10 best museums and galleries in Austin

Mexic-Arte Museum

The Mexic-Arte experience begins before you walk in the door, with its north wall lined with murals that celebrate Latino figures and iconography. That mission to showcase traditional and contemporary Mexican and Latino art and culture continues inside the historic building, with wooden planked floors that squeak pleasingly underfoot. Mexic-Arte's curators comfortably straddle a commitment to old and new, with an annual exhibition devoted to emerging talent and an all-inclusive back gallery space devoted to community projects.
• 419 Congress Ave, +1 512 480 9373, mexic-artemuseum.org, adult $5, student/senior $4, under-12 $1, free on Sundays. Open Mon-Thu 10am-6pm, Fri-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm

The Blanton Museum of Art

Set at the south corner of the University of Texas campus, the Blanton Museum of Art blends in beautifully with the classical architecture, and the effect carries over into the museum's interior. The ground-floor atrium houses Teresita Fernández's permanent wall installation, "Stacked Waters" – 950m of shimmering stripes of blue. Close your eyes, and you'd swear you could hear the Mediterranean lapping softly, but you'll want to keep them open to take in the Blanton's impressive collection. The two-storey main building includes wings devoted to European paintings (with an emphasis on Renaissance and Baroque art), modern American and Latin American Art, and contemporary art. One of the premier university art museums in the US, the Blanton complex also includes a cafe, a museum shop, and an outdoor plaza that hums with activity between classes.
• MLK at Congress, University of Texas campus, +1 512-471-7324, blantonmuseum.org, adult $9, senior $7, college student with valid ID and youth (13-21) $5; under-13 free; free admission for all every Thursday. Open Tue-Thu, 10am-5pm (third Thursdays open until 9pm), Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 11am-5pm, Sun, 1-5pm

The Harry Ransom Center

The Harry Ransom Center has ruffled a few feathers over the years – Britons have accused the archive of poaching their national treasures – but there's just no arguing with the scope of the HRC's stunning holdings. The collection includes some 36m manuscripts, making unlikely neighbours of Lord Byron, Isaac Bashevis Singer, David Mamet and Robert De Niro. (A forewarning: though materials are readily available to researchers, appointments are required.) The first-floor gallery rotates materials from the archive – recent shows include a retrospective on futurist Norman Bel Geddes and a photographic history of basketball – while permanent exhibits include a complete Gutenberg Bible, the first-ever photograph, a chronicle of the Center's first 50 years, and a regularly updated showcase of books based on HRC research materials.
• 300 W 21st St, University of Texas campus, +1 512 471 8944, hrc.utexas.edu, free. Open Tue, Wed, Fri, 10am-5pm; Thu, 10am-7pm; Sat-Sun noon-5pm

Mondo Gallery

You won't find Mondo's name on its Hyde Park storefront, just its distinctive serpentine insignia, which seems rather fitting for the gallery arm of the Austin-born-and-bred Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, regularly named the "coolest movie theatre in America". The Alamo also boasts the coolest design shop in town, commissioning collectible one-sheets by the likes of Olly Moss and Tim Doyle, but the gallery space (opened in spring of 2012) puts them in their rightful context as works of art. You can cross the length of this converted bungalow inside of a minute, but genre film lovers will want to linger at Mondo's mix of archival movie posters and limited-edition screen prints that put new spins on pop culture.
• 4115 Guadalupe St, no phone number, mondotees.com, free. Open Tue-Sat, noon-6pm and by appointment

Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum

You're in Texas. You're going to have to get your "yeehaw" on, and this is the place to do it. Just a few blocks from the State Capitol, this facility offers a rah-rah rendering of the story of Texas, taking its cue from the Sam Houston quote etched in granite in the entrance: "Texas is the finest portion of the globe that has ever blessed my vision." This kid-friendly museum covers the basics – cowboys and Indians, ranchers and oil barons – as well as less well-travelled terrain, like the influence of all-black regiments (Buffalo soldiers) on post-civil war Texas. Also on site are two theatres, one with a six-storey IMAX screen.
• 1800 N Congress Ave, +1 512 936 8746, thestoryoftexas.com, adult $9, student with valid ID $8, senior/military $7, youth (four-17) $6. Open Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 12-6pm

Yard Dog Art Gallery

Right in the heart of the eclectic, electric SoCo neighborhood, Yard Dog sits within spitting distance of a vintage clothing shop and venerated western wear outpost Allens Boots; that rubbing-elbows of old and new, quirky and classic, is a pretty good approximation for what makes Yard Dog so special. A gallery space and store (they sell prints) that celebrates some openings with live music, Yard Dog covers a broad spectrum from fine art to folk and outsider art, from former Faces keyboardist (and longtime Austinite) Ian McLagan's migraine-inspired paintings to the Sublime Stitching collective's embroidery kitsch.
• 1510 S Congress Ave, +1 512 912 1613, yarddog.com, free. Open Mon-Fri, 11am-5pm; Sat, 11am-6pm; Sun, 12pm-5pm

AMOA-Arthouse at the Jones Center

When the dazzling, multimillion-dollar renovation of downtown's Arthouse at the Jones Center opened in 2010, it made the Austin Museum of Art down the street look pretty shabby. Lucky, then, that the two institutions merged in 2011 and set up permanent residence in this light-flooded, loft-like gallery with rooftop deck. (A second branch, an Italianate villa called Laguna Gloria, on Lake Austin, houses art classes.) The emphasis is on contemporary art, and one of the year's highlights is the annual 5x7 art show and sale, featuring more than 1,000 works by an eclectic group of up-and-coming artists.
• 700 Congress Ave, +1 512 453 5312, amoa-arthouse.org, suggested donation $5. Open Wed noon-11pm; Thu-Sat noon-9pm; Sun noon-5pm

LBJ Presidential Library & Museum

This museum, exhibition space and research centre has much to offer on the life and legacy of the US's 36th president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who took office after JFK's assassination and whose tumultuous tenure included such highs and lows as the Great Society social reforms and the escalation of the Vietnam War. And don't miss the creaky – a little bit creepy – animatronic LBJ, spouting Texas folkisms and tall tales. The library is on the east side of the University of Texas campus, but it's worth the 10-minute walk across campus to the College of Communication's Walter Cronkite Plaza to take in Ben Rubin's outdoor installation "And That's the Way It Is", a text-based electronic tribute to the legendary anchorman whose 1968 broadcast on Vietnam hastened the end of the war.
• 2313 Red River St, University of Texas campus, +1 512 721 0200, lbjlibrary.org, free. Open 9am-5pm daily

Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum

You don't have to travel far to find green space in Austin, but rarer is the kind of serene, secret-garden quality the Umlauf has in spades. A short walk from town twin jewels Zilker Park and the Barton Springs Pool, this South Austin outdoor space encourages hands-on appreciation of dozens of works by 20th-century sculptor and long-time Austin resident Charles Umlauf. (The bronze statues have been weather- and human-proofed with a wax coating.) Art and nature commingle in magical ways here, and it's catching. Tranquility is easy to come by on a guided tour, a private ramble, or during the twice-weekly morning yoga sessions.
• 605 Robert E Lee Rd, +1 512 445 5582, umlaufsculpture.org, adult $3.50, student/senior $1, under-six free. Open Wed-Fri 10am-4.30pm, Sat-Sun 1pm-4.30pm

grayDUCK

A relative newcomer, this privately owned gallery is a must-see stop in the revitalised South 1st Street arts and fine-dining district. (Don't forget to look to the sky for the historic Moonlight Tower at the intersection of Monroe St and S 1st, one of only a handful of late 19th-century structures still standing and in use.) An open, airy feel – think stained concrete floors, exposed brick, and bright blasts of sun through skylights – belies the gallery's relatively small square footage. Mixed media works dominate the front room, while the back hosts more modestly priced pieces, such as locally designed gig poster art. One recent Saturday, the owner's puppy snoozed on a cushion while LCD Soundsystem played softly on the stereo; the vibe is so chill, you'll want to slow to an amble to soak it all in.
• 608 W Monroe St, Suite C, +1 512 826 5334, grayduckgallery.com, free. Open Wed, Fri, Sat 11am-6pm; Thu 4pm-8pm; Sun noon-5pm, free

• Kimberley Jones is a senior editor at The Austin Chronicle