Reviews of The Contemporary Austin - Jones Center (Museum)

Ashton Brown

was that seriously it? ... I walked in and out in like 4 minutes.

Aj Bautista

Cool looking museum with awesome Austin views from the rooftop.

Fed Cane

Not much art at that museum. Not really much to see.

Matthew Lorono

Sitting on a wood pallet or avoiding rotting sweet potatoes sound fun to you? Good. This is your place. I understand art, but the current exhibit just feels more lazy than evocative or interesting.

Marcelo Teson

I got married here. In the community room. It was absolutely lovely, and the museum exhibits were interesting to my guests. The museum staff was amazing, super helpful and friendly, happy to have our modest party there. This is a great institution worth your time and money.

Kelvin Williams

It nice the kids enjoyed it

Nadejda Aseeva

Arthouse has great programs for kids still in high school; my work was displayed here once as part of a competition. It curates interesting, contemporary work of local artists around Austin. During SXSW it becomes a party venue one should be sure to visit!

Judd Rogers

Interesting gallery

A Google User

It's really the only modern art player on town although it's size speaks gallery.

Brandon Gordon

The front desk clerk was helpful and nice. That was where the customer service ended. Everyone else seemed like they were glaring at us. It was a bit uncomfortable. That being said, the art was beautiful and unique. My only comment is... I felt underwhelmed. I felt like for $20 you would get to see a bit more art at the main location. I realize the ticket gets you into the sculpture park, but if you are traveling and have a booked day you can't always make a detour. I truly thank the artists who have placed their art on location for this building, but I won't say I recommend it.

Mike Bowlin

Nice place to attend an event.

Oscar H. Fajardo

Very interesting current exhibit on display. Great location in downtown with great rooftop views of the city. Your entrance fee also gets you into the sculpture gardens.

Mike Battaglia

Really not impressed with the exhibit. I think there were maybe 3 or 4 poorly executed pieces shown. Saw everything in under 10 minutes; don't understand the big fuss about the rooftop either. I'm a spoiled New Yorker I guess.

Jared Deckwa

Great gallery and the events they hold on the rooftop are amazing!

Deborah Coley

Arthouse at the Jones Center has recently joined forces with AMOA; and I see nothing but good to come from the collaboration. The Arthouse is an accessible space for emerging and established artists. I've attended a number of openings and an Edible Austin food event there; and each time I found it to be a relaxed and exquisite gallery. The staff is available, but non-intrusive which makes for a lovely time to reflect and absorb the art. Highly recommended.

Andy

Paid for entry, it was a weak ass exhibit. But I'm sure they have good stuff at times

Jenn Mcdavitt

It was cool. It's the first art gallery I've ever been to so I'm not too savvy about how they typically run. I think that the exhibits i saw were really neat. I could actually understand his stark symbolism. I gave it 4 Stars instead of 5 because i felt like there wasn't a whole lot on display. I think they could have included more

chanelle glover

This is a beautiful venue with wonderful staff and amazingly crafted shows.

Doug Duwenhoegger

Small space with cool shows by up and coming and established artists.

Juan Manuel Acosta

Totally uneventful. I would not recommend it. The park at the lake though is really good.

Rito Reagan

The Contemporary Austin is Austin, Texas's primary community art museum, consisting of two primary locations and an art school. The Contemporary Austin reflects the spectrum of contemporary art through exhibitions, commissions, education, and the collection. Locally, the museum is often referred to as The Contemporary.

Jennifer Gustavson

Great art exhibit for teens. Great exhibition that utilizes all senses. DJ was great!

David Gary

There wasn't a lot of things there

Jeffrey Twigg

Really disappointing. Only two pieces to see and nothing I could appreciate on a technical or intellectual level. :( Maybe it is worth the entrance charge if you can drive to the other part of the museum Really disappointing.

Jacqueline Micklos

Had some interesting light and sound based pieces, does not take long to get through the exhibits. Was ok, but not fantastic.

Kirk Chantraine

Really cool little space with solid curation and a really nice rooftop patio.

Drew Tribbey

Due to the 3 floors of NOTHING we ALL hated it. Thank God we got a free pass to another outdoor contemporary museum.

Eugene Ignatov

Wow. It was the most hideous museum I have ever been in my entire life. Don’t even waste your 5$for entrance. Better go buy scratch off lottery ticket or something It will be more joy

Ajay Kapadia

First time visiting. The each of the artists presented were both engaging in their own right. Just wish there was more printed material to have available.

Ian Lane

I must admit that this exhibit left me perplexed as to my Definition of art.

Tori Wilkins Baker

Beautiful building and polite service but such a waste of space. I am thoroughly disappointed with the exhibit.

Edward Murray

Building and interior is really cool. Much smaller than I expected. Had 5 small exhibits, 3 of them were great

Paige Rubin

Smaller than I expected, only took me about 20 Minutes to see all the art. However it was nicely curated and had a very interesting exhibit

George Urban

Nice little gallery

Rachel Romanczukiewicz

Worth a visit if you're in Austin. An inexpensive, interesting, and immersive art experience. Knowledgeable and friendly staff members, as well as a rooftop with a nice view of downtown Austin.

Mara Porras

Great content.

Austin Moore

This place gets really fun exhibits quite often.

Chris Baker

They recently reopened the Jones Center after being closed a few months for renovation and have pieces from Monika Sosnowska on display. There are about 6 pieces downstairs and 3 upstairs. One of the staff members said the rooftop should be finished in a few weeks and open December 15th or 16th. If you plan on stopping by, I'd recommend waiting until the rooftop is finished.

Phoebe Mattoon

Really interesting collection. The place is small though and it doesn't take much time to see everything

Rene Zain

Nice exterior and front staff were friendly. The rooftop was technically the best part with the nice views but the first 2 floors of art exhibits were very uninspiring and bare bones. The price of $10 is not worth it unless you find an art exhibit that appeals to you in the future

Jack Morris

Always a good use of time to visit. The exhibits change regularly, as you'd expect from a contemporary spot, but that's the whole point. I was really digging the Rodney McMillian stuff on my last visit, especially after seeing his Black Show at the ICA at UPenn. Cheap admission, especially for students, centrally located for Austin's bus system, cool building. Also free cold brew coffee from a corporate sponsored keg on the roof when I visited. $3 for student admission, see some cutting edge art, and push your heart to a speeding collapse on caffeine. Offers a lot more than the $3 cuppa offered at the Starbucks across the intersection.

AJ Boozer

Great curator and the art is.so good I go back to feel inspired and wash my soul. AJ Boozer

Gabe Hernandez

I went during a Tuesday, in which admission is free. I went about an hour before closing and the art was great. But I didn't get to truly enjoy it or get the full enrichment of it because of the staff. I was one of two people looking at the exhibits whereas they had 4 employees patrolling each floor ensuring that nobody is tapping on the glass or snapping photos. It was really uncomfortable to feel so supervised. When I went up to the second floor it was though no longer being supervised became explicit permission for the employees downstairs to carry on with their conversations. It was not a pleasant experience and I wish that such a beautiful collection wasn't ruined for the public by the people whose jobs it is to curate and protect the art. I'm going to give it a second opportunity, but aim for a Tuesday where I can see there is a crowd that finally outnumbers the staff.

Matt Malone

The worst exhibits. A ripoff

Marty Bruinsma

Nice and mellow.... very comfortable vibe

Emiliano Ramirez

Kinda Boring

Alexander Gee

Excellent space especially their rooftop deck.

Daniel Hurlbut

There's a 7-11 there now. Which is kind of like art.

Debbie Mc

This place is a lot of fun, does not matter what the exhibit is

Virginia Stanton

This is the second time we visited this current exhibit. The best time to visit this museum is Sunday, when street parking is readily available.....

Miranda Vining

Cool art installation, great view of Congress from the roof!

Amy New

absolutely beautiful space, amazing exhibit and very kind staff. would return here any chance i get.

Joseph Schmidt

Kind of limited selection of art from one artist. No guide to give more information, but free coffee!

Cliff Yu

Awesome museum in downtown Austin

R Cooper

Fascinating shows, amazing artists in a wonderful and educational setting. Favorite place to pass a few hours each time a new show goes up.

Michael Hathaway

How have you not been here yet? Easy approachable modern art , a fine addition to the art scene in Austin Texas .

Syed Amin

Just to spend sometime

herrDoctorchoppy

More of an exhibition space. Which is very cool. One artist when we visited. Contemporary art always challenges you, so be open and accept the challenge the some sees the world differently than you and consider how art can put you in another’s shoes.

Sarah Garza

The AMOA is simply amazing. A beautiful layout as well as wonderful galleries. They were kind enough to let us host an event recently for the Make a Wish Foundation which was a great success! They were very helpful and did a walkthrough of the venue with us prior and everyone really enjoyed themselves! I will def. return again!

Rudy R.

While in downtown Austin, I had a hankering for some art - saw a great show here and recommend the gallery. It's a smaller space (2 floors); there are no concessions. The modern design of the wood staircase between the floors is pleasing.

Jesse Melanson

Been here three times. First time was an amazing exhibit from the lead guy of band DEVO. Last two times iv come the exhibits have been horribly boring and limited. It was ridiculous, couldn't believe they were selling admission....I felt like I was scammed out of $10 - and when you show up with your family or a group of friends it ends up costing like $50 - to see almost nothing. I enjoy contemporary art, but this place needs to up its game - its absolute nonsense what they have going on inside right now.

Maribel Hambric

Very contemporary.

morteza karami

Collection might be small and limited, but in general a rich experience.

suvesh arumugam

Great!

Rinki Goswami

Interesting exhibit with reasonable pricing and nearby sculpture garden. The rooftop space was beautiful and a spacious little heaven in city life

Chris Harper

Seriously, the most ridiculous "art" gallery I've ever been to. The art loft had library books about Minimalism and art history. So I go to an art gallery to read borrowed books about art? And one floor was just a green hallway? Wow. But gave 2 stars because we killed ourselves laughing at how stupid this was.

Kerry Andrus

This museum is 2 small floors with (current) space for 3 exhibits. Unfortunately for us, the two displays upstairs both incorporated audio which was at war with each other, really killing my enjoyment of both. I prefer to not be lectured or yelled at while looking at art, so this wasnt for me. Staff was kind and helpful, building was clean. Maybe if the exhibit speaks to you it's work the 5$ entree.

T Ray

I love the exhibitions here!! The staff probably have to deal with difficult folks at times because they come across as overly cautious about everything, but I think they are just trying to protect the art and minimize their liability. It's not free to enter, but a small fee helps to keep the lights on. Ask about how to become a member and get special invites to private events on their rooftop. My visits here have helped me to gain new perspectives in my own creative thinking.

Johanna Rodriguez

Fun rooftop to attend event

Angela Breaux

I paid admission for only FOUR installments that were not very interesting or well executed. It was a complete rip off.

Kyrylo Butenko

Two floors of boring stuff. Good thing we went with friends and good things we were laughing of everything. Sorry.

Erin Kelly

Fairly small museum. There were only two artists on display when we visited.

mark austin

Not worth it , where was the art ?

Anne Baker

Great open space. Good staff and really enjoyed the installation.

Yousif Del Valle

Great space.

mason kraft

The building itself is cool and has a good atmosphere. However, the Rodney McMillian exhibit was laughable. I found it to have a serious lack of creativity. None of the showcases evoked any kind of reaction and I was finished very quickly. Visually, there is no base level appeal to the work. And, unfortunately, it wasn't thought provoking in the slightest sense either. To me, it rides on the coat tails of racial tension in America to try and garner attention without having any of the means to do so. The tarp, knitted to look like the white house, was especially bad to the point I was just laughing to myself. It looked like a third grade class project, but it was masqueraded as a collection of fine details representing slave history in American politics. I don't think art has to require some kind of difficult/unique skill to be great or make a point. However, if you're going to make something of simple skill and effort, the end product should have at least of some kind of unique features or synergy with the exhibit. The descriptions throughout the installation went into scathing detail about the process of making everything. I assume this is because the end product had little to talk about. This should have been free entry, as are other places with better local art.

Beth McKinney

I know it's not what I should pay attention to... but I kind of love this place for the building itself more than what's being displayed inside. Every time I go in, I can't help but be drawn into a game of "what was it before??" The doors on the wall suggest I'm in between the floors that used to be- and the design that they left suggests the same. It's an awesome building... one of my many places downtown that I love to drive myself crazy with. The art inside is usually pretty good also, if you're into that.

Mea Attwell

Don’t miss their movie showings on the roof! They’re super fun and always on really interesting topics.

Kevin Sharkey

Small but interesting. I would say make sure you go to both museums to make it worth it.

Clemens Duerrschmid

very interesting art, great rooftop terrace for private events

Brian Vattiat

Cool and cavernous, a great place to spend a summer afternoon. Good selection of exhibits, too.

Joe Morse

While the collection fits is minimal floor space, The AMOA deserves five stars for its events (members only), which it hosts itself or in conjunction with the Jones Center. AMOA is affiliated with the beautiful Laguna Gloria and members also get discounts on classes and events there.

Jeff Gerdes

Superb space and excellent exhibits make for a vivacious visit!

Shannon Moore

Always provocative and cutting edge art

matthew moore

The staff there was incredibly nice and the place had a great selection of art to view

K S

There was a Rodney McMillian exhibit on while I visited. This was interesting to see if you enjoy that type of art. This is a small museum with only 2 floors of art displayed. The roof top area is beautiful. You don’t get great views of the city but it’s worth checking out. There’s a few tables and chairs to relax. There is a small book cart with books to borrow onsite. I visited on a Tuesday when the museum has free entry. As the museum is quite small, I likely wouldn’t pay to enter the museum if I didn’t love the art work of the featured artist.

Nikole Patson

Definitely worth a visit. Not overwhelming.

Raul Vega

Has unique art and the building itself is quite a site for a true art enthusiast. Modified from an old retail warehouse to an art space

Cecily Gordon

Amazing rooftop and collection of art!

A. Pierce

Great little museum. Free on Tuesdays!

Amy Kritzer

Small but quality space with unique architecture, films on the roof and traveling exhibits. Unique art space in the middle of downtown Austin!

Stephen Carney

Really awesome deck on the roof. Pretty good art display, trendy.

Timothy Elliott

Just baloney, ridiculous waste of $5.

Jug Head

Just saw Monica Sosnowska's preshow! Wonderful!

M Arwood

Waste of time and space. Go to Laguna instead

Elijah Ruckman

Its alright

Isvac Solano

It is a waste of time, nothing interesting to see

amy weeks

This place was not worth just going to downtown for. Dont get me wrong the place was interesting and gave me a different view of art but I think the other art museum on Laguna is where I would go. Not very much to see at this location.

Rhonda Beckham

Go here every chance I get

Brittany O

Very few exhibits when we visited

Alyssa Bilot

Studied this building in architecture school, and paid the $5 to check out the glass details from the inside, but they were COVERED. Supremely disappointed. Also, the only piece of art was a green hallway. Very disappointing museum experience.

Molly Wallace

This is such a fun museum, both of the locations are wonderful.

Audrey Galat

Great show on display and dont forget to check out their sculpture garden!

Dale Ricklefs

Excellent exhibit of abstract expressionist Weiser, but the museum has a long way to go. No store, the top floor, and open space, has nothing in it and no seating. Elevators are very slow. Nice space-- they just need to take it to the next level. Wish they left the art museum at Laguna Gloria and expanded it. Parking is awful, too, and costly, for what one sees and experiences.

Greg Griffith

Just the right amount of art for a morning. Kind, helpful staff and beautiful building.

John Chlebowski

I recommend an open mind for this small avant guarded art venue. .... shot phone pics from their rooftop of the great geometries and. juxtaposition of the new skyscrapers ...

Daniel Jenkins

This visit was on a "free day" due to the remodeling and closing off of the second floor. We had the opportunity to view the first floor installations by Jessica Stockholder and Robert Davidson. Both were energetic, provocative installations that brought to the foreground the relationship between the "viewer" and the "object." Stockholder's work was more immediate while Davidson's felt more like a fresh perspective on ancient imagery from our collective subconscious. The elevated viewing platform promotes the theme of context-as-subject. This is precisely what compliments the adjacent Stockholder installation which is amplified by its contrast to the ancient lines of Davidson.

Stephen Walck

Second time to visit them. I like the place

Dustin Mitchell

The building looks large but the exhibition space is fairly small and appears to only host one or two shows at a time, with no permanent collection. The shows when I visited were interesting, but I was finished in well under an hour.

Tram Phan

Denied entry by front desk bc of my dog. It is a myth that all service animals must wear a vest by the way. There are certain questions you can ask if you are unsure if an animal is or not a service animal without offending the owner, none of which they did before refusing entry altogether.

Damian Hogan

Wasn't very interesting or worth the fee. Better off going to the Blanton down the street.

Tom

Great rooftop theater. Interesting Architectural design and nice a art installation.

Jianwei Shi

Relative small: 2 topics only.

Pinaki Ghosh

Horrible quality of art - worst is how they treat kids

suchamazingdoge

Great art and exhibitions

Jillian Newman

One of the first real exhibits that I had was at the original Arthouse, which has since been rebuilt and re-joined with AMOA. The modern architecture is fun as are many of their exhibits - at the least the artists that Arthouse features are interesting. I love the rooftop deck, and the usually festive events that they host. They also have a program called Club Arthouse which is for gifted or aspiring high school artists.

Richard Bernhardt

We enjoyed our visit, especially the rooftop chill space!

Brionne Griffin

This place was smaller than I expected, but had an interesting mix of artworks. It's a fun way to kill some time with a friend on the weekend.

Jhazmine Billups

Amazing space to see beautiful installations. Cute date spot!

Josh Kimbell

It's nice, really it is. The people are friendly so that's a plus. The thing that gets me about this place is that you can see the whole thing in about an hour. It's an incredibly small art museum, and god I wish it was bigger.

Kelsey Ross

Relatively small galleries, but their events and exhibitions are always great; they definitely punch above their weight.

Madhu Rajamani

great location. view from terrace is awesome.

Ann Vaughn

Love The Sorcerer's Burden now on exhibit. Remodel of the space looks great!

Stephanie Favela

Not what we were expecting, and the building was too hot. The art exhibition was amazing in the other hand, but we just had a glimpse. The cool thing is the student discount with valid ID!

Lesa Rossick

Recently renamed The Contemporary Austin, The Jones Center has been a continued classy establishment for art and displays for over 100 years. Through the month of February until April, Charles Long has amazing pieces on display for hours of enjoyment before or a meal at La Traviata. Definitely check out the rooftop view overlooking downtown. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11am-7pm and Sunday 12-5pm. TIP: Rental available for Private Parties. Check out website for workshops and educational classes. Additional location at Laguna Gloria.

Kim E

Yeah it's contemporary af

Cameron R

Located in the heart of down town this art gallery is small but offers some interesting pieces. I didn't see everying since I was on a field trip with my daughter. It was great though the art made the kids think. Like any where the traffic is awful and the parking is non existent. There are garages a couple blocks away and the walk isn't bad.

Bryant Tran

This place is great! It's a good sized but intimate space. They've got rotating shows every 3-4 months with really cool artists. Being a member really pays off! The discount on art school classes and the member previews easily make up the price of membership.

Ash

Great art!

Jeff Lengyel

The Huma Bhabha exhibit was awesome! A must see in my opinion. The museum itself is fairly small, you can see everything in about an hour.

David Olvera

AMoA seriously needs to consider finding a more relevant space. They acquire great pieces and host stellar exhibits. But with Blanton and private spaces flooding the city...a lagging economy keeping patrons away...AMoA may quickly lose its relevance in this city.

Rachel Whelan

10$ is rather pricy for such a small museum. If you decide to go, be sure to also visit Laguna Gloria (included with the price) to get your money's worth.

Travis Williams

Nirvana and Pearl Jam was awesome.

Yew Kar

There wasn't much of an exhibit to look at. The lady at the front was extremely helpful and informative about what to expect there. We went up to the roof top but there wasn't anything there. Good thing it was free

Gergana Slavova

A smallish but really cool museum. Definitely go up to the rooftop!

Ayleah Ford

Pretty interesting exhibit when I went. They were showing this Rodney McMillian race introspective. Audio and visual and even an interactive drawing space to contribute ideas. It was fairly inexpensive and I would attend again for future exhibits. Love the building and parking is available everywhere pretty much.!

Charley Adams

A nice place to go and the rooftop view is awesome.

henry Saint

Great exibits just wanted more for the $10.00 entry fee. What was there was very interesting and I enjoyed my visit

Bruce Boyes

I guess it's a great place but it's now closed between exhibits. Apparently I missed this detail on the web site.

David O

I've been here to listen to a band play up stairs (in an installation exhibit) which was pretty cool. The place is not too big but pretty cool.

Greg Wells

Two floors of installations and an empty rooftop. Can't say it was worth the $10, but I appreciate the art.

Caryn Mills

Great museum staff.

Victor Wang

Extremely cheap admission and they participate in Bank of America's Museums on Us program. This place is an extremely small museum with only two floors and the floor plan is quite compact. Only a couple art works are currently on display. The other location housing the outdoor sculpture garden is much more impressive in my opinion. Staff is extremely friendly though.

Liza Willmore

Looking for architectural inspiration? Stop in here and sign up for a membership. During the Spring and Fall, this museum hosts movie nights on their rooftop deck to view architectural films. As a member, you're also included in their monthly members happy hour, sponsored by local vendors. View the gallery installations, sip cocktails with friends, and spend a breezy Wednesday night on their rooftop and pass all the 6th street bars!

Albert Welbel

Small interesting and thought provoking exhibit. It is worth your time to walk through

James Mulholland

The name says it all, Contemporary; inspiring, eclectic yet pleasant

Natalie Misasi

Really great exhibit from Mark Mothersbaugh

Katrien Sevrin

Great collections.

Alexander Chernowitz

Main exhibit was disappointing. The worst was an artless boring amateur film about Klansmen having sex with a pergola. But the big bad of the day was the sculpture garden visit: to be included with admission. We were given open hours and took an Uber out there - only to be refused entry. "Special event". Wasted more on Uber fares than on the ticket to the Contemporary. What we find negligent is not having been told the gardens were closed for the day.

Manuel Arellano

Great art, comfy area, very modern.

Dick Merritt

Pretty cool place for art..

Jennifer Rodriguez

Highly recommend this, along with it's other location, Laguna Gloria.

Matthew Lloyd

Very small and limited collection. Left disappointed. Would have paid $4, not $10.

Benjamin Franklin

Great

Sandra Torres

If you love art as much as I do and you live in Austin you should get a membership to the Contemporary! The museum is beautiful. The rooftop is superb and this is only for the Congress ave location... Laguna Gloria is a beautiful fusion if art and nature. Have I mentioned the perks of the membership?

John R

I love this place. The first exhibit I went to was the Lichtenstein exhibit and I always look forward to coming here. It's a fun time.

John Paul Kaminga

Tranquil and beautiful place