Rooftop Sessions
OUTsider 2025 Festival Pre-Launch Party!
The Contemporary Austin is proud to partner with OUTsider to present Rooftop Sessions: OUTsider 2025 Festival Pre-Launch Party!
Join us for an unforgettable evening as we celebrate the upcoming OUTsider 2025 Festival, taking place in Austin from February 19–23. This special pre-launch event offers a first look at the festival’s exciting lineup and an opportunity to hear directly from the OUTsider team.
Mingle with friends on the stunning Jones Center rooftop, set against the glittering downtown skyline along with complimentary drinks. Enjoy a vibrant DJ set by Lucia Beyond and a special performance by Deceptaclown. Guests will also have the chance to purchase badges to the official OUTsider 2025 Festival, ensuring they don’t miss a moment of this year’s groundbreaking event.
Kick off the evening with an exclusive after-hours exploration of the exhibitions, Jiab Prachakul: Sweet Solitude, Raven Halfmoon: Flags of Our Mothers, and HOST: Tenant of Culture.
Don’t miss this exclusive evening of art, community, and celebration. Register now to secure your spot!
Cost & Ticketing Information
Event is free if attendee purchases general admission tickets .
General admission prices:
*If purchasing online, members must sign in with Member ID to get 100% off tickets or present their Member ID at the door if purchasing ticket in person on the day of the event to get 100% off .
About OUTsider
OUTsider is an Austin-based transmedia nonprofit that celebrates the bold originality and creative nonconformity of the LGBTQ+ communities through the presentation of provocative, overlooked and out-of-the-box film, dance, theater, performance art, music, writing and visual art.
Through its annual festival and conference, OUTsider unites queer artists, audiences and scholars from around the globe to exchange ideas, ignite conversations, transcend boundaries and experience new pleasures through artistic discovery.
The name “OUTsider” is a reference to queerness, and specifically the act of refusing shame and living one’s life “out,” including living “out” as an ally of the LGBTQ+ communities. “OUTsider” also expresses an affinity with outsider sensibilities and people–those who take risks and dare to be different, and all marginalized folks who live and think outside the status quo. These various notions of the “OUTsider” inform the festival’s structure and content.
About the Performers
Lucía Beyond
Lucía Beyond is a DJ, producer, and audio engineer living in Austin, TX. Her musical performances are intimate reflections on connection, exuberance, and transcendence. One of her latest albums, Airborne Fantasy: Unlimited, was named by the Austin Chronicle as one of the top 10 Austin Albums of 2023, and she's been invited to DJ sets for Boiler Room, Resident Advisor and more.
Deceptaclown
Deceptaclown is Austin's premiere clown-themed Le Tigre cover band 🤡
About the Exhibitions
Jiab Prachakul: Sweet Solitude comprises a selection of paintings from the past five years, presented in a sequence that loosely mirrors Prachakul’s own journey as an artist. Having lived in Europe for much of her adult life, her paintings are often inflected with her desire for connection amidst a feeling of displacement, a sense of romantic longing pervading throughout.
Raven Halfmoon: Flags of Our Mothers. Raven Halfmoon’s (b. 1991, Caddo Nation; lives and works in Norman, Oklahoma) touring solo exhibition will span both of The Contemporary Austin’s sites with an indoor exhibition at the Jones Center and an outdoor sculpture, Flagbearer, which will be installed at the museum’s Laguna Gloria location in mid-February.
HOST: Tenant of Culture presents newly commissioned works by Hendrickje Schimmel alongside a selection of recent works in an installation that explores the tension between seductive, consumer-facing displays and spaces less visible in the fashion industry, such as production factories and fulfillment centers.