Exhibits
Austin Public Library Staff Art Exhibition
Austin Public Library Staff Art Exhibition
Austin Public Library Staff
September 14, 2026
- January 3, 2027
Central Library - 710 W. César Chávez St.
Living Room (6th Floor South) (6th Floor)
About the Exhibit
Pages to Palettes: the Intersection of Visual Art and the Written Word
This year, we’re exploring the powerful connection between visual art and the written word. Whether inspired by a favorite book, a memorable character, a poem, or even the library itself, staff were invited to submit their original artwork that reflects the intersection of image and language.
The exhibition is a celebration of storytelling, discovery, and inspiration—how both visual and literary arts spark imagination and bring meaning to our lives and work.
About the Artist
31 Austin Public Library Staff members across branches and departments will be exhibiting their artwork.
Image credit
In Circulation: A Century of the Austin Public Library
In Circulation: A Century of the Austin Public Library
September 22, 2026
- April 22, 2027
Austin History Center, Faulk Building - 800 Guadalupe St.
About the Exhibit
To celebrate Austin Public Library’s Centennial, we’re presenting In Circulation: A Century of the Austin Public Library, an exhibit tracing APL’s evolution from its early reading room to a citywide institution shaped by advocacy, public service, and community participation. Through archival photos, timelines, architectural history, and stories of access and civic change, the exhibit highlights how APL has influenced Austin’s cultural and public life over the past century.
About the Artist
For questions or the latest information about exhibits and collections, contact Austin.HistoryCenter@austintexas.gov.
Image credit
Seeking Community
Seeking Community
Asian American Belonging within the Austin American-Statesman
September 30, 2026
- November 30, 2029
Austin History Center, Faulk Building - 800 Guadalupe St.
About the Exhibit
A curated selection of photographs from the Austin American-Statesman Photographic Morgue collection housed at the Austin History Center, Austin Public Library. During a time when Austin’s Asian Pacific American population was small, international visitors, new immigrants, educators, and families had to be resourceful and resilient in the search of community. These images from the 1960s-1980s offer a rare glimpse into early moments of collaboration, education, and exchange.
Image credit
Maze Tales
Maze Tales
Elizabeth Hudson
October 1, 2026
- January 3, 2027
Central Library - 710 W. César Chávez St.
Gallery (2nd Floor Southwest) (2nd Floor)
About the Exhibit
Artist Meet & Greet: Sunday, October 11, 2026, 1:00pm-3:00pm
Watercolor with the Artist: Sunday, October 11, 2026, 3:00pm-4:30pm
“I know of a Greek labyrinth which is a single straight line. Along this line so many philosophers have lost themselves that a mere detective might well do so too.” -from Death and the Compass by Jorge Luis Borges
Mazes are depicted as difficult paths in popular imagination, but Maze Tales posits an alternative point of view: what if a maze represents a journey one decides to willingly embark upon? On another level, what if the maze is your right to opacity, as the writer Édouard Glissant talks about in Philosophie de la Relation (Philosophy of Relation)? What kind of wonder and surprise can you stumble upon when you find yourself lost with no directions other than your internal guide?
Elizabeth Hudson explores this alternative world of mazes and labyrinths through the lens of Black folklore, incorporating the natural world with both the imagined and the constructed worlds of staircases, pathways, and playgrounds. Using watercolor as her primary medium, she invites viewers to step into a world of dreams, of poetry, and paradoxically, of opacity.
About the Artist
Elizabeth Maria Hudson (b. Los Angeles, 1989) is a watercolor figurative painter from Dallas, Texas. She studied painting and drawing at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and has a BA in history and art history from the University of Texas at Austin. She has exhibited at Pencil on Paper Gallery, George Washington Carver Museum, Big Medium, and Martha’s. Her work is in the current issue of New American Paintings: Issue 180 West. Presently, work centers on translating the nuances of black American folklore into a visual language that focuses on womanist themes like agency, liberation, and community care. She currently lives and works between Dallas, Texas and Austin, Texas.