After Hours Halloween Party @ Green House (Sun. 10/30, 1am-6pm)

The gang at Austin's Best New Store, Green House, didn't want to miss friends' Halloween parties this year, so they decided to host an after hours in-store and backyard party! The fun starts at 1am and lasts pasts the dawn of the undead. You can BYOB, but their popular donation bar (which features yummy homemade cocktails) will be available. DJs will spin, horror movies will project, plus a kissing booth and a photo booth will capture romantic and costumed memories. The bonus for some guests? A $100 award for best costume, and other cool prizes for top contestants.


Green House is a green house in the central North Loop area that features original, unusual, and delightful upcycled and repurposed clothing, accessories, gifts, and artwork produced by Austin artists. Support a green local economy, and have a lot of fun doing it after whatever fun Halloween shindig you attend. 

Junkyard Casserole: Yard Sale & Art Show Saturday - 10/15 (9am-9pm)

If you are one of many Austinites who don't want to throw anything away, consider selling or donating precious and dust-collecting items to Junkyard Casserole, and have a good time viewing artwork and experiencing live music, while possibly getting inspiration and material for your Halloween arts and crafts projects.


Junkyard Casserole is a monthly yard sale, swap meet, and art show, hosted by members of the band Night Viking and RE-aRT, self-described as a "Detritus Craft and Idea Supply" place, and a "Collection and Work Space offered for making art with experimental (cast-off) materials". In other words, a recycling and repurposing center of creativity in Austin--a great place for your old items to find new, creative life.

Tomorrow's Junkyard Casserole happens 9am-9pm at RE-aRT, and will feature spontaneous and improvised music by various artists throughout the day, TBA at the event. The backyard multimedia studio and art collective is located behind 2608 Rogers Avenue. RSVP @ Facebook. 

New Handmade & Vintage Store: Las Cruxes Grand Opening + Mikaylah Bowman Photo Exhibit (Fri. 10/14 - 7:30pm)

Austin has become well-known for its handmade and vintage shops, which offer great finds and deals on items that avoid landfill overload while being fashionable. "Specializing in handmade, vintage, and one of a kind, re-purposed clothing, music, art, and miscellaneous items", Las Cruxes promises to be the greatest new addition to vintage and upcycling boutiques in central Austin. 


Las Cruxes owner and operator Veronica Ortuño, known as a respected d-i-y fashionista, visual artist, and musician (M'lady's Records, The Carrots, Mutating Meltdown, Finally Punk), unveils original and redesigned clothing, jewelry, accessories, and more during a grand opening event at 7:30pm on Friday, October 14th, featuring the artwork of Mikaylah Bowman, and DJs Benson Ellis, Dustin Coffey, and Jon Saltzman. Drink specials and goodies will be available at a private bar, courtesy of Spiderhouse.



Located at 2908 ½ Fruth Street, adjacent to Spiderhouse, beneath sister vintage and handmade clothing boutique The Fresh UP and the alleyway behind I Luv Video, Las Cruxes also operates as an online store, currently offering discounted items celebrating the new storefront.


RSVP on Facebook--UNVEILING: LAS CRUXES Grand Opening Soirée with Works  by Mikaylah Bowman.

Community Rummage Sale @ GREEN HOUSE Today!

According to a reliable tweet from a GREEN HOUSE resident organizer:

"Rummage sale today! Bring yo' stuff and let's get rid of it! 11-3 at #GreenHouse. Can't miss us - house is green. #yardsale #austin #fb"

You can't and shouldn't miss buying, swapping and selling items at GREEN HOUSE, the future of Austin shopping - a store featuring unique upcycled clothing, accessories and gifts by local d-i-y designers and artists, a mini art gallery - and a community space.

Last week, they hosted a cool music pre-opening on the last day of SXSW and first day of spring with Anti-Gravity, and will have their grand opening in about a week!

You Are An Airplane outside GREEN HOUSE - Sunday, March 20, 2011

GREEN HOUSE looks exactly like its name and is located on the corner of Martin Ave. and E 53rd St.

Cherrywood Art Fair @ Maplewood Elementary (Sat. & Sun, Dec.13-14)

Art Corsage/Pin by Austin based designer and artist One Creative Girl

CAF: Helping students connect with art - and you buy unique holiday gifts

If you missed the well organized and musical Wheatsville Arts Festival, no worries - there are at least two arts & crafts festivals where you can find original gifts this holiday season, both happening this weekend. The twelve days of Christmas starts with the 2nd Annual Keep Austin Bizarre Bazaar at the Palmer Event Center tomorrow (featured vendor interview next week), and the charitable Cherrywood Art Fair, commencing Saturday morning. Musical acts make it a festive holiday party, with artist and musician Ethan Azarian (Orange Mothers) performing at 5 pm on Saturday.



Go to cherrywoodartfair.org for more info, including participating artists and musicians.

Have fun this weekend, whatever you do.

The Unofficial E.A.S.T. Afterparty: 3rd Annual Backyard Art @ The G-Spot

Backyard Art @ The G-Spot is an annual art party sponsored by the oldest craft brewery in Texas, Saint Arnold Brewing Company. It's free to the public, and a great way to spend a Saturday and buy cool and weird local art in East Austin.

I sat on this news for a few weeks, and now the event is only two days away. (Better late than never?)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 22, 2008

Third Annual "Backyard Art @ the G-Spot"
The Unofficial E.A.S.T Afterparty

One Night Only: Saturday, November 22, 2008
500 W. O'Dell, 5 p.m. to Midnight
Free Admission - Open to the Public

AUSTIN, TEXAS – Each fall, Austin artist and musician Colleen Gugan opens her backyard and art studio to the public for an evening to host "Backyard Art @ the G-Spot", an intimate and magical celebration of local art and music, rooted firmly in the "Keep Austin Weird" ethos. Starting at 5:00 p.m., at the close of the first day of the East Austin Studio Tour, "Backyard Art @ the G-Spot" serves as the unofficial 2008 E.A.S.T after-party—an art crawl with all of the art and none of the crawl, just west of I-35.

Ms. Gugan started "Backyard Art @ the G-Spot" three years ago out of a strong desire to give a voice to established and promising artists in a nurturing and inspiring environment. Those who have attended this show in previous years have learned to expect the unexpected with many artistic mediums on display – ceramics, collage, drawings, paintings, paper maché, photography, printmaking, silkscreening and sculpture, as well as experimental works comprised of discarded, found and broken items that defy description.

The show includes the following artists (subject to change):

The Amazing Hancock Brothers - Penny Van Horn – Edmo - John Weik - Colleen Gugan
Steve Landry - Bob Bechtol - Shelly Dread – Simon McCann - Vicki Fussell - Caroline Homer
Jason Huerta - Joe Caldwell – Henry Reynolds – Chantal Erie – Laura Tabor-Huerta

Long-time Austin performance artist Janine de Luna-Azul will perform her latest work, "What? This Old Thing?"—the musings, reflections and hopes of an obsessive-compulsive "80's hipster artist" moving into middle age and fighting it all the way. Also scheduled to perform are local bands Attic Ted, DD Dagger, and Candi and the Cavities; Dennis Campa of KOOP 91.7 FM's "Adventures in Sound" will DJ between sets. Beer will be provided, courtesy of the oldest craft brewery in Texas, Saint Arnold Brewing Company.

For more information, contact Caroline Homer at carolinehomer@gmail.com or 512-300-9693.

Fuzzy Portal Unlimited (organizers of "Backyard Art @ the G-Spot") is an all-volunteer, artist-run collective headed by Austin artist and musician Colleen Gugan, devoted to providing Austin artists, musicians and performers with an opportunity to speak and be heard, see and be seen, inspire and be inspired, no holds barred.

Experience A "Third Life" by Ben Aqua @ CRL (Thursday-Saturday, November 6-8)

Austin artist Ben Aqua is a well-known visual and performance artist, photographer, DJ, and musician with a distincive talent for juxtaposing the familiar with the alien. Aqua recently completed a new work, "Third Life", is based on geometrical figures and Michaelangelo's famous hand of God, which ponders the future of the human race according to his blog, aquabotic.com. It's part of an 8 artist exhibit FUTURE PROLOGUES: The Compression of Post-Pop Narratives into Non-Space and Pre-Time. The artists are part of a collective called Totally Wreck Institute, formed five years ago to promote art on the "fringe"-off the beaten local art path.



Aqua's Future Prologues installment is available for public view through Saturday, November 8th at the Creative Research Lab, part of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Austin, and a diamond in the rough local art space.

CALL FOR "THIRD LIFE" VOLUNTEERS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH

Ben Aqua calling for volunteers to participate in a special "cosmic" photographic portion of the exhibit Thursday night. To find out how you can become a part of "Third Life", e-mail ben@benaqua.org by 8 pm tomorrow.

EXHIBIT LOCATION & HOURS:

Creative Research Lab - UT Austin
2832 E Martin Luther King Jr.
Austin, TX 78702
Tue.-Sat. 12-5 pm

Support local art - make a date with a museum or gallery in Austin.

~ Danna

Vote for the Best of Austin

Have you voted in the Austin Chronicle Best of 2008 poll yet?

The Austin Chronicle is back with their annual poll, where readers can bestow honor among their favorite people, places, and things in Austin. I've already cast my vote, but I wanted to make a few recommendations in the Arts & Entertainment category:

Scenester/Mover and Shaker: Jerm Pollet - From music to comedy to hawking Italian ices, this guy makes Austin more entertaining for the rest of us.

Art Gallery: Okay Mountain - A small space with big talent, welcoming local and international artists - and they're music friendly too!

Museum: Blanton - No explanation needed.

Place to See Local Art: United States Art Authority - Instead of drawing plasma, this space draws a crowd for eclectic art.

Performance Space: Salvage Vanguard Theater

Comedy/Improv Troupe: I was torn between Master Pancake and Coldtowne Theater, so I flipped a coin, and Master Pancake won!

Comedian: Shannon McCormick - A master of improv comedy and co-founder /co-producer of Out of Bounds Improv Festival, which now includes stand-up and sketch comedy.

Movie Theatre: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - Ritz - The new downtown location is not just a great escape from central Texas heat, but an escape from the boring cinema giants in shopping malls and off the highways, especially when you don't just want to see a summer blockbuster. Good service and food, too!

Emergent Local Filmmaker: Thomas Humphreys - Known for directing and editing video shorts of cinematic quality, eye-popping trailers, and catchy music videos, he's a versatile talent awarded numerous times for his work, competing among international filmmakers. Humphreys is best known as one of the talents in Black Magic Rollercoaster (see Filmmaking Frenzy).

Film Series: I won't mention my final vote, but it came down to Weird Wednesday with Lars Nilsen and Terror Thursday w/ Zack Carlson. Both series (and hosts) make watching movies more engaging with knowledgeable and funny introductions, and special programs and appearances within the series (celebrated directors, writers, and actors). Both series are awesome - and free - so that made it a tough pick.

Karaoke: Rock 'n' Roll Karaoke @ Beerland. I haven't been yet - but I hear it's a lot of fun on a Monday night!

I won't post all my Media picks, but I'd like to suggest Owen Egerton for best author/poet, Sean Claes for best journalist, Austin's INsite for best non-Chronicle publication, and myself for best blogger.

Vote for your favorites here:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/feedback/bestof/08/

You can also cast a vote for a special category, like Best Open Art Space: Austin's Enchanted Forest.

~diy danna

The Opera House Grand Closing (Last Shows Announced)

I got the news from a MySpace flier: The Opera House is closing. Just one more unique art space closing, most likely due to the strict (and some would say arbitrary) enforcement of city codes, although this has not been confirmed by the venue.

The Opera House is an acronym which stands for:

"The O.(open)P.(power)E.(experimental)R.(research)A.(arts) House"

Located behind the best little record shop in South Austin, End of an Ear, the creative space was home to many experimental, avant-garde local and touring music acts. It served as a store, gallery, and community education/workshop center for many he

Tonight: Liz Gomez (a.k.a. Dromez) sent invitations to hear the glamorous punk Wealthy Whore Entertainment (San Francisco, CA), making a summer tour stop in Austin. Also playing: visual guitarist Douglas Fergeson, experimental sound crafter V.C. Childkraft, and Young Clam (members of Rubble). Beer at 7, Music at 8.



Flier by Deena Hyatt (NanoBangBang)

Sunday Evening - 10/08/08: Last night @ the O.P.E.R.A. The "Grand Closing Party" starts at 5 pm with movies (Lori 16mm), water fun, and music by the seemingly naive minimalist musical act Night Viking, ichnisanchi (which I'm curious to hear), experimental vocal pop artist NanoBangBang, and the "old timey goodness" of Teddy & Marge. "BYOFood to grill!"

Let's hope there will be a reincarnation of the O.P.E.R.A. at a different location. Austin needs more beautiful art space and beautiful people who support artists and their work!

Contact Info:
The O.P.E.R.A. House
(512) 440-1401
liz.theoperahouse@gmail.com
theoperahousestore.com
myspace.com/theoperhousestore

~ diy danna

DIY REVOLUTION EVOLVES!

Transmography - myspace.com/transmography

The official blog for the MySpace group has returned, and a network of do-it-yourself music blogs is on the way in 2008!

DIY REVOLUTION COMMUNICATIONS IS A NON-PROFIT PUBLICIST/PRESS AGENT/CONSULTANT FOR INDEPENDENT MUSIC ARTISTS, AND AN ONLINE ART, LITERATURE & ENTERTAINMENT PUBLISHER. FOR A LIST OF SERVICES OFFERED AND ONLINE PUBLICATIONS, PLEASE CONTACT THE MODERATOR @ ADIYREVOLT@GMAIL.COM.