Inside Arts

• This week, the Blanton Museum of Art announced that it was postponing the grand opening of its new building. The 124,000-square-foot Michener Gallery Building, under construction at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Congress Avenue, will now open in late April instead of Feb. 12, as originally planned. Seems more time is needed to calibrate and test the heating, venting and air conditioning systems before any artwork can be installed. And that's a tricky thing, balancing the need for precise control over temperature and humidity in a public building visited by thousands of people annually ... all of whom open and close the doors that protect the inside from the Texas heat.

In other Blanton news, the museum will hold its first-ever print sale. Approximately 125 original works on paper in the museum's possession will be available for purchase ranging in price from $25 to $2,000, with proceeds going toward new acquisitions. Prints by Robert Rauschenberg, Red Grooms, Marguerite Kumm and Texas native Frank Klepper, among others, will be for sale. Museum officials have identified the prints as duplicates within the Blanton's collection that have been removed or were never formally added to the collection. The sale previews 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 4 in the museum's former gallery space in the Art Building, 23rd and San Jacinto streets on the University of Texas campus. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. The sale resumes 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 5 when admission is $5. Call 471-9210 or e-mail rsvp@blantonmuseum.org. — Jeanne Claire van Ryzin

• He likes it, he really likes it. Austin Mayor Will Wynn last week told the Long Center's Corporate Council that the new performing arts center will be a 'remarkable cultural centerpiece of a reinvigorated downtown Austin.' The mayor said the Long Center will generate a $25 million annual economic impact in Central Texas, including $10 million in the downtown area alone. At the meeting, IBC-Austin President Bob Barnes presented a $100,000 contribution to the Long Center's $77 million capital campaign, while representatives of law firm Vinson & Elkins — which the Business Committee for the Arts recently named to its annual list of 10 Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America — anted up $50,000. — J.C.v.R.

• For the remainder of the 2005-06 season, the University of Texas' Performing Arts Center invites patrons attending performances in Bass Concert Hall and Hogg Memorial Auditorium to bring food donations to help Capital Area Food Bank. The bank's assistance to evacuees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita has left the shelves rather bare. The PAC welcomes all nonperishable items but suggests packages of beans and rice. — J.C.v.R.

• On the Austin City Council agenda today is a resolution to name the theater inside the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center the Boyd Vance Theatre in honor of the prominent African American stage actor, director and producer who passed away in April. The resolution is sponsored by Mayor Pro Tem Danny Thomas and Council Member Brewster McCracken. — J.C.v.R.

• The Texas Commission on the Arts approved $2,366,037 in 474 grants to arts organizations for fiscal year 2006. The commission doled out an average of 21 percent of the total requested dollars. Another $637,945 will be allocated later this year for mini-grants, special projects and partnerships with artists. — J.C.v.R.