I live in the burbs, not exactly a hipster address. Outer Loop zip codes don't carry much currency in art circles.

But not fitting in is my hobby. I'm a card carrying member of the suburban outlaw club. We don't much get invited to bunco, tennis leagues or the ladies lunch bunch. Generally speaking, people consider the cul de sac a land of cheap houses, good schools and a place to go to escape art.

Not so fast, art has been encroaching past the Loop for some time now. There's more than barbecues in our backyards folks.

On Saturday, from 11 a.m.-9 p.m,, there's multiple art sightings at the ARTernative Festival at Sugar Land Town Square. The denizens of Sugar Land are about to get hit with the likes of Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Psophonia Dance Company, Suchu Dance, Opera Vista, Aurora Picture show, Dance Houston, Anjali Center for the Performing Arts and Main Street Theater.

ARTnative is the brainchild of Jenni Rebecca Stephenson of Spacetaker and Mandy Graessle of Fresh Arts.

"Most people have heard of our major arts organizations like Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet, but it's unlikely they know about smaller groups," says Stephenson, a Sugar Land native. "I was lucky growing up, my mother was well connected to the art scene in Houston."

Let it be known that Sugar Land is not a cultural wasteland, or even a suburb for that matter; it's a city, with the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra and Ballet Forte within its sprawling borders. It's also the home of Anjali, an internationally known classical Indian dance school in Texas. Under Rathna Kumar's direction, students can study Bharata Natyam, Kathak and even Bollywood.

Groups like Amplify-Sugar Land, an organization dedicated to help strengthen a local culture of inspiration, prove it's an area open to deepening the connectivity the arts make possible.

Opera Vista's artistic director Viswa Subbaraman came on board early in the ARTernative process.

"Opera Vista's biggest goal is to expand audiences for new opera. What better way to get people interested in what we do than by getting our work in front of them. We tend to have a mentality that anything outside the loop is 'too far.' Sugar Land isn't far for us, and it isn't far for them to come into town to catch our productions," says Subbaraman, who just wrapped up a magical evening of Opera under the Stars at Bayou Bend. "The difficulty that we have as small organizations is building name recognition.

"Why not take every opportunity to acquaint people to the amazing work we're doing?"

Psophonia co-founder Sophia Torres has participated in numerous Spacetaker events, such as Cultured Cocktails, Speakeasy, and their recent gala.

"I like Jenni's energy and vision in sharing art with neighboring communities," Torres says. "Sugar Land is actively cultivating a community where art is important. It's refreshing when the art play a role in a city's vision."

If you are not up to the easy trek to Sugar Land, fear not, there just might be some theater in your neighborhood.

The Texas Repertory Theatre, up in my neck of the northern woods, has been going strong for six years now. Steve Fenley and Craig A. Miller, grad school friends from the University of South Carolina, initially looked for a relatively affluent place with no professional theater. They found it in near Spring, just off FM 1960. Located in a strip center, their 220-seat theater has an Off-Broadway vibe.

They have worked hard to avoid the confusion of being mistaken for community theater. The troupe has built a loyal following of locals and city folk who travel to see them. (If you fly up I-45, It's only 17 minutes from the city.) The fare is mainstream, as tastes run toward the conservative. I've attended several outstanding productions over the years including, I Hate Hamlet, Wit, Proof and Of Mice and Men; the work is always solid and they excel at boutique musicals. Up now is Anthony Shaffer's thriller Sleuth.

Last spring, I drove so far west down Westheimer during a monsoon to get to Theatre Southwest I thought I was in the southwest. OK, so I was driving five miles per hour. And scratch what I said about outer Loop theater needing to play it safe, this frisky little company produced Tracy Letts' Bug last season, deftly directed by Ananka Kohnitz. There's nothing mainstream about that play. Lance Marshall just won the Houston Press Best Actor for his performance of Peter in Bug. (Don't miss Letts' August: Osage County at the Alley Theater in February.)

The offerings at Theatre Southwest span many tastes. They just finished up a fine production of Vera Caspary's Laura. Vanities opens on Oct. 22. Kohnitz returns to direct Keith Aisner's Asylum, filling in this year's risky spot.

I was thrilled to learn that Country Playhouse was performing A.R. Gurney's Sylvia. Gurney not only harks from my hometown, Buffalo, but attended my high school, Nichols, as well. No other playwright captures wasp culture like Gurney. Sylvia, one of his plays not set in Buffalo, chronicles a newly empty nested couple divided by a lovable talking pooch.

This beloved community theater has been going strong since 1956 and is considered a west side treasure. And they do take risks. Earlier this summer, they presented Yazmina Reza's Art. (Reza's sharp-tongued God of Carnage goes up at the Alley in January.) Country Playhouse also hosts MADCAP24 on Oct. 9, when the plays will be written, cast, rehearsed and performed all within a 24-hour period.

Sadly, I never made it to Theatre Suburbia, but judging from their name, they sure belong in this story. We did have a nice e-mail chat and just because I didn't get there doesn't mean you shouldn't. The Philadelphia Story is up right now. If you are in the mood for a scenic drive go to Unity Theatre in Brenham to see Greater Tuna, the classic that just won't go away. The Family Arts Center (FAC) in Cypress garnered praise for their spring production of West Side Story. Dames at Sea is on the FAC stage now.

There's more than mall art too. At the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts you can catch The Grand Tour: British and French Portraits from a Texas Collection and A View of the World: British Watercolor Artists at Home and Abroad. The Pearl Fincher just snagged The Houston Press Best Museum Award.

Let's not forget suburban high school musicals with budgets that would make your head spin. In April, head on over to the Tommy Tune Awards to see exactly what kind of musical theater talent is being nurtured in the burbs.

As for artists living in the burbs, yes, they are there too. I'm even working on a dramatic reading of all the poetic warning letters I have received from my homeowners association. It's going to rock the pool house.

Here's a fun little promo of ARTernative Festival:

Sugar Land's Anjali, Texas' premiere Indian Dance Academy.