Contemporary art exhibitions from the Visual Arts Center‘s (VAC) Vaulted Gallery at The University of Texas at Austin, as well as works by faculty and alumni from the College of Fine Arts‘ Department of Art and Art History, will be displayed in the recently opened W Austin Hotel through a partnership among the VAC, Stratus Properties and Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund II.
“The Visual Arts Center is a beautiful new facility and an important addition to the university’s Department of Art and Art History,” said Beau Armstrong, chief executive officer of Stratus Properties. “We are absolutely thrilled that UT’s most talented emerging contemporary artists will showcase their work at the W Austin.”
A $20,000 annual sponsorship will support this innovative collaboration to fuse the distinctive and eclectic culture of Austin with the modern luxury of W Hotels. VAC-selected exhibitions will highlight Austin’s place as a center for contemporary art to guests and will introduce them to the unique cultural character of the city as soon as they arrive by placing the new W Austin Hotel at the center of Austin’s dynamic visual arts scene.
“The Visual Arts Center’s partnership with Stratus Properties / Canyon Johnson Urban Fund II is both an organic and exciting example of both institutions’ commitment to the continued growth of the contemporary arts community in Austin,” said VAC Director Jade Walker. “This important partnership will graciously support exhibitions and programs at the VAC to further our mission to create, explore and evolve contemporary art.”
The first exhibit, featuring an installation by VAC fall 2010 artist-in-residence Ry Rocklen and Austin-based photographer and Department of Art and Art History lecturer Mike Osborne, will open on Jan. 8.
