George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center

The Carver complex centers around the old Carver Library, the first library for residents of color in Austin. The original 1926 city library building – which was moved to the Eastside and opened to blacks in 1933 – still serves the neighborhood, but since 2005, it's been flanked by the 36,000-square-foot center, which includes four art galleries, the 134-seat Boyd Vance Theatre, a dance studio, a photo lab and darkroom, a conference room, offices, classroom, archive space, and museum store. The library itself was expanded to more than 15,000 square feet, with computers, meeting and study rooms, gallery space, and a youth library area. Hard-won, deeply earned, and aesthetically sumptuous, the Carver Complex is the new heart of East Austin.