors can observe the engineering in action.

For people who want to take part of the action, there is a DIY plan available for download online to build a PlayHive with simple tools and materials of their own. The exhibit was created and produced by the Austin Children’s Museum and is funded in part by Connect a Million Minds, an initiative of Time Warner Cable, YNN and partially supported by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division.

The Austin Children’s Museum was founded in 1983 as a non-profit organization and their mission is to create innovative learning experiences for children and families alike to inspire and prepare the next generation of creative problem solvers. One of their main goals is to enable and empower the learning experience of children.

The museum is currently located at the Dell Discovery Center at the corner of Second Street and Colorado. The museum is open Monday from 9 a.m. to noon (for children age 0-3 only), Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Admission to the museum is $6.50 for adults, $6.50 for children 2 years and older, $4.50 for children who are 12-23 months and children under 12 months are free. Wednesday nights from 5 to 8 p.m. admission is by donation. Sunday’s from 4 to 5 p.m. are free. For more information visit austinkids.org.

Mexic-Arte holds reception for ‘Masked: Changing Identities’ exhibit

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Unmasked: Lucha Libre, January 25- May 5, 2013

As part of their upcoming survey exhibition, Mexic-Arte museum will be hosting Masked: Changing Identities which will be opening Jan. 25 with a reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission to the reception is $10 and free for members.

There will be a special performance by Danza Azteca Guadalupana and a conversation with the collectors at 6:30 p.m. The exhibit will last until May 5. The museum is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Regular admission is $5 for Adults, $4 for senior citizens and students, and $1 for children 12 and under. Admission is free every Sunday.

Masked: Changing Identities will go behind the meaning of how “masks” serve as a disguise, performance, and entertainment tool that transforms the person wearing it in the Latino and Latin American visual culture. The exhibition focuses on themes of cultural identity, Mexican historiography, folkloric narratives, and anthropological artifacts.

Highlighted by the exhibit will be the mask collection of Patricia and Carmine De Vivi which include 300 popular art masks from Central Mexico. These masks are made out of wood and portray a lot of Hispanic imagery, narrating colonial and indigenous myths along with history. They come from Central Mexico and are available commercially, but are limited edition.

Also accompanying the exhibit will be Unmasked: Lucha Libre, the centered exhibition which examines the costumes and practice of “lucha libre” or Mexican wrestling. It will take an in depth look beyond the mask and how this inspires and infiltrates many contemporary, Latino artists.

There will be various lectures by academic scholars presenting on culture identities, a mask-making workshop, a classic lucha cinema series, and an herbalist workshop which teaches how to use natural elements in performance and ritual to accompany the exhibit. The exhibit will run the same dates as Masked: Changing Identities and will be in the annex gallery.

Since 1984, it has been Mexic-Arte museum’s mission is to enrich culture and education through the presentation and promotion of tradition contemporary Mexican, Latino, and Latin American Art. It is designated as the official Mexican and Mexican American Art museum of Texas.

Mexic-Arte is located on the corner of 5th St. and Congress Ave. at 419 Congress Ave. Austin, TX 78701. For more information, visit their website, contact [email protected] or call 512-480-9373.