A patron who attended the Fabulous Armadillos’ “Floydian Slip” concert at the Historic Paramount Theatre on Sept. 14, shared this note on the band’s website: “I went to the show in Austin this past Saturday and wanted to thank you for a great concert. You all performed wonderfully. There was an extra reason why it was great and that’s why I write. I went to the show with my dad who’s 63. He lost his wife of 41 years and I lost my Mom this past March due to cancer. My Dad had a smile on his face the whole show and was thrilled to be there. He absolutely loved it and so did I. He told the keyboard player on our way out to the car that he lost his wife this past March and that that Saturday was one of the best days he’s had. I’m not sure if he shared that with the rest of the band, so I wanted to. Thanks for the awesome concert and day. Thanks for putting a smile on his face and joy in his heart.”

Stories like these truly articulate the impact the arts can have on a person’s life. Thank you all for the continued support of the arts in Austin! You never know whose life you might change, it might even be your own.

Historic Paramount Theatre

The time has finally come. Tickets for the Michael Veldman and Friends 2013 10th anniversary holiday show “A Christmas to Remember,” will be on sale to the general public at 9 a.m. this Saturday, Oct. 5, exclusively at the Paramount. Tickets are $15 and can only be purchased at the Paramount. We will not be taking phone sales on Saturday.

The tickets will be available to purchase online starting at noon on the same day. All Paramount Theatre sustaining members will be able to purchase their tickets beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Please call the Paramount at 507-434-0934 if you would like to find out more about being a sustaining member.

Tickets for the special VIP dinner at the Hormel Historic Home with the show on Friday, Dec. 13 are $65 and are now available to purchase.

Ian Shapinsky will be tickling the ivories on the Paramount stage at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6. His concert lineup is unlike any he has performed before at the Paramount featuring pieces by Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Lisztand Debussy.

Tickets for this event are $10 and can be purchased online at paramounttheatre.org or by calling 434-0934.

Downtown Art Center

We have contacted directors from several successful regional art centers including Lanesboro Art Center, Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault, and Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji, Iowa.

They will be visiting us in Austin  throughout October to take a tour of the proposed location at 300 Main St. N, and share insights from their organizations. The information we gather from their visits will be used in creating our business plan and will help shape our programming.