You’ve heard of Little Free Libraries and Free Little Art Galleries, but next time you’re walking on the Trail, keep an eye out for the Really Small Museum.
The Really Small Museum’s “Point B” exhibit has been showcasing a new artist every month on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail — near Metz Neighborhood Park — since May, with new displays planned through October.
Juliet Whitsett has hosted several iterations of the Really Small Museum, including an environmental + sustainability-focused exhibit called “the ECO” from last year, since she co-founded it in 2021. Whitsett said “Point B” represents finding a stable point in Earth’s climate, where we move from point A to point B.
“The idea of the environmentally focused museums was really like, ‘How can I give more artists more opportunities to have a platform to talk about our environment?’” Whitsett told ATXtoday.
Whitsett partnered with the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired music teacher Eva Van Houten and her elementary students for August’s exhibit: “Texas Song Bird Song.” The exhibit’s sign instructs you to scan or tap with your phone, which will begin playing a song written by Van Houten, performed by student Kailee Martin, and produced by Lacey Lewis.
The song uses mnemonics to help identify songs from native Texas birds — the Bobwhite quail, chickadee, cardinal, and barred owl.
“I thought that was a really cool crossover between music and the natural world,” Van Houten told ATXtoday. “We took the mnemonic, played the recording of the bird singing it, and then had the kids sing with the bird. They thought that was hilarious, they loved that ... they were very interested and entertained by the idea that the birds were singing too.”
Once August is up, the “Texas Song Bird Song” exhibit will live on at the TSBVI campus. “Point B” still has two more tiny collections to showcase: one in collaboration with the Ann Richards School For Young Women Leaders and one with Austin Powwow.
