For those of you who have missed the 8,000 articles already published on the subject, local—be it food, music, film or otherwise—is in right now. Case in point, witness all the hoopla over the Austin premiere of Baghead (created by former Austinites, the Duplass Brothers). So rather than jetting off to some exotic locale this June or sitting inside watching random clips of faraway places on YouTube, get out and do some of the tender, local (read Texas) art world events recommended below. Local is fun—and also morally superior…

In all earnestness, the nine members of okay mountain, the plucky east Austin art space, are local heroes for their tireless commitment to offering up excellent exhibitions, performances, etc. to Austin for the last two years. …might be good has a hard and fast rule not to publicize art world benefits—but just this once we’re making an exception for okay mountain. Long story short, be at okay mountain on Saturday, June 28 at 5:00 pm, for The Mountain is Alive! their first ever fundraiser/benefit.

Despite received art world wisdom that summer months offer slim pickings for art-goers, this year, there’s a bevy of interesting exhibitions on view in Austin, Houston and San Antonio (where July is officially “Contemporary Arts Month"—click here for the schedule of events) in late June and July. In Austin, Jill Pangallo, artist and creator of Nohegan, has curated a group show entitled Reality Show which is on view at Women and Their Work until August 7. The amazing spoof of Us Weekly that serves as the show’s announcement speaks for itself. Also coming up at okay mountain is a two person show presenting work by Austinites Anna Krachey and Barry Stone. The show is called The Fifth of July, and yes, you guessed it—it opens on the fifth of July.

When talking about keeping it local, what organization does it better than Artpace San Antonio? For the uninformed, here’s a quick rundown of how their international artist-in residence program works: a guest curator chooses one artist from outside of the U.S., one artist from outside of Texas and one artist living in Texas to come to Artpace for a two month residency, culminating in an exhibition. As a result, Texans have the opportunity to see works created by art world superstars living in their state and beyond. Go check out the latest round of residents in New Works 08.2, which opens Thursday, July 10. New Works 08.2 features a particularly stellar lineup of artists—Marcos Ramírez ERRE (Tijuana, Mexico), Mark Bradford( Los Angeles, California) and William Cordova (Houston Texas)—but what else would expect from powerhouse Lauri Firstenberg, the Director/Curator of LA>ART?

Lastly, yet another Houston institution has decided to present a show purportedly investigating the impact of folk traditions on contemporary art. While The Old, Weird America at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston investigates the intersection of contemporary art and folk culture within the context of American history (see Scott Webel’s review in Issue #101), Neo-Hoodo: Art For A Forgotten Faith contains a group of artists whose work deals with spirituality and ritual. According to the press release, “Hoodo… refers to folk traditions derived from the Haitian religion of Vodun, itself preceded by the religion and culture of the Yoruba people of present-day Nigeria.” Neo-Hoodo: Art For A Forgotten Faith hadn’t yet opened in time for a review for this issue—and the jury is still out as to whether the show will turn out to be as problematic as The Old, Weird America. Interestingly, Dario Robleto’s work makes an appearance in both exhibitions—and on Saturday, July 12 beginning at 11:00 am at CAMH, he will lead a tour of both.

*For more information on any of these events, click on the above links or see our exhibitions and events listings in this issue.