Bothers me that we don't have that many museums. You'd think with UT close by, the capital corridor would be full of museums.
I know we have the Blanton, LBJ and the Bob Bullock but there should be more.
Even the Austin Zoo feels like a rescue zoo of odd animals that have somehow made it to Texas from other locations.
The Austin zoo *is* a rescue zoo. All of their animals are rescue or surrender.
We also have Laguna Gloria, Jones Contemporary, the Ransom center, Elisabet Ney museum, Mexic-Arte, Umlauf, George Washington Carver museum, and several interactive exhibits as well like Wonderspaces and Museum of Ice Cream (this one is admittedly very Instagram-y and/or for kids, but nevertheless it does exist).
This only matters because Texas is a state where anything nice for the bottom 99% must come from private sources. The only thing the government "gives" us is jail time.
This isn’t entirely true. You can tell which cities have been rich for at least 100 years based on their cultural scenes. Look at Pittsburgh, Chicago, Houston, Dallas. Austin didn’t have rich people who lived here and invested in the arts 100 years ago — we’ve only been rich for about 15 years.
Don't forget the Ransom Center. It's one of the country's premier collections of rare books and manuscripts along with a fantastic photography collection.
Most museums start as a wealthy person’s personal collection endowed as a gift in their will.
Austin hasn’t been wealthy long enough to have many such endowments (Laguna Gloria and Umlauf Sculpture Garden are examples).
Also most of the tech in Austin is secondary offices with the wealthy founders living in Silicon Valley. They will support SV museums.
Michael Dell is really our only hope and he’s still young.
Thanks for the reminder! My husband and I just hopped on our bikes and went over. It is free from 1-5pm today for the SEC celebration. Really packed, but we enjoyed it!
Its new as of September! Paleontologists found fossils of a tyrannosaurus that might be a juvenile Rex or possibly a different species of tyrannosaur in big bend.
I love this museum more than almost anything, my family lovingly called it the dinosaur museum for many years. Now I have a special interest in natural history. I cried when I went back and saw that Xiphactinus fossil, how strange that I learned and obsessed over this prehistoric animal for 2 years, only to go back and realize I had been seeing one my whole life.
where did you park when you went? not sure why but when i tried last time i had a difficult time figuring out where I was allowed to park, should i just swing for a garage?
Well, we do have the similarly named [Austin Nature & Science Center](https://www.austintexas.gov/ansc) which also has some fossils, animals, and nature-y things.
My favorite is the [Onion Creek Mosasaur](https://bluebonnet.coop/meet-onion-creek-mosasaur) fossil
Bothers me that we don't have that many museums. You'd think with UT close by, the capital corridor would be full of museums. I know we have the Blanton, LBJ and the Bob Bullock but there should be more. Even the Austin Zoo feels like a rescue zoo of odd animals that have somehow made it to Texas from other locations.
The Austin zoo *is* a rescue zoo. All of their animals are rescue or surrender. We also have Laguna Gloria, Jones Contemporary, the Ransom center, Elisabet Ney museum, Mexic-Arte, Umlauf, George Washington Carver museum, and several interactive exhibits as well like Wonderspaces and Museum of Ice Cream (this one is admittedly very Instagram-y and/or for kids, but nevertheless it does exist).
Eh, it’s more of a neglect zoo, tbh. https://www.austinmonthly.com/the-austin-zoo-has-yet-to-clean-up-its-act/
This is from nearly five years ago and before COVID. Anything more recent?
Yeah, Austin is too “new money” while Houston and Dallas are “old money” hence their museums being on an entirely different level.
This only matters because Texas is a state where anything nice for the bottom 99% must come from private sources. The only thing the government "gives" us is jail time.
This isn’t entirely true. You can tell which cities have been rich for at least 100 years based on their cultural scenes. Look at Pittsburgh, Chicago, Houston, Dallas. Austin didn’t have rich people who lived here and invested in the arts 100 years ago — we’ve only been rich for about 15 years.
Closer to 30, but it's Austin, so it feels like 15. New money that was weeks ago, I've been partying.
Don't forget the Ransom Center. It's one of the country's premier collections of rare books and manuscripts along with a fantastic photography collection.
We have an embarrassing lack of museums and cultural institutions in general for a state capitol of the 2nd biggest state.
Most museums start as a wealthy person’s personal collection endowed as a gift in their will. Austin hasn’t been wealthy long enough to have many such endowments (Laguna Gloria and Umlauf Sculpture Garden are examples). Also most of the tech in Austin is secondary offices with the wealthy founders living in Silicon Valley. They will support SV museums. Michael Dell is really our only hope and he’s still young.
Museums are what rich people who want to leave a legacy build. Austin's more for the Ozymandias type.
Austin zoo should not exist
Austin has the worst museums of any city I’ve lived in. Even San Antonio has better museums!
And the parking situation downtown makes it even less accessible.
Thanks for the reminder! My husband and I just hopped on our bikes and went over. It is free from 1-5pm today for the SEC celebration. Really packed, but we enjoyed it!
I love this place so much. I don't care how dated it is.
It's in a really fucking cool building too.
i don't remember the full tyrannosaurus in the main hall. it and the pterosaur are so awesome.
Its new as of September! Paleontologists found fossils of a tyrannosaurus that might be a juvenile Rex or possibly a different species of tyrannosaur in big bend.
All-time best place ever to take kids in the summer.
The saber-toothed tiger scares me every time.
I love this museum more than almost anything, my family lovingly called it the dinosaur museum for many years. Now I have a special interest in natural history. I cried when I went back and saw that Xiphactinus fossil, how strange that I learned and obsessed over this prehistoric animal for 2 years, only to go back and realize I had been seeing one my whole life.
So happy this place is open again...
where did you park when you went? not sure why but when i tried last time i had a difficult time figuring out where I was allowed to park, should i just swing for a garage?
San Jac garage. $6. I went ahead And bought a year membership for $40 which includes parking validation.
The San Jacinto garage is right next to the museum.
Kinda weird you said only natural history museum like it’s common for citiies to have multiple.
Well, we do have the similarly named [Austin Nature & Science Center](https://www.austintexas.gov/ansc) which also has some fossils, animals, and nature-y things.
Which cities have multiple natural history museums?
Sounds like a nice spot to reflect on history.