The Contemporary Austin

The Laguna Gloria campus of the Contemporary art museum, on the shores of Lake Austin, offers a wonderful blend of nature and human achievement (the museum has another location downtown). The Italianate villa was built following the original owner’s trip to Lake Como, Italy, more than a century ago. In addition to galleries, Laguna Gloria features an amphitheater for events and film screenings, an art school, and a sculpture garden. The museum has exhibited works by artists such as Ai Weiwei, Anya Gallaccio, Nancy Holt, and many others. Its grounds simultaneously feel like a garden, a lakeside estate, and a barely tamed rain forest, with pieces of sculpture almost hidden throughout.