Join us for a sensory-sensitive morning with play dough, puzzles, sensory bins, and story time coordinated with a special theme each week.

Admission

FREE

June 19: Summer STEAM: Polarized Light Mosaics

Innovation Park at the new Spark Science Center (1620 S. 3rd St)

10 am - 12 pm (or while supplies last)

Free with regular admission

Visitors create colorful mosaics while discovering how polarized light interacts with certain materials to reveal hidden colors.

Reception: June 19, 5-7pm

Year of the Fire Horse

CCA Artist Member Group Exhibition

June 19 - July 31

Jane Adams Breed Gallery

2026 WTPS Annual Exhibit

June 12 - July 18

Alice and Bill Wright Photography Gallery

Birds Through the Glass 

Sheri Zoch

June 19 - July 31

Gallery 3

Pre-Registration : Cars

Bring out the classic cars for our first annual Abilene Courts Father’s Day Car Show Fundraiser.

bask in the sun with us as we showcase cars from the travel era during the rise of automobile travel between the 1930’s-1970’s. We’ll be taking a trip down memory lane of our vintage Motor Court, the first hotel travelers would see as they drove into Abilene along the Bankhead Highway.

All donations go directly towards the reconstruction of the Abilene Courts structure. Be sure to join us for food, family and fun.

Event: Abilene Courts Car Show

Date: June 20th

Time: 9-10am (REGISTRATION) 10-2pm (CAR SHOW & AWARDS)

Location: Abilene Courts - 633 S 11th St. Abilene, TX 79602

Description:

Got a cool car? Got a cool dad? Then rev up your weekend at the Abilene Courts Father's Day Car Show!
Join us on June 20th from 9am-2pm, for classic cars, door prizes, awards, food and more!
- Free to attend
- $15 pre-registration car entry
- Family-friendly FUN

Our art studio is open for FREE. We provide art supplies, you provide the creativity, come see what you can imagine and create!

Admission

FREE

June 24: Mosaic Moments 10-11:30 am

Free with regular admission

A time for senior adults to enjoy time together in the galleries engaging their minds and bodies. Attendees will tour the Memory Painters exhibition and learn about the process of memory painting. They will then share a vivid memory that they would like to paint.

June 25: Gallery Pop-Up: We’ve Got Spirit

5-8 pm (come-and-go)

FREE admission

Mascot Matching! While learning about the current history exhibition, We’ve Got Spirit, visitors will see how many local mascots they can match to the correct school.

ArtWalk like never before! Live Music and Art happening at more than 20 downtown venues for one night only!

Vendors, Art Stations, Food Trucks, and Games located at the 200 block of Cypress.

Come hang out in The Grace Courtyard and enjoy a lively night of trivia!

Participants can be INDIVIDUALS or TEAMS (up to 4 people) – NO RSVP NEEDED

Play 5 rounds of Trivia in 5 Categories: 

• Early U.S. and Presidents

• States

• Technology

• Civil Rights

• Wars

EVENT DETAILS

Courtyard Opens at 5:30 pm

FREE EVENT | Prizes | Snacks & Drinks

JUL 6, 7-9 PM

The Center for Contemporary Arts is hosting the Dirty Drawers class. The focus is crayon. Free! V

Enjoy this historical adventure on the big screen on The Grace Rooftop

• FREE EVENT

• Complimentary water

• BYO snacks

MOVIE INFO

National Treasure (2004) | PG | 130 min
Watch the Official Movie Trailer

Synopsis: A modern-day fortune hunter races to find an ancient treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers.

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight

YA Days is a collaboration between Young Audiences and the NCCIL to bring free summer programming to children in the Abilene Community.

The first 25 children will receive a FREE book! The first 50 will receive a kid's meal certificate from our friends at Raising Cane's!

10 am-12 pm: Silent Disco

11 am: Storytime

A movement-related art project will be available until 3 pm in the Art Studio.

We love capturing the creativity happening here! Photos and video may be taken at public events for use in NCCIL materials. Please let us know at the front desk if you prefer not to be photographed.

Admission

free

PROJECT: Summer Sun Friendship Bracelets
Visitors will participate in a hands-on activity that highlights the importance of upcycling and the power of UV rays through creating a friendship bracelet. 

STEAM activities are FREE and available for all ages while supplies last!

Spark Exploration Room

YA Days is a collaboration with Young Audiences to bring free, quality summer programming for children in the Big Country! Come explore storytelling and music making with special guest Joseph Dixon.

The first 25 children will receive a FREE book! The first 50 children will receive a kids' meal certificate from our friends at Raising Cane's!

10:30-11:30: Drum Circles with Joseph Dixon

This uniquely inclusive performance is designed for audiences with both, children of special needs and children without. Using storytelling and music making, the show works to promote acceptance, respect and teamwork among all children. Participants learn of the three main parts of a story (character, setting, and plot) while exploring the history and similarities and differences of various percussion instruments, that includes Djembe drums. The show engages the students in a lesson that covers two elements of music, (timbre and dynamics) and ends with audience members invited to join in the live music-making community drum circle using instruments from various cultures and all appear very different. The challenge will be to use the unique strengths of each instrument to play a role in making drum circle music that sounds delightful to all.

A music-related art project will be available until 3 pm in the Art Studio.

Admission

FREE

Learn about the past

In 2026, the United States will celebrate its Semiquincentennial! In conjunction with our year-long history exhibition America 250, we will have pop-up activities throughout the year that relate to different aspects of our country’s development. This pop-up will give visitors the opportunity to complete a scavenger hunt around the America 250 exhibition to learn more about our history with a fun twist. 

America 250 pop-ups will include a handout with more information and insight into what was happening in Abilene during the same time period.

Keep watch for our Pop-Up cart in the galleries on Thursday evenings 5-8 pm with fun projects that any age visitor can enjoy! These rotating hands-on activities are carefully created by our Grace education staff to help strengthen connections to the artwork or objects currently on view.

Check our Events Calendar for upcoming dates! All activities are come & go and FREE to the public.

Country hitmaker Tracy Lawrence brings his No Alibis Tour to the stage, celebrating a career that includes 13 million albums sold and 18 No. 1 hits. A CMA and ACM award winner, Lawrence delivers a night packed with fan favorites and new music, including tracks from his latest Out Here In It EP. Don’t miss this chance to see one of country music’s most enduring artists live.

Individual Ticket Prices:   

$93.50        -         $83.50         -         $73.50        -         $63.50        -         $53.50       -         $43.50        

• Aisle Seats are an additional $10.00

• Facility Fee of $4.00 included in ticket price

• Sales tax included in ticket price

• Promoter Fee of $1.00 per ticket

• Online convenience fees are $8.00 per ticket

• Orders may incur a $2.50 delivery fee

Please note that the Balcony is accessible by stairs only. There is no elevator-access to the Balcony. 

Rediscover the moon!

We are celebrating National Moon Day at Spark Science Center! Visitors will participate in a hands-on activity that demonstrates how asteroids create craters on the moon. They will throw a wiffle ball at a ‘toothpaste moon’ on a poster board. These hits will cause ‘holes’ in the moon to micmic craters forming.

Innovation Park/Exploration Classroom

July 23, 5-8pm: Gallery Pop-Up

Visitors will experiment with weaving inspired by the method used by featured artist Carlyn Ray in her glass sculptures. All pop-ups include handouts with more information about the artist and exhibition. 

JUL 24

Exhibit opening at the Center for Contemporary Arts for Thomas Lee (photography) and Braeden Kuppin (“Synthesis/Synthesize”).

America’s premier comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, comes to the Abilene Auditorium in Abilene, Texas, to perform his newest stand-up routine on Friday, July 24, 2026, at 7 pm. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 24, at 10 am! Seinfeld has been hailed for his uncanny ability to joke about the little things in life that relate to audiences everywhere. His latest Emmy-nominated Netflix projects include Jerry Before Seinfeld and 23 Hours to Kill, along with the highly acclaimed web series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Seinfeld has also starred in, written, and produced movies (Comedian, Bee Movie), directed and produced a Broadway hit (Colin Quinn: Long Story Short), and wrote three best-selling books (Is This Anything?, The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Book, and Seinlanguage) and a children’s book (Halloween). He stars in the Emmy-nominated comedy film, Unfrosted, which he directed, co-wrote, and produced. Seinfeld continues to perform both nationally and internationally. 

The Center for Contemporary Arts is hosting the Dirty Drawers class.Free! V

Learn about the past

In 2026, the United States will celebrate its Semiquincentennial! In conjunction with our year-long history exhibition America 250, we will have pop-up activities throughout the year that relate to different aspects of our country’s development. This pop-up will give visitors the opportunity to complete a scavenger hunt around the America 250 exhibition to learn more about our history with a fun twist. 

America 250 pop-ups will include a handout with more information and insight into what was happening in Abilene during the same time period.

Keep watch for our Pop-Up cart in the galleries on Thursday evenings 5-8 pm with fun projects that any age visitor can enjoy! These rotating hands-on activities are carefully created by our Grace education staff to help strengthen connections to the artwork or objects currently on view.

Check our Events Calendar for upcoming dates! All activities are come & go and FREE to the public.

August 6, 5-8pm: Gallery Pop-Up

Visitors will participate in a stained glass craft while learning about the art of glass blowing. All artist pop ups include a handout with more information about the artist and exhibition

AUG 20, 6-8 PM

Create homecoming mums in The Grace Museum’s Grace Studio. When everything's bigger in Texas, it can be a little daunting at times. This mum workshop takes the intimidation away from a well-loved Texas tradition. Materials and step-by-step instruction will be provided to create a mum full of school spirit, inspired by our current history exhibition, We've Got Spirit. This class will be taught by a local artist. V

All galleries

Exhibit Opening Day: Breed_Texas Sculpture Group_TBD Gallery3_Wengai Kahuni_TBD Reception (5:00-7:00pm): Breed_Texas Sculpture Group_TBD, Photo_Thomas Lee_TBD

Gallery3_Wengai Kahuni_TBD, Gallery4_Braeden Kuppin_TBD

John Anderson pushed himself to complete his vocals for Years, telling producer Dan Auerbach, “Let’s get everything because I might not wake up.”It’s not an overstatement. In a risky procedure a few months earlier, when anesthesia was used, Anderson was told by doctors that he’d died on the operating room table. His wife told him that it had happened three times. That knowledge weighed heavily on the legendary country singer while writing and recording Years because he knew that his next appointment – just a few days after the sessions — would require the same anesthesia. 

Remarkably, Anderson kept his health crisis a secret from his touring band and the music industry, and even now he prefers not to get into all of the details. However, his recovery has become his testimony.

“There’s a few things that I came out of this whole deal better with,” Anderson says. “Part of it is my love for music and part of it is my appreciation for my family. But the biggest part is knowing that I might die here any minute, for who knows what reason, but I know that the good Lord already came down and touched me. There’s not a doubt in my mind.” During his health scare, he’d lost his sense of pitch and even his ability to recognize his own songs on the radio. At one point, his hearing left him with what he calls “terrible noise,” forcing him to come off the road for the first time in 40 years.

After charting modestly in the late ‘70s, Anderson scored No. 1 hits in the ‘80s with “Wild and Blue,” “Swingin’,” and “Black Sheep.” After a brief career lull, he staged a major comeback in 1992 as “Straight Tequila Night” became his first No. 1 single in nine years. That momentum carried him into the 2000s, giving him 60 charting country singles in four consecutive decades. Married since 1983, with two daughters, Anderson leaned on his family to push through. For a year and a half, though innumerable doctor’s visits, he fought on a daily basis to heal. He remembers at his most desperate moment, he stood in the front yard of his acreage, let the rain wash over him, and told God, “I don’t really know how much more I can deal with. Please help.” Looking back at that moment, he says, “It was a matter of 48 hours I started getting better. And I’m telling you, I’m not here to be anything other than what I am, but the biggest thing I’ve gotten out of my whole experience is knowing how real my faith is.”

AUG 20, 5-8 PM

The Grace Museum continues its America 250 Pop-Up series with new material related to World Wars. This pop up will relate to our America 250 series as well as our Wartime Abilene exhibition. Visitors will learn about what it was like to be on the homefront during these wars and make a remembrance craft. All pop ups include a handout with further information. H

AUG 27, 6 PM

Join us for a free public reception celebrating our art exhibition, Memory Painters: The Art of Memories. Kevin Vogel of Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden in Dallas will speak about naïve artists whose paintings were created from memories of their lives growing up in small-town Texas. V

AUG 27, 6-8 PM

The Grace Museum is hosting a Grace Studio class exploring glass art. Join us for a fun class where we create unique artwork on plexiglass, inspired by the work of Texas artist, Carlyn Ray, featured in the main gallery. No experience necessary! V

Tribute Masters Presents

ENDLESS SUMMER – America’s Beach Boys Experience

Saturday, September 5, 2026 @ 7:30pm

Transport yourself back to the sunny shores of California with the world's greatest Beach Boys tribute show! ENDLESS SUMMER – America’s Beach Boys Experience – comes to the Historic Paramount Theatre on September 5, 2026. You’ll step into a world of surf and sand as this electrifying tribute band channels the legendary harmonies and infectious energy of the original Beach Boys.From the sun-soaked melodies of "California Girls" to the timeless classics like "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and “Good Vibrations,” this show is a non-stop beach party that will have you dancing in the aisles and singing along at the top of your lungs. So, grab your flip flops, throw on your shades, and get ready to experience the ultimate Beach Boys tribute show – ENDLESS SUMMER. It's a night of music and memories that you won't forget!

They’ve graded the papers, survived the staff meetings, and lost their last ounce of patience… and now they’re taking it out on stage!

Bored Teachers is BACK with brand-new jokes, bigger laughs, and the most relatable teacher comedy you’ll ever hear. For nearly a decade, Bored Teachers has been the #1 voice of teacher humor—racking up over 1 billion views, amassing 10 million+ followers, and hosting the #1 teacher-comedy podcast on the planet.

Since 2022, they’ve performed for 200,000+ teachers worldwide, and sold out 200+ theaters across 49 states, 5 countries, and 3 continents. Their BRAND NEW “Is It Friday Yet?!” Tour starting January 2026 is more than a comedy show—it’s the ultimate night of laughter and solidarity for anyone who’s ever worked in education, taught a lesson, or just survived parent-teacher conferences.

Get ready to laugh until you cry as the funniest teacher-comedians in the world share their side-splitting stories, savage truths, and hilarious classroom confessions. Whether you’re a teacher, a parent, or just someone who’s been in school, this show will have you nodding, clapping, and hollering, “That’s SO TRUE!”

Warning: May contain PG-13 language, teacher truths, and uncontrollable fits of laughter.

Ticket Prices:   

$89.75        -         $59.75         -         $49.75        -         $39.75        -         $33.75      

• Aisle Seats are an additional $10.00

• Facility Fee of $4.00 included in ticket price

• Sales tax included in ticket price

• Promoter Fee of $1.00 per ticket

• Online convenience fees are $8.00 per ticket

• Orders may incur a $2.50 delivery fee

Please note that the Balcony is accessible by stairs only. There is no elevator-access to the Balcony. 

Each fall, the city’s nonprofit arts groups come together under one roof to celebrate the Abilene Art Award winners and recipients of the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council’s grants programs. The Abilene Art Award winners are chosen by each art organization from their pool of volunteers and supporters. In addition, the ACAC will present the Outstanding Individual and Outstanding Business of the Year awards. The luncheon’s decorations will highlight the artist being celebrated at the upcoming Children’s Art + Literacy Festival.

This year’s luncheon:

11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026

Abilene Christian University’s Hunter Welcome Center

Menu: TBA

Tickets: TBA

Questions? Please call 325-677-1161 or email operations@abilenecac.org

Rock 108 presents Blue October live at the Paramount Theatre on Thursday, October 22nd, and if you’ve ever screamed “Hate Me” or “Into The Ocean” at the top of your lungs, you already know this is a must-see night.

Plus, we have many chances for you to win freebies!

Celebrating 20 Years Of Foiled (Yeah… We’re Getting Old)

This year marks the 20th anniversary of “Foiled”, the album that launched Blue October to another level.

And they’re not just playing a couple songs off it… They’re performing the entire album front to back, plus all the fan favorites.

We’re talking:

• “Hate Me”

• “Into The Ocean”

And everything in between that hits you right in the feels

Also… for the first time ever, “Foiled” is getting a vinyl release, plus high-res Dolby Atmos versions across streaming. So yeah, this album is getting a full-on glow-up.