Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum will celebrate its 35th anniversary with an annual Garden Party on April 16.

The details: The Garden Party will feature food, drink and entertainment. This year's theme is "Amore, Garden Party."

The background: Umlauf, located next to Zilker Metropolitan Park, was originally home to acclaimed Charles Umlauf, a professor at The University of Texas at Austin. The site was gifted to the city of Austin in 1985, and included his art studio and a collection of 168 sculptures. The sculpture garden and museum officially opened to the public in 1991.

Next steps: VIP and general admission tickets are on sale now.

More homes Central Austin homes sold in January 2026 compared to January 2025, according to Unlock MLS data.

The details: The number of homes sold increased in all but two of the market's 12 ZIP codes. January 2026 also saw 141 closed sales in the market, up by 6% year over year.

What else: Central Austin home spent less days on the market year over year in January. The median home price for Central Austin in January 2026 was $715,000, down from 2025's $685,000, according to Unlock MLS data.

In January 2026, the largest share of homes sold in Central Austin was in the $900,000 and over price range. This is similar to last month.

Nearly 400 acres of The University of Texas at Austin's land is set to be rezoned for research and science uses, a move that could help clear the way for the future UT Medical Center's development in Northwest Austin.

The details: First announced in 2023, the new medical center including a UT hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center is envisioned as a multibillion-dollar addition to UT's academic health system. It was originally set to rise near other health care facilities downtown, but university officials confirmed this month that the project would instead be built west of the J.J. Pickle Research Campus in Northwest Austin and open in 2030.

Further details about the medical center project, such as its exact location or scope, haven't been released as of early 2026. For now, UT is seeking to rezone several properties it owns near The Domain, including the Pickle campus, specifically for research and science uses. The city Planning Commission advanced the zoning case Feb. 24, and City Council will consider it next month.

With a few days left to vote early in the March primaries, more Texans have turned out to the polls this year than in recent primary elections.

The gist: The increase is particularly pronounced among Democratic primary voters, state data shows, with more than twice as many Democratic votes cast by Feb. 24 than in Texas’ last gubernatorial primary.

Zooming in: Statewide, nearly 1.3 million Texans, or about 7% of the state’s 18.7 million registered voters, cast early ballots through Feb. 24, the eighth day of the 11-day early voting period. This is up from about 6% turnout at the same point in 2024 and about 4% turnout in 2022.

In interviews with Community Impact, election analysts attributed Texas’ rising primary voter turnout in part to a slate of competitive, high-profile races on each party’s primary ballot.

At the polls: Early voting in Texas’ Republican and Democratic primaries runs through Feb. 27, and primary election day is March 3. During early voting, registered voters can visit any polling location within their county of residence.