We are thrilled that Ryan Runcie will share an exhibit of his extraordinary artwork as part of our season opening concert with Xuefei Yang on Saturday, October 5th at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center.
The lobby exhibit will open at 6:30pm. Beginning at 7pm, ACG’s Artistic Director Joseph Williams, and our Education Director Travis Marcum, will lead our Let’s Connect discussion in the Blackbox Theater, and Xuefei’s performance will begin at 8pm in the main hall. Also in the lobby will be delights from our Season Partner in Deliciousness, Edis Chocolates!
Information and tickets are online or call us any time at 512-300-2247.
Ryan Runcie is a busy guy.
He’s got 8 public murals around Texas—including two new ones in Austin at Penney Lane Bar and Blackshear Elementary School. We first met him in a discussion around a show he’ll present soon at Umlauf Sculpture Garden, and when we caught up with him to talk about working together, he was on his way back from installing an exhibit in Killeen.
Our theme at ACG this season is together. Joe Williams and Travis Marcum recently explained it like this:
“One of the greatest challenges of our time is isolation. Whether we are cut off from one another by technology, addiction, health, or dogma, this separateness can make it difficult to see beyond the moment, beyond ourselves. As a theme for our season, together is about disrupting the pattern of isolation and fostering belonging.”
Ryan Runcie’s art is captivating. When we learned more about why he makes the art he makes, it resonated even more deeply with us—with together—and we knew we wanted to work with him.
Runcie explains on his website: “My portraits revolve around my intention for social and racial reconciliation. To move past a mere tolerance of others, we must cultivate a higher sense of empathy for other cultures. A healthy self love allows us to see others and understand that we can be different and still exist together. By allowing this for each other, we may act more freely as our desire to judge and condemn fades, hopefully, allowing others to do the same.”
When we asked Ryan about the intersection of life and art he replied:
“For my personal art practice, I veer from the standard artist. I do not only create in one style because I do not only process one emotion, one concept. I am human. I change and grow with my work through what I would define as an honest pursuit.”
You can learn about Ryan Runcie and see more of his artwork on his website. We are so excited that he and his works will be present for Opening Night of our International Concert Series, be sure to come early, visit with him, and experience his beautiful artistic vision.