Latest / Austin Signal / UT curriculum changes, Cesar Chavez Street input, Restaurant inspection scores

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UT curriculum changes, Cesar Chavez Street input, Restaurant inspection scores · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  The University of Texas at Austin
• 0:10
  wants to change the assigned classes
• 0:11
  required of future undergraduates.
• 0:14
  It's the first such change in more
• 0:15
  than two decades.
• 0:16
  We're gonna tell you more about the
• 0:17
  shift. And the city of Austin is
• 0:19
  gathering feedback about the
• 0:20
  possibility of renaming Caesar
• 0:22
  Chavez Street after the labor leader
• 0:24
  was accused of sexual assault.
• 0:26
  We'll tell you how you can make your
• 0:27
  voice heard on the matter.
• 0:28
  That's coming up on today's show.
• 0:30
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:32
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:34
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:35
  It is Friday, and maybe like me,
• 0:37
  you're wondering where you're gonna
• 0:38
  eat tonight in Austin, and
• 0:40
  maybe unlike me, you're wandering
• 0:42
  how clean the glasses and dishes
• 0:43
  you're going to be using really are.
• 0:46
  If that is giving you some pause,
• 0:47
  well, we're gonna tell you about a
• 0:49
  new map that should help quell your
• 0:51
  fears, plus a whole lot
• 0:53
  more from the busy week that was
• 0:55
  here in Austin.
• 0:56
  That's next on Austin Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy out there, this is
• 1:10
  Austin Signal.
• 1:11
  I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
• 1:12
  It is Friday, August 14th.
• 1:15
  Thank you for tuning in.
• 1:17
  UT Austin announced this week its
• 1:19
  plan to completely overhaul its core
• 1:21
  curriculum for undergraduate
• 1:22
  students for the first time in more
• 1:23
  than 20 years.
• 1:25
  In an email, UT Austin President Jim
• 1:27
  Davis called the new core
• 1:28
  requirements a, quote, clear,
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  focused, and rigorous program of
• 1:32
  study that delivers a broad and
• 1:33
  thorough general education, end
• 1:35
  quote.
• 1:36
  Lily Kepner is higher education
• 1:38
  reporter for the Austin American
• 1:40
  Statesman and she's with us now for
• 1:42
  more. Hello, Lily.
• 1:43
  Hi, good to see you again.
• 1:44
  Good to see you.
• 1:45
  So tell us, what do we know so far
• 1:46
  about this new curriculum?
• 1:48
  So every university
• 1:50
  in the state was charged with
• 1:52
  looking at their core curriculum,
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  but UT decided to
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  do a different approach and suggest
• 1:57
  a complete rebuild.
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  So while other institutions are
• 2:00
  looking at which courses should and
• 2:02
  shouldn't qualify, UT says let's
• 2:04
  just throw that away and start
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  fresh.
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  So their proposal has
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  15 credits in arts and
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  humanities, nine credits in social
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  sciences, and 12 credits in
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  STEM, with a few component areas
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  underneath that describe what the
• 2:18
  courses should be, but.
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  Basically, they want
• 2:22
  to undertake a very bold
• 2:24
  rebuild that emphasizes
• 2:26
  civic education and classic
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  education over more
• 2:30
  narrow courses.
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  This was something that was
• 2:33
  announced yesterday but has been in
• 2:35
  motion for a long time.
• 2:36
  How was this new curriculum formed?
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  Yeah, so there was an appointed
• 2:40
  committee that President
• 2:42
  Jim Davis set up with,
• 2:44
  at first it was 18 faculty, but it
• 2:45
  grew to about 22 faculty.
• 2:48
  And this group started meeting
• 2:50
  in November and met every
• 2:52
  week for about an hour and
• 2:54
  a half, though I'm sure there were,
• 2:55
  you know, exceptions as, you now,
• 2:57
  some days are crazy, right?
• 3:00
  And...
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  The committee first looked at
• 3:03
  the current core altogether, what
• 3:05
  UT was currently offering and what
• 3:07
  some of the problems were with that,
• 3:09
  that they were hearing from students
• 3:10
  that they consulted and faculty,
• 3:12
  and then they split into two groups,
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  one STEM-focused and one more
• 3:16
  humanities-focused and looked into
• 3:17
  what the core requirements in their
• 3:19
  view should be.
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  This is the first time the core is
• 3:21
  going to be changing in more than
• 3:23
  two decades.
• 3:24
  What was the impetus this time
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  around?
• 3:26
  It depends on who you ask,
• 3:28
  but this is all happening
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  in the climate of this
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  new law, Senate Bill 37,
• 3:34
  where lawmakers really wanted
• 3:36
  universities to look at
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  the core courses that
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  every student has to take and make
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  sure that they're foundational,
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  relevant to workforce in civic life
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  and broad and
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  this was happening as President
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  Jim Davis in 2025 ended
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  UT's flag requirements, which were
• 3:56
  their additional skills and
• 3:57
  experience requirements for students
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  on top of the state's core.
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  So he did that while
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  the specific
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  qualifications in the law were being
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  debated.
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  This core curriculum committee
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  really tried to stay
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  insulated from a lot of the noise
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  that was happening around, you know,
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  if race and gender-based courses
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  should be in the core curriculum,
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  how other states were dealing with
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  core curriculum and really just
• 4:23
  tried to focus on what should
• 4:25
  a core foundation for all students
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  be.
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  You reported earlier this month that
• 4:29
  UT opened a center for humanities,
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  but hadn't revealed many details
• 4:33
  about its creation.
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  Have you learned any more about
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  that, and do we know what role, if
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  any, that might have played in or
• 4:38
  will play in this new curriculum?
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  Yeah, so interestingly enough, when
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  I talked to the head of
• 4:43
  the committee, of the faculty
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  committee, he said that
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  they didn't specifically ask for
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  there to be a new center for
• 4:50
  humanities.
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  However, this
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  rebuild of the core curriculum will
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  require a lot more
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  staff and resources to support
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  the new courses in humanities
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  that would meet the new requirements
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  such as great questions of human
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  life, Western civilization, U.S.
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  History. So what?
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  The university, it
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  looks like they set this up to
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  help meet some of those
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  requirements.
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  I haven't learned more about
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  how the faculty were
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  selected in the initial
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  14 that were hired for this.
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  They are hiring for more
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  faculty.
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  I'm not sure how many more, and the
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  university has not been willing
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  to answer the statesman
• 5:33
  question or the Texas Tribune's
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  questions on the Center for
• 5:36
  Humanities.
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  Okay, last question for you, what
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  have you heard so far from students
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  and faculty?
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  I talked to the student government
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  leaders, Keira Dixon and
• 5:45
  Jayden Watts, yesterday after the
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  meeting. They were there at the
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  Board of Regents meeting, and they
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  said that they felt really, you
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  know, included in what
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  was happening, and I think the
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  former student government
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  administration before them had also
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  been consulted about the core
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  curriculum.
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  And students seem,
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  you know, dissatisfied with the
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  current state of the core.
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  It feels more like a grab bag of
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  classes, according to President
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  Jim Davis, to students than, you
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  know, something robust and
• 6:15
  meaningful.
• 6:17
  Faculty are kind of across the
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  board.
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  Some are worried about the future of
• 6:21
  signature courses, which are a
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  key portion of UT's core curriculum
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  now, and are worried
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  about things like lab requirements
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  that aren't specifically detailed.
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  But the implementation of this will
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  take a long time, and so
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  hopefully there will be time to get
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  those questions answered before,
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  you know, the first class is
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  required to take these.
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  And this curriculum is set to go
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  into effect when, if it indeed does
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  get passed.
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  If it gets passed, which will
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  take action at the state level,
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  it will go into effect as soon as
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  fall 2028, potentially not until
• 6:54
  later.
• 6:54
  All right, that is Lily Kepner.
• 6:56
  She is the higher education reporter
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  for the Austin American Statesman.
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  We'll have a link to her reporting
• 7:00
  in today's show notes.
• 7:01
  Lily, thank you. Thank you so much.
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  And a quick note, KUT journalists
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  are University of Texas employees.
• 7:07
  University leaders do not review or
• 7:09
  approve KUT news coverage.
• 7:26
  For today's On Our Plate segment
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  of the show, we want to ask you
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  a dirty question.
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  Have you ever been eating at a
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  restaurant and see something that
• 7:35
  just didn't sit right with you?
• 7:37
  Maybe a roach, a greasy glass,
• 7:39
  or maybe you've wondered if the
• 7:40
  plates you're using have even been
• 7:42
  cleaned correctly.
• 7:43
  KUT's Gabriel Velasquez-Neda
• 7:45
  followed an Austin public health
• 7:47
  inspector to figure out what they do
• 7:49
  to make sure local restaurants are
• 7:50
  keeping food safe.
• 7:52
  When I moved to Austin, I noticed
• 7:54
  something missing, something I
• 7:56
  was used to seeing in other states
• 7:57
  like New York or California.
• 8:00
  And restaurants here don't display
• 8:02
  signs that show their latest health
• 8:03
  department scores.
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  For me, it kind of felt like I was
• 8:07
  eating without a safety net.
• 8:09
  In Texas, restaurants of course get
• 8:10
  inspected and they have a rating.
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  So I wanted to learn more about the
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  whole process, even if I don't see
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  a score.
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  Meet Alicia Wilcox.
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  Hi.
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  She joined me at Amaya's Taco
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  Village.
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  Wilcox is an environmental health
• 8:24
  officer with the city of Austin,
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  and she's been doing inspections for
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  five years.
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  Now, legally, non-health workers
• 8:30
  can't be in the kitchen while an
• 8:32
  inspection is happening, but Amaya's
• 8:34
  Taco Village is letting us do a mock
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  inspection.
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  The business was inspected and
• 8:38
  passed back in July.
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  Another difference between this and
• 8:42
  a real inspection is the restaurant
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  knew we were coming.
• 8:45
  The only time they know we're coming
• 8:46
  back is, of course, if they fail,
• 8:49
  we don't tell them what day we're
• 8:50
  going back. But they know in
• 8:51
  general, it's gonna be within
• 8:53
  two to four weeks.
• 8:54
  As we walk in the door, we meet
• 8:55
  co-owner Richard Amaya, and
• 8:57
  then head back into the kitchen to
• 8:59
  start the mock inspection.
• 9:01
  It's the lunch rush, and workers at
• 9:03
  Amaya's Taco Village are cooking on
• 9:05
  full throttle.
• 9:06
  Workers are moving around, grilling
• 9:07
  food, serving plates, and
• 9:09
  carrying containers.
• 9:11
  Meanwhile, Wilcox is checking the
• 9:12
  temperatures of the ingredients.
• 9:14
  The temps are great, everything's
• 9:16
  nice and hot.
• 9:17
  Asking Amaya for more information.
• 9:19
  This is where they buy daily.
• 9:22
  She says a lot of things are taken
• 9:24
  on an honor system.
• 9:25
  We can tell if something is raw
• 9:27
  or cooked, but whenever we
• 9:29
  ask what time it was cooked,
• 9:31
  a lot of times they don't know.
• 9:32
  Wilcox has a checklist that covers
• 9:33
  things like clean cooking surfaces,
• 9:36
  food separation, proper food
• 9:37
  labeling, dishwashers.
• 9:39
  Oh, you need dirty dishes to run.
• 9:42
  Yeah, he's got some.
• 9:43
  If you want, we can just put a plate
• 9:45
  on there and run it back through.
• 9:47
  And proper labeling on menus.
• 9:49
  I'm gonna look for the consumer
• 9:51
  advisory and that any
• 9:53
  raw items are undercooked are
• 9:55
  asterisks.
• 9:55
  The highest score is 100.
• 9:58
  A score below 69 is
• 10:00
  failing.
• 10:01
  Every mistake takes a few points
• 10:03
  off.
• 10:04
  If a restaurant fails, they have to
• 10:05
  pay a fee, and the inspector comes
• 10:06
  back to re-inspect and see if they
• 10:08
  pass.
• 10:09
  If it does, the restaurant is placed
• 10:11
  on a compliance list for the next
• 10:12
  three years.
• 10:14
  If the restaurant fails again within
• 10:16
  the three years, a criminal
• 10:17
  complaint is filed in court.
• 10:19
  If the restaurants fails a third
• 10:21
  time, it is closed.
• 10:23
  The restaurant then has to meet with
• 10:24
  the program manager at Austin Public
• 10:26
  Health and they have to create an
• 10:28
  action plan for what they need to do
• 10:29
  to reopen.
• 10:31
  An inspector can also close the
• 10:32
  restaurant immediately.
• 10:33
  For us to close for an infestation
• 10:35
  would mean that the food is directly
• 10:37
  impacted that a customer would be
• 10:39
  served.
• 10:40
  Sometimes there's immediate closures
• 10:41
  if there's a sewage backup.
• 10:43
  If the establishment doesn't have
• 10:45
  the ability to
• 10:47
  wash and sanitize their dishes
• 10:49
  because their drains are backing up,
• 10:50
  then that would be a closure until
• 10:52
  they can fix what's going on.
• 10:55
  Wilcox says she's closed about 10 to
• 10:56
  15 restaurants over her five
• 10:58
  years on the job.
• 11:00
  But even with a passing score on
• 11:02
  display, it can be hard to know what
• 11:04
  a restaurant did and didn't do
• 11:05
  to get that score.
• 11:06
  It can be a lot of temperature
• 11:08
  violations, or they're not cooking
• 11:10
  the food to the proper temperatures.
• 11:12
  Those are items they're going to
• 11:14
  necessarily know how long something
• 11:16
  was at a temp where we would know as
• 11:18
  the inspector.
• 11:19
  KUT compiles a list of the food
• 11:21
  inspection scores in the city of
• 11:23
  Austin. You can check it out at our
• 11:24
  website, kut.org.
• 11:27
  I'm Gabriel Velázquez Neira in
• 11:28
  Austin.
• 11:36
  And joining us now for a Reporter's
• 11:38
  Notebook to talk about this story is
• 11:40
  Gabriel Velazquez-Neda.
• 11:42
  Welcome to the show.
• 11:43
  Thank you, Jerry.
• 11:43
  So your story looks at thousands
• 11:45
  of food safety scores.
• 11:47
  How did you go about sourcing this
• 11:48
  data and sorting through all of
• 11:50
  it?
• 11:51
  Yeah, so there's actually something
• 11:52
  called Open Data Austin, which is
• 11:53
  what gave me the idea, and it has
• 11:55
  all of the food scores.
• 11:57
  But I realized kind of quickly
• 11:59
  that it wasn't updated as
• 12:00
  recently as I wanted it to.
• 12:02
  It only had scores through May.
• 12:04
  So I ended up having to
• 12:06
  scrape this other data
• 12:08
  set that Austin Public Health had
• 12:10
  and compiling
• 12:11
  it, making sure that the scraper
• 12:13
  caught all the scores.
• 12:15
  And even then there are some
• 12:16
  restaurants that are left out of the
• 12:18
  database. And I had to check up with
• 12:20
  Austin Public Health.
• 12:21
  And they told me that they
• 12:23
  switched databases.
• 12:25
  So that just means that some
• 12:27
  scores aren't in there.
• 12:28
  They switched.
• 12:28
  They switched in the course of your
• 12:29
  reporting?
• 12:30
  They switched in 2025,
• 12:33
  or last year, so some scores
• 12:35
  just haven't turned over yet.
• 12:36
  Gotcha, okay, well,
• 12:38
  were there any other roadblocks that
• 12:40
  you ran into while reporting this
• 12:41
  story? Like, you know, you mentioned
• 12:42
  that the switch of the data,
• 12:45
  any other things that made this
• 12:46
  reporting a little tougher?
• 12:48
  I think the verification that
• 12:50
  all the data was correct was the
• 12:51
  hardest part, but I also
• 12:53
  didn't know that it was against
• 12:55
  the law for non-health workers or
• 12:57
  people, journalists like me, to go
• 12:59
  into a health inspection.
• 13:00
  So I wanted to do a day in the life
• 13:02
  originally. I wanted follow them
• 13:03
  throughout the course of the day,
• 13:05
  different restaurants.
• 13:06
  And I realized pretty quickly that
• 13:08
  was impossible. Setting up that even
• 13:10
  just one mock inspection
• 13:12
  took about a month and a half.
• 13:13
  Did it feel pretty real though, even
• 13:15
  though it was a mock?
• 13:16
  Or could you, what was that actually
• 13:17
  like?
• 13:18
  I did think it felt real, like you
• 13:20
  could see the workers' tents up
• 13:22
  when we walked in the door.
• 13:24
  I walked to the front and I'm like,
• 13:25
  hey, we're here for an inspection.
• 13:27
  And like, you can see like the
• 13:28
  hostess's eyes flick up.
• 13:30
  That makes sense.
• 13:31
  All right, were there any other
• 13:33
  surprises that you found?
• 13:34
  I know this story kind of started
• 13:36
  with a surprise.
• 13:37
  You were shocked that these scores
• 13:38
  weren't readily available.
• 13:39
  Were there any surprises that jumped
• 13:41
  out at you?
• 13:43
  I didn't know that they're they're
• 13:44
  put on a compliance list the
• 13:45
  restaurants once they fail for about
• 13:47
  three years and I feel like that's a
• 13:49
  long time.
• 13:50
  Three years is a lot
• 13:52
  a lot can happen in three years.
• 13:53
  So the fact that the compliance list
• 13:55
  lasts for so long was
• 13:57
  one of the things I guess caught me
• 13:58
  off guard during the reporting.
• 13:59
  Okay, well now that you've done all
• 14:01
  this reporting, do you feel better
• 14:02
  about going to eat out here in
• 14:03
  Austin?
• 14:05
  I do, but.
• 14:06
  I try not to think about it.
• 14:07
  I feel like some of the grime gives
• 14:09
  it taste.
• 14:11
  Very good, all right, that is
• 14:13
  KUT's Gabriel Velasquez-Neda.
• 14:15
  Be sure to check out his interactive
• 14:16
  map of restaurant inspections,
• 14:18
  that is in today's podcast show
• 14:21
  notes and at kut.org
• 14:22
  slash signal.
• 14:23
  Thank you for your reporting.
• 14:24
  Of course, thank you, Joey.
• 14:26
  And the city of Austin is taking the
• 14:28
  temperature on whether it should
• 14:29
  rename Cesar Chavez Street.
• 14:31
  A handful of community members
• 14:33
  gathered earlier this week at the
• 14:34
  Austin Central Library to give their
• 14:36
  feedback on the potential change.
• 14:37
  Gary Moreno who teaches Latino
• 14:39
  history at Austin Community
• 14:41
  College was there in support of the
• 14:43
  change.
• 14:44
  We're presented with an opportunity
• 14:45
  here to highlight
• 14:47
  somebody who can be a role
• 14:49
  model for our students, and I
• 14:51
  think that's very important.
• 14:52
  History changes.
• 14:53
  We need new heroes, and this
• 14:55
  presents the city with an
• 14:56
  opportunity for a new hero.
• 14:59
  Moreno hopes the city will select a
• 15:00
  local Latino hero as a replacement.
• 15:03
  The city will host two more public
• 15:04
  feedback sessions.
• 15:05
  The next is happening tomorrow at 2
• 15:07
  p.m. At Sanchez Elementary School.
• 15:09
  And a virtual session is set for
• 15:11
  Tuesday night at six.
• 15:12
  You can also fill out an online
• 15:14
  survey at speakupaustin.org.
• 15:17
  We've got more show after this
• 15:19
  break. This is Austin Signal.
• 15:23
  This is, Austin Signal, welcome
• 15:24
  back.
• 15:25
  There are so many stories of how
• 15:27
  folks came to live in Austin.
• 15:29
  For Yousef Shabo, it's a harrowing
• 15:31
  tale. In 2011,
• 15:33
  civil war broke out in Syria,
• 15:35
  pulling the country into a conflict
• 15:36
  that lasted more than a decade.
• 15:38
  Hundreds of thousands of people were
• 15:40
  murdered, and an estimated 13
• 15:42
  million Syrians were displaced,
• 15:44
  including Shabo.
• 15:45
  He was in college when the war
• 15:46
  began, and to avoid being drafted,
• 15:48
  he fled his homeland and left his
• 15:50
  family behind.
• 15:51
  Since then, he and his family
• 15:53
  have reunited here in the U.S.
• 15:55
  And together they now run a coffee
• 15:57
  shop located in a laundromat.
• 16:00
  We're Kurds from Syria, we're a
• 16:02
  minority there.
• 16:03
  And because we're minorities, we're
• 16:04
  usually placed on the front lines,
• 16:06
  so that's a little riskier than
• 16:07
  usual.
• 16:09
  And the only thing you can do is
• 16:10
  just leave the country.
• 16:13
  I didn't say goodbye to any of my
• 16:15
  friends, to any family members, I
• 16:16
  just had to leave, you know.
• 16:18
  Like, we got the phone call, I think
• 16:19
  around like midnight or 2
• 16:21
  a.m., and then by 8 a.
• 16:23
  M. I had my flight booked, and
• 16:25
  it was like a few hours later.
• 16:28
  After moving to the U.S.
• 16:30
  In 2012, drip coffee did not
• 16:32
  make it for me.
• 16:33
  It's just too light, you know, it
• 16:35
  didn't hit the spot.
• 16:36
  So personally I started learning
• 16:38
  about like mocha pots and espressos
• 16:39
  and French press and you know
• 16:41
  all these things, but like as a
• 16:43
  personal hobby.
• 16:46
  I lived in Ohio for four cold
• 16:48
  years and then moved to
• 16:50
  Austin for UT and honestly
• 16:52
  like the community in Austin is
• 16:54
  amazing for coffee.
• 16:57
  I worked in architecture for like
• 16:59
  three, four years and
• 17:02
  I mean honestly working
• 17:04
  in the industry was not for me.
• 17:07
  My brother, he was a network
• 17:08
  developer, he also got laid off
• 17:10
  and we both sat down look
• 17:12
  at each other like you know what so
• 17:14
  let's start something,
• 17:16
  you know, that we own.
• 17:20
  I used to go to this laundromat.
• 17:21
  I remembered the place and we went
• 17:22
  to talk to the owner and
• 17:24
  I was like, Hey, he used to be a
• 17:25
  customer. I would like to partner up
• 17:27
  with this on this idea.
• 17:28
  He liked the idea.
• 17:29
  We started meeting every week.
• 17:32
  We were talking, so the owner is
• 17:34
  from Vietnam and we're from Syria.
• 17:36
  We grew up drinking Turkish coffee.
• 17:38
  He has a family that
• 17:40
  runs coffee business between Vietnam
• 17:41
  and Europe.
• 17:43
  And so we both kind of
• 17:44
  liked that idea and we just went
• 17:46
  with it.
• 17:48
  So right now we utilized the
• 17:50
  faces of old dryers that
• 17:52
  were functional at some point in
• 17:54
  that same laundromat.
• 17:56
  And then after remodeling,
• 17:58
  we asked the owner to clear out a
• 18:00
  section of the laundromats.
• 18:02
  To kind of accommodate the
• 18:03
  coffee shop.
• 18:05
  And we use that for the counter
• 18:06
  space.
• 18:08
  So we opened and as like
• 18:10
  we start talking to people, word of
• 18:11
  mouth is going out.
• 18:13
  You realize that people are
• 18:15
  interested in our stories more than
• 18:16
  the coffee itself.
• 18:17
  And then they start asking us about
• 18:18
  like, oh, well, why don't you offer
• 18:20
  something, you know, from your
• 18:21
  culture.
• 18:24
  When we did the little soft opening
• 18:25
  party, my mom made a couple of trays
• 18:27
  of baklava and people really
• 18:29
  loved them.
• 18:30
  And we were like, oh, maybe we'll
• 18:33
  have them on the weekend, because
• 18:35
  my mom has a, like she's a nanny,
• 18:36
  she has a full-time job.
• 18:38
  And I'm like, I don't want you to
• 18:39
  work more. Like the idea behind
• 18:41
  this cop shop is for you to work
• 18:42
  less, not to work harder.
• 18:45
  We agreed with her to do the baklava
• 18:46
  like once a week, maybe.
• 18:49
  But then, on a Tuesday or a
• 18:50
  Wednesday, she'll walk in with a
• 18:51
  little tray. It's like, here you go,
• 18:53
  I made some more.
• 18:54
  And people really love the baklava
• 18:56
  that she makes.
• 18:57
  And so right now, it became, you
• 18:58
  know. A staple at the coffee
• 19:00
  shop.
• 19:02
  Honestly, the one thing that I've
• 19:04
  learned out of this is adaptability.
• 19:06
  Whatever life throws at you, you
• 19:07
  have to figure out a way to make the
• 19:09
  best of it and just run with it.
• 19:13
  So yeah, I mean right now
• 19:15
  I'm living my best life.
• 19:17
  I'm telling people I'm physically
• 19:18
  very tired, but mentally very
• 19:20
  happy.
• 19:22
  That was the voice of Yusef Shabo.
• 19:24
  This piece was produced by Texas
• 19:26
  Standard's Sean Saldana.
• 19:29
  It is the end of the week and
• 19:31
  we know there's a lot of things
• 19:32
  going on this weekend so let's
• 19:34
  get started with today's Where
• 19:36
  the Art is segment.
• 19:41
  KUT's art beat editor Stephanie
• 19:43
  Federico is in the studio with us
• 19:44
  now for a quick rundown.
• 19:46
  Hello Stephanie.
• 19:47
  Hey Jerry.
• 19:48
  Welcome back to the show.
• 19:50
  Let's talk about what's happening
• 19:51
  this weekend. There's always some
• 19:52
  sort of fest going on here in
• 19:54
  Austin this weekend, what is the
• 19:56
  fest du jour?
• 19:57
  It is the SketchFest, Austin
• 19:59
  SketchFes at Coletown Theater
• 20:00
  this weekend and next
• 20:02
  weekend.
• 20:03
  Okay, and who's going to be featured
• 20:04
  out at this year's events?
• 20:07
  Well, some of the country's best
• 20:09
  sketch comedians come into town
• 20:10
  for the event.
• 20:13
  Andrew Desmuks, am I
• 20:15
  pronouncing that right?
• 20:16
  From SNL.
• 20:16
  I think so, I think you are.
• 20:18
  He's gonna be. Apologies if we're
• 20:19
  not.
• 20:19
  I know, sorry.
• 20:20
  Sorry, Andrew.
• 20:21
  I don't know what I drew.
• 20:21
  He's going to be one of the
• 20:22
  headliners this year.
• 20:24
  He actually went to UT, I just
• 20:26
  learned, and he started his comedy
• 20:27
  career here in Austin.
• 20:28
  So that's pretty cool.
• 20:30
  And Allie Dixon will also be in town
• 20:32
  if you're familiar with her.
• 20:34
  It's just really known as
• 20:36
  a festival to showcase new
• 20:38
  comedians, comedians on the rise.
• 20:40
  So it should be exciting.
• 20:41
  Yeah, and that's it going on this
• 20:43
  weekend and next and as you said,
• 20:44
  there's always some future star
• 20:46
  that's going to be out there So get
• 20:47
  started early.
• 20:48
  Okay. So let's talk about a
• 20:51
  revolutionary cabaret that's
• 20:52
  happening this weekend. Tell us more
• 20:54
  Emiliana a revolution
• 20:56
  cabaret that opens today
• 20:58
  and it runs through August 29th
• 21:00
  at ground floor theater.
• 21:01
  Okay, what's it about?
• 21:02
  And this takes place in 1940s
• 21:04
  Mexico. It's the story of a young
• 21:06
  woman who leads a double
• 21:08
  life. So she is the daughter of
• 21:10
  a prominent doctor.
• 21:11
  She's about to get married.
• 21:12
  She's bout to have this respectable
• 21:14
  life, but in
• 21:15
  the evening, she sneaks out and she
• 21:17
  is a cabaret singer.
• 21:19
  And then she meets up with some
• 21:20
  people and she wants to join the
• 21:22
  revolution. So it sounds really
• 21:23
  cool.
• 21:24
  It's told through a lens of social
• 21:26
  justice for indigenous people in the
• 21:27
  queer community. And that is.
• 21:30
  At ground fourth leader.
• 21:31
  I think I already said that but.
• 21:32
  That's okay, you gotta mention it a
• 21:34
  couple of times because people hear
• 21:35
  what this show is about and they get
• 21:37
  excited, so yeah, ground floor
• 21:38
  theater, let's say it one more time.
• 21:40
  Just do it, man.
• 21:40
  Okay, so that's again the
• 21:42
  ground floor, but we there's
• 21:44
  something happening also at the
• 21:45
  Wally Workman gallery That's one of
• 21:47
  my favorite gallery names Wally
• 21:48
  workman gallery. What's happening
• 21:50
  there?
• 21:50
  This is a solo
• 21:52
  show from Lance Meyers.
• 21:54
  It's called As We Unmagic the Self,
• 21:56
  and I love that name.
• 21:59
  Lance is actually a UT professor
• 22:01
  here. He teaches animation,
• 22:03
  and he's the lead animator of the
• 22:05
  Stoic Studio, but this
• 22:07
  exhibit is not animation.
• 22:09
  He does some oil paintings.
• 22:11
  He has 14 new paintings, and
• 22:13
  they're very melancholy.
• 22:15
  It's very quiet, very
• 22:17
  lush colors.
• 22:19
  And the work apparently explores
• 22:21
  youth and its inevitable decay.
• 22:24
  So I just looked at the website,
• 22:26
  the images look beautiful and
• 22:28
  I'm excited for that one.
• 22:29
  Okay, that sounds really sounds
• 22:31
  really pretty even though the now
• 22:33
  that I'm thinking about the decay of
• 22:34
  youth I'm a little sad
• 22:35
  unfortunately.
• 22:36
  All right. Let's talk about something
• 22:38
  else Okay, all of those things are
• 22:39
  available to you this very
• 22:41
  day But there's also more things
• 22:43
  happening throughout the weekend
• 22:44
  including tomorrow a little noir
• 22:46
  string action.
• 22:48
  What is that about?
• 22:49
  This is at the gallery at the
• 22:50
  Cathedral in East Austin.
• 22:51
  And if you've never been to the
• 22:52
  Cathedral, it's a really cool space.
• 22:55
  It used to be a church, 1930s
• 22:57
  church. It's been refurbished and
• 22:58
  now it's an art gallery featuring
• 23:00
  artists, artwork by women and
• 23:02
  non-binary artists.
• 23:04
  So they're gonna have three string
• 23:05
  sessions on Saturday, one hour
• 23:07
  performances, a string quartet
• 23:09
  with the vocalist, Nala, and
• 23:12
  there's gonna be a cocktail hour
• 23:14
  ahead of time and you can go check
• 23:15
  out the art. But I'm The
• 23:17
  music is gonna be a classical to
• 23:19
  contemporary, Debussy,
• 23:21
  Nina Simone, Billie Eilish.
• 23:23
  It sounds like it could be really,
• 23:24
  really cool.
• 23:25
  Really running the gamut there.
• 23:26
  Okay, the final item on your list
• 23:28
  here is happening, Twilight
• 23:30
  on Sunday, what is that?
• 23:33
  Uh, this is Austin Cantorum and this
• 23:34
  is just, just this beautiful
• 23:36
  coral group.
• 23:37
  And I went to their last twilight
• 23:39
  series. It's a coral meditation
• 23:41
  series. They had one a few months
• 23:42
  ago and what it is, is
• 23:44
  you're invited to bring a yoga mat.
• 23:45
  You're invited, to bring pillows,
• 23:47
  just put away your phone, lie down
• 23:48
  on the ground and just listen to
• 23:50
  them sing. And they have just like
• 23:52
  stunning, stunning, standing voices.
• 23:54
  Um, and it feels, it's not
• 23:56
  religious, but it feels really,
• 23:58
  really spiritual.
• 23:59
  Thank you.
• 24:00
  And you just like, just put away the
• 24:02
  world for a little while.
• 24:03
  And you're invited to sing along.
• 24:04
  I think you can come early and learn
• 24:06
  what they're going to, what they are
• 24:07
  going to present, but if you don't
• 24:09
  want to do that, just close your
• 24:10
  eyes, lie down and it's
• 24:12
  free with a suggested donation of
• 24:14
  $15. But,
• 24:16
  uh, yeah, it's really just, I really
• 24:18
  highly recommend it's lovely.
• 24:19
  Sounds beautiful sounds like a great
• 24:21
  audio experience that is
• 24:23
  Stephanie Federico.
• 24:24
  She is the art beat editor here at
• 24:26
  KUT. Thank you, Stephanie
• 24:27
  Thanks, Jerry.
• 24:28
  And thank you out there for
• 24:30
  spending the week with us.
• 24:31
  You can catch up on all the work we
• 24:33
  brought you this week at kut.org
• 24:36
  slash signal.
• 24:37
  The Austin Signal team is Renee
• 24:39
  Chavez, Caroline Fio, Alexandra
• 24:41
  Hart, Kristin Cabrera,
• 24:43
  and I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
• 24:45
  We'll be back on Monday.
• 24:46
  Have a great weekend.