New American Talent: 22, up at Arthouse at the Jones Center for another month, has received positive reviews. That's unsurprising, considering Anne Ellegood, curator of the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., juried the show. Picking and choosing from nearly 900 submissions, she landed on 96 works generated by 45 artists, 15 of whom are from the great state of Texas. You might recognize locals Roberto Bellini, William Hundley, Rebecca Rothfus, Joseph Phillips......

FRIDAY [30] music • The Skeletons at South Austin Speedshop (7pm) fashion/music • Couture de Amore with fashions by Loves, Mariessa; Stiletto Gold; Sea and Enemies; Amy Kline (Jewelry), and Clap!Clap!, Golden Bear, Haunting Oboe Music, The Valentines at The Parish Room ($10) music • Video/CD release for "The Projeckt" at Latitude 30 music • Bluebonnet Blues Festival, benefitting Historic Main Street Association of Marble Falls, at Marble Falls music • 3rd Annual Global......

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day, taking place this year on Saturday, January 13th, was created to honor the memory of the civil rights hero and encourage the public to carry on his legacy of volunteerism through community service projects. Locally, what began as a grassroots effort by State Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) to clean up East MLK Jr. Boulevard in 2000 has blossomed into the citywide MLK Day of Service. The 2007 clean......

FRIDAY [22] music • Rogue Wave, Jason Collett at The Parish Room ® music • The Gossip, Mika Miko, Swan Island at Emo's ® music • Rockland Eagles, The Colour, The Shys, The Fall Collection at Emo's music • Kissinger, Driver F, Seaflea at Stubb's music • Brent Fariss / Bill Thompson CD release at End of an Ear (6pm) music • Sybil, As the Phoenix Rises, Smokin' Gun, Wax Dart and Andice at......

It looks like the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum is branching out into a new era of art. This Friday, it will be opening its first contemporary exhibit, an overview of the work of Austin sculptor Hank Waddell. What's next, a Keith Haring retrospective in the Elizabeth Ney museum? A rave at the French Legation? These all sound like pretty good ideas, as a matter of fact. Supposedly Waddell is a colorful Austin character......

It's that time of year again, Austin. Although it seems like it happens about three times a year, the Austin Chronicle is conducting its annual Best Of Austin poll. While we obviously have certain favorites (Laguna Gloria, Curra's, El Chile, Mi Madre's, Eastside Cafe, Vespaio, the Backyard, the Parish, Continental Club, Hotel San Jose, DJ Prince Klassen, the Draugh Horse, Gingerman, Lovejoy's, Flipnotics, Casino El Camino, Club DeVille, the Off Center, KUT, KLRU, Quorum......

This evening the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum will host the 2006 Garden Party. Twenty of Austin's fine restaurants will be present to serve delectable samplings of their cuisine, paired with complementing wines. The Garden Party will feature lively music by the festive Nash Hernandez Orchestra. Original pieces of art, eclectic items, and specialty services from local businesses are all featured in the silent auction. The Garden Party celebrates the work of sculpture and......

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), in collaboration with other crime victim outreach agencies, is hosting a candlelight vigil tonight at Umlauf Sculpture Garden to kick off National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The goal is to educate communities on the impact of crime on victims, neighborhoods, schools and our nation as a whole. Congressman Ted Poe (R-Houston) will be the keynote speaker on progress made thus far and the current state of victims' rights in the......

Austin Earth Month continues this weekend with Austin Nature Day, a "celebration of the beauty, vitality, and diversity of natural resources that contribute to our high quality of life." All around town tomorrow, over twenty local eco-conscious and/or cultural organizations have set up various events -- and, holy crap, there's a lot going on! Some of the events that we think you outta check out include the Xeriscape Garden Tour (Umlauf Sculpture Garden, 3:30pm-4pm), Westside......

It's like a dream come true. The Black Star Pub could be the first community owned bar in Texas. We know you were psyched about walking to work this morning, but the strike was called off. Capital Metro employees may just have an acceptable new contract by noon today. A ton of people in our office have been out sick lately. Now we're hoping afraid that they'll never come back. The Umlauf Sculpture Garden......