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Above Image: Barbara Jordan “True Patriot” – by Bruce Wolfe / Austin Airport. 

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Art in Public Places in Austin, Texas

Feb 25, 2014: This was my very first trip to Austin, Texas.

Over the past few years, its been fun covering public art at my vacation destinations, which includes Public Art at places like New York City, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angles, Las Vegas, Detroit, Milwaukee and Indianapolis. So why not Austin?

So begins my search of public art in Austin.

 

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The moment I landed in Austin, at the airport baggage collection area I saw a series of 10-foot high guitar installations and a life-size statue of Barbara Jordan.

Art, especially Public Art reflects the essence of a city. Austin, Texas is known as the Live Music Capital of the World. The slogan became official in 1991, after it was discovered that Austin had more live music venues per-capita than anywhere else in the nation. So in Austin, we find a lot of music and musician related installations. Especially installations from the GuitarTown Austin Art Project.

This life-sized bronze sculpture commemorates Barbara Jordan (1936-1996), professor at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs and a leader of the Civil Rights movement. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first southern black woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous other honors. This work was commissioned for the airport’s Barbara Jordan Terminal, named in her honor.

 

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In exploring Public Art in Austin, I selected few places where I was expecting the maximum concentration art..

Texas State Capitol Building at Austin..
University of Texas, Austin..
Walk though the Congress Avenue

 

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Texas State Capitol Building

The capitol building and grounds are located in downtown Austin. The main entrance faces onto the Congress Avenue Historic District to the south. The northern edge of the grounds lies four blocks south of the University of Texas at Austin. The Texas State Capitol is the second largest Capitol in the entire nation; second only to the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. I took a guided tour of the building, and a self-guided tour of monuments and memorials on the grounds.

The Texas State Capitol Building: Guided Tour..click here..
The Texas State Capitol Building:Monuments and Memorials.. click here..

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The University of Texas, Austin has a very rich collection of sculptures, both traditional and modern… click here..

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CONGRESS AVENUE

Congress Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Austin, Texas. The tree lined avenue that cuts through the middle of the city from far south Austin and goes over Lady Bird Lake leading to the Texas State Capitol in the heart of Downtown. Congress Avenue south of Lady Bird Lake is known as South Congress, often abbreviated to SoCo, and is an increasingly popular shopping and rental district.

 

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In 1842, Texas was an independent nation and Austin was its capitol. Sam Houston, the President of the Republic of Texas, regarded Austin as a vulnerable and unsuitable location for the seat of government and waged an unsuccessful campaign to have it it moved to his namesake city. As a last resort, the President dispatched a delegation of Texas Rangers to Austin to steal the government archives. An innkeeper named Angelina Eberly heard the Rangers loading their wagons in the middle of the night..

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Austin has an unusual attraction. The Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, has grown into the largest urban bat colony in North America. Every year, about 1.5 million bats populate the summer skies. The Austin American-Statesman created the Statesman Bat Observation Center adjacent to the Congress Bridge, giving visitors a dedicated area to view the nightly emergence. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people visit the bridge to witness the bat flight, generating ten million dollars in tourism revenue annually. Congress Avenue Bridge bat colony is now an eco-tourism destination!

Sculpture “Nightwing” by Dale Whistler commemorates the largest urban bat colony in the country. For more.. click here..

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It is always interesting to find out the organizations behind the public art installation. So far this is what I have found out. Since 1985, the city has a Art in Public Places [AIPP] program. AIPP also collaborates with other organizations like Downtown Austin Alliance [DAA] for public art installations. There are also some private organizations actively involved in public art projects.

 

AUSTIN’s ART in PUBLIC PLACES [AIPP] Program

From the official website of the City of Austin..
Established by the City in 1985, the Art in Public Places [AIPP] program collaborates with local & nationally-known artists to include the history and values of our community into cultural landmarks that have become cornerstones of Austin’s identity.

The City of Austin was the first municipality in Texas to make a commitment to include works of art in construction projects. By ordinance, 2% of eligible capital improvement project budgets are allocated to commission or purchase art for that site. Austin’s Public Art Collection is found at sites such as the airport, convention center, libraries, parks, police stations, recreation centers, and streetscapes, enhancing public spaces for all residents and visitors to our City.

 

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PEOPLE’s GALLERY EXHIBIT at CITY HALL

The City of Austin presents the People’s Gallery at City Hall. This free, annual exhibition is designed to showcase regional artists and to encourage public dialog, understanding, and enjoyment of visual art.An opening reception kicks-off the new exhibit each year in February and the exhibit remains on display for one year. You can vote for The People’s Choice, an artwork that will be purchased from the artist (if available) and added to the City Hall permanent collection.

 

ART ALLIANCE AUSTIN

Art Alliance Austin [Est. 1956]  advances the city through art, culture, and creativity in public life. engages.  It promotes and funds visual art by commissioning temporary public art and producing experiences that bring artists and collectors together while generating economic benefit for the entire city.

In 2011, Art Alliance Austin, bought internationally touring street piano project to Austin, named “Play Me, I’m Yours”. The project was started by British artist Luke Jerram, in Birmingham, United Kingdom, when he places 15 street pianos throughout the city for the public to play. It became hugely popular, and the artist decided to have international tours. Since 2008, it has reached over two million people worldwide, with more than 700 pianos installed in 34 cities across the globe, from New York to China. It bears a simple instruction ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’. Very interesting story of the origin of this project can be read on Wikipedia, click here..

 

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 GUITARTOWN AUSTIN ART PROJECT: Nov 2006 – Oct 2007

 GuitarTown Austin Art Project, a public arts project featured thirty-five(35) 10-foot tall fiberglass Gibson guitars along with thirty-five (35) showcase Gibson guitars painted by local visual artists. The sculptures were then auctioned off benefiting four local charities: The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM); The Austin Museum of Art (AMOA); American Youth works; and the Austin Children’s Museum.

There are two public places where the guitars from Austin Guitartown project can still be found t- Congress Avenue in downtown Austin, and,
– Baggage terminal in the Austin Bergstrom Airport
On Congress Avenue, there are 3 guitars: “Vibrancy” by Craig Hein is next to the Frost Tower on the east side of 4th and Congress, “Twinkle Twinkle Lone Star” by Amanda Dunbar is on the east side of 2nd and Congress, “Sixth String” by Randy Rudman is on the West side of 6th and Congress.
The guitars in the Austin airport include..
“Piece of my Heart”, a Janis Joplin (who is from Texas) tribute by Tracie Sutton, Por Vida” by Kathy Marcus, “LiveStrong” (Lance Armstrong Foundation tribu•“La Guitarra” by Delfin Escalantete) by David Mider, “Keep Austin Weird” by Sarah Hickman, “Musician” by Howard Weliver, “MusiCapital” by Sharon Roy Finch, and, Austin Music Flows” by Debra Prather Samples.

 

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BIKE RACKS by DAA and Austin’s AIPP Program

In 2008, the Downtown Austin Alliance [DAA] initiated the bike rack sculpture project for downtown Austin. Working closely with the City of Austin’s Art in Public Places [AIPP] program, the DAA commissioned local artists to design unique, durable bike rack sculptures with the goal of supporting the arts downtown, as well as providing amenities for bicycle transportation. Funding for the bike racks was provided by the Downtown Austin Alliance, Thomas Properties Group and 816 Congress. The bike racks were donated to the City of Austin through the artwork donation process and are part of the City’s public art collection.
In year 2013, City of Austin Art in Public Places [AIPP] program and the Downtown Austin Alliance [DAA] installed two artists designed bike racks on Congress Avenue.
– Stem Rack by Ann Armstrong, located at 111 Congress, depicts two vertical steel “stems” rising up from the sidewalk, each ending in a singular leaf.
– Gear Grove by Ben Harman, located at 816 Congress, uses recycled bike parts to form three spires connected by supports reminiscent of bicycle crossbars
Note: The Downtown Austin Alliance (DAA) works with key downtown stakeholders—property owners, residents, business owners, community organizations and government officials—to advance our collective vision for the future of downtown Austin.

 

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Related Links:
Home.. click here..
2014 Vacation: Austin, Texas.. click here..

My Vacations.. click here..
Vacation: USA.. click here..
Vacation: UK.. click here..
Vacation: India.. click here..
UNESCO World Heritage Site.. click here..

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