{"id":115421,"date":"2026-01-08T12:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/115421\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T12:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:02:08","slug":"5-things-to-do-in-austin-this-weekend-jan-9-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/115421\/","title":{"rendered":"5 things to do in Austin this weekend, Jan. 9-11"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whether your New Year&#8217;s resolution is to get more crafty, get out of the house or get off social media, Austin&#8217;s art scene can help you out. The city is full of creative opportunities. <\/p>\n<p>Check out these events and exhibits to help you stick to your goals. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/redriverculturaldistrict.org\/free-week\/\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Free Week, Red River Cultural District<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Friday and Saturday, various times and locations <\/p>\n<p>Free Week was started over 10 years ago to keep the Austin music scene alive during a normally slow period. Dozens of free shows are taking place at venues across the city throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Art Beat&#8217;s picks: For Friday, Jet Cemetery at Elysium, Grocery Bag at Swan Dive and <a href=\"https:\/\/kutx.org\/kutx-presents\/free-week-kutx-showcase\/\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">KUTX&#8217;s whole lineup at Stubb&#8217;s<\/a>. On Saturday, head to Mohawk for the Good Looks show.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thecontemporaryaustin.org\/event\/free-week-at-the-jones-center-3\/\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Free Week at the Jones Center<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2013Sunday, 12 to 6 p.m. <br \/>700 Congress Ave.<\/p>\n<p>The Contemporary Austin is waiving fees through Sunday for access to the Jones Center downtown. It\u2019s your final chance to catch the Teddy Sandoval exhibit before it closes Monday. <a href=\"https:\/\/thecontemporaryaustin.ticketing.veevartapp.com\/tickets\/view\/list\/fall-2025-exhibitions-free-week-at-the-jones-center\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Reservations are recommended.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"A record player made out of wood sits on a pedestal with round slices of a tree hanging on the walls in the background. \"  width=\"880\" height=\"587\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767873728_677_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    A record player created by Steve Parker at the Funeral for a Tree exhibit at Ivester Contemporary.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ivestercontemporary.com\/\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Funeral for a Tree, Ivester Contemporary<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2013Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.<br \/>916 Springdale Road (Canopy)<\/p>\n<p>Steve Parker cut the trunk of a dead tree into &#8220;cookies&#8221; to create playable records encoded with bird songs. The installation features a wooden turntable inspired by an old Victrola and a contraption that incorporates medical breathing bags and reeds from a Chinese wind instrument called a sheng. On view through Saturday. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/intro-to-mural-painting-workshop-tickets-1977535950261\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Intro to Mural Painting Workshop, Raasin in the Sun<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cost: $17.85<br \/>Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.<br \/>The Lot on 12th, 1522 E. 12th Street<\/p>\n<p>Learn about and experiment with spray paint techniques at a hands-on workshop for beginners and people who want to up their game. Taught by Austin-based artist Sam Soper, a muralist who specializes in pop-surrealist portraiture.  <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"\"  width=\"880\" height=\"440\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767873728_928_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.differentstagestheatre.org\/copy-of-on-stage\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Man of the People, Trinity Street Playhouse<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cost: $17, 27, $37 \u2013 pick your price<br \/>Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.<br \/>Trinity Street Playhouse, 901 Trinity St. <\/p>\n<p>The play chronicles the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kut.org\/life-arts\/2025-12-29\/man-of-the-people-tells-the-strange-but-true-story-of-charlatan-doctor-john-r-brinkley\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">true story of John R. Brinkley<\/a>, a medical quack in the 1920s who claimed to be able to cure impotence with goat gland transplants. Runs through Jan. 24.<\/p>\n<p>Or \u2014 you could stay home and work on your video for NPR&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/tinydeskcontest.npr.org\/2026\/announcement\/\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Tiny Desk Contest<\/a>. The contest opens Tuesday, and artists have until Feb. 9 at 11:50 p.m. ET. to enter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether your New Year&#8217;s resolution is to get more crafty, get out of the house or get off&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,50740,14444,50741,33324,50742,50743,50744,50745,23676,50746],"class_list":["post-115421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-canopy","tag-free-week","tag-funeral-for-a-tree","tag-ivester-contemporary","tag-jones-center","tag-man-of-the-people","tag-mural-painting-workshop","tag-raasin-in-the-sun","tag-red-river-cultural-district","tag-sam-soper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}