The Museums and Cultural Programs Division provides safe and inclusive spaces where people explore creativity and identity through the arts, histories and cultures of Austin and the world. We promote civic engagement through festivals, performances, exhibitions, social practice, camps, workshops and classes.
Art and Cultural Centers
The Asian American Resource Center’s mission is to create a space of belonging and healing for Asian American communities in Austin and beyond. We do this through community collaborations and partnerships; providing rental space; organizing cultural, educational and health wellness programs; and curating art and historical exhibitions. We lead with our values and our vision, so that our diverse communities are supported and connected.
The mission of the Dougherty Arts Center (DAC) is to support emerging through established artists who create, showcase, and experience the arts first-hand. We envision the DAC as Austin’s cultural living room where people of all ages, races, ethnicities, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, socio-economic statuses, nationalities, and religions gather to create community through the arts. The Dougherty Arts Center is the steward of the Zilker Hillside Theater.
The Beverly S. Sheffield Hillside Theater, also called Zilker Hillside Theater, is committed to creating accessible opportunities for all members of the community to engage and collaborate in the performing arts.
The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center is dedicated to the preservation, creation, presentation, and promotion of the cultural arts of Mexican Americans and Latino cultures. The ESB-MACC will be closed for its Phase 2 expansion and renovation starting in January 2023. Programs and events will be held at other sites- check the MACC Homepage for locations of 2023 programs. The ESB MACC Main Office will be at the Dougherty Arts Center and the number will remain the same: 512-974-3772.
Through the preservation and exhibition of African American material culture, history, and aesthetic expression, the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center works to create a space where the global contributions of all Black people are celebrated.
Museums
The Elisabet Ney Museum is the historic home and studio of Elisabet Ney, a wildly iconoclastic German sculptor who moved to Austin in 1882. The museum enthusiastically celebrates her art, her history and her legacy through exhibitions and events for the whole family.
The mission of the O. Henry Museum is to collect, preserve and interpret artifacts and archival materials related to William Sydney Porter, better known as the short story writer O. Henry. *The O. Henry Museum will be open to the public as of Wednesday, January 4, 2023. The museum has undergone a renovation to upgrade fire suppression systems and HVAC systems. It also included building leveling, creating a building envelope, roof upgrades and repairs, lead remediation, and landscape improvements
The Old Bakery & Artisan Emporium is a historic building located in Downtown Austin. Local artists and craftspeople keep the Artisan Emporium full of unique and one-of-a-kind items, and our art gallery features the work of local artists who are 50 years old or greater. We also provide a visitor information center and allow visitors to explore Austin's immigrant history in the Lundberg-Maerki Historical Collection.
The mission of the Joseph and Susanna Dickinson-Hannig House Museum is to preserve the home and legacy of Alamo survivor Susanna Dickinson and to celebrate Texas history.
The Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum exhibits the work of Charles Umlauf and other visual and performing artists in a museum and a garden setting. The UMLAUF provides educational and cultural experiences that encourage the understanding and appreciation of the intersection of nature, sculpture and the arts.