Luminations, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s nature-inspired holiday light show, returns on December 5. The annual event transforms the gardens into an illuminated winter experience with twinkling trails, artful light installations and interactive moments for families. Guests can explore new projections and displays, enjoy festive snacks and full-service bars, and access a lighted-up Fortlandia — the Center’s collection of climbable forts. Live music pop-ups take place nightly throughout the run.

Luminations is open from December 5, 2025, through January 3, 2026, with advance tickets available on the Wildflower Center’s website. Proceeds support the Center’s conservation and education programs.

Malcolm Bucknall: My Make Believe runs Jan. 10–Feb. 1, 2026, at Wally Workman Gallery, with an opening reception Saturday, Jan. 10, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The exhibition features recent works by Malcolm Bucknall, whose absurdist surrealism blends Old Master references with influences from cartoons, film and personal photography. Known for his recurring human-animal imagery, Bucknall explores themes of love, fear, instinct and self-recognition through anthropomorphic figures that invite a sense of wonder and discovery.

The Contemporary Austin will offer free admission during Free Week at The Jones Center from Wednesday, Jan. 7, through Sunday, Jan. 11, giving visitors a final chance to view several major exhibitions ahead of the museum’s spring 2026 season.

On view through Sunday is “HOST” by Raul De Lara, the Austin-raised artist’s first solo Texas museum exhibition, featuring seven monumental wooden sculptures carved from native Texas and Mexican woods that explore cultural duality, queer identity and the immigrant experience. Also closing is “Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art,” the first museum retrospective of the late Los Angeles artist Teddy Sandoval, whose work challenged conventions around gender, sexuality and Chicanx identity.

The group exhibition “The Canvas Can Do Miracles” will also be on view, bringing together five contemporary artists across both museum locations to examine abstraction as a tool for environmental engagement and coded resistance.

Capacity is limited. Pre-registration is recommended but not required, and free tickets can be reserved online.

Davis Gallery is thrilled to announce the representation, and inaugural solo exhibition of Court Lurie, titled Molecular. Join us for the opening reception on January 17th, 2026, from 4:00 – 7:00 pm.

This whimsical body of work by Lurie is a radiant celebration of transition, hope, and the pursuit of self-actualization. Her visual manuscripts reflect an eccentric life journey, imbued with vulnerability, healing, and risk-taking. The viewer is invited into a portal where vibrant hues, hundreds of layers of water, pigment, latex, and expressive mark-making create imaginative, dream-like worlds, offering endless opportunities for contemplation.

Inside the paintings, inscribed language—both obscured and illuminated—serves as channeled prose and poetry, a form of communication with the universe. The canvas is both sanctuary and laboratory where Court metabolizes joy and challenge, transmuting them into utopic realms. Born from improvisation, the works reference molecular building blocks, investigating the qualities of circles, squares, and hexagons, alongside organic shapes alluding to the human viscera and DNA. Each piece emanates an optimism and hopefulness that if we lean in, nurture our relationship to self and the universe, and really listen, we will be guided intuitively into our next passage.

Opening Reception: January 17th, 2026, 4-7pm
Artist Talk: January 24th, 2026, 1-3pm reception with 1:30pm talk
Visit with the Artist: January 31st or February 7th from 2-4pm
Closing Reception: February 14th, 2026, 2-4pm
Artist Tour: By Appointment
On View: January 17th – February 14th, 2026

“Reuse On the Runway: The Exhibit” will be on view Jan. 17–Feb. 28, 2026, at the Julia C. Butridge Gallery at the Dougherty Arts Center, showcasing 24 upcycled couture looks from Austin Creative Reuse’s 2025 Reuse on the Runway fashion show. The exhibition features designs created from repurposed materials such as fabric remnants, architectural samples, newspapers and everyday objects.

An artist reception is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m., followed by an artist talk on Tuesday, Feb. 3, from 7 to 9 p.m. The exhibit highlights the intersection of fashion, sustainability and creative reuse.