“We were trying to color it in, but we didn’t find the right color,” Jewellz said.
The girls are students in Megan Zaner’s art class who are helping local artist Ethan Azarian in creating a mural on the wall in front of McBee facing Braker Lane.
“Remember to think outside of the box; different is what catches people’s eye,” Zaner tells them as the girls begin outlining shooting stars and a sun in black paint.
The mural will be finished in October. It is being funded in part by proceeds from the North by North Austin Garden Tour held last May. McBee librarian Heather Stephens said the mural will spur community involvement.
“It’s a first step for us,” she said. “We want to continue this momentum of partnering with the community.”
[polldaddy poll=9091072]Volunteer-led efforts
The mural is the latest project of a group of volunteers from the Rundberg Rising coalition, which began in January. The group is painting murals throughout the North Austin area, the first being at Harmony Science Academy on East Rundberg Lane near I-35. Group representative Sarah Duzinski said volunteers mapped other assets in the community for future mural locations.
“The goal of Rundberg Rising is to connect youth with public art opportunities, catalyze creative projects and capitalize on our own strengths,” she said.
For the McBee mural, Azarian said he plans to incorporate the school’s mascot, a bee, as well as the former Gracy Farms, from which the nearby Gracywoods neighborhood derived its name.
“There are so many schools in this area, and it would be nice to say, ‘We’re the school with the mural in front’ and make it more visible,” Stephens said. “It’s a statement of investment.”
Art in public places
The Northwest Austin area has few locations of public art, such as the McBee mural. The city’s Art in Public Places program has been in existence for 30 years, but locations of public art are tied to capital improvement projects, such as library renovations, park upgrades or new city facilities, AIPP Administrator Meghan Wells said.
A city ordinance requires 2 percent of the estimated construction budget for capital projects to go toward the acquisition or commission of public art. An example is the “Souls of the Trees” piece installed during the 2007 Spicewood Springs library branch renovation.
“The money has to stay with that source of funding,” Wells said. “In many ways we don’t have any control of it because we follow that [project] funding.”
To fill in gaps where public art may be missing, the city has a temporary public art program called TEMPO. A new program is underway this fall, and residents will be able to see 10 new temporary art installations this year. One piece called “Los Balcones” will be located at the Bull Creek District Park trailhead at Loop 360 and Lakewood Drive from Oct. 2-Jan. 8.
“It’s great for people to see a reflection of themselves in artwork,” Wells said. “People bring different interpretation and meaning to pieces. It’s a great way to support artists and neighborhoods, to enliven a space and [bring] more pedestrian activity.”
Gaining exposure
Having the public able to access art is key for artists to make a living, said Kelli Montgomery, executive director of nonprofit Austin Visual Arts Association, which manages North Austin gallery Austin ArtSpace. Most of the city’s art galleries are located in downtown and East Austin, mainly because of pedestrian activity and tourism, she said.
But rent is high in these areas, and many galleries are unable to afford the overhead, she said. That is why Austin ArtSpace works as a neighborhood gallery in a retail center, serving artists in North and North Central Austin and increasing awareness of local art, she added.
“Austin has one of the most creative cultures and communities,” Montgomery said. “The thing we lack the most is a buying public who really supports local art. What we found is if people know about us, they support us.”
Austin ArtSpace has nine artists whose work permanently hangs in the gallery. A rotating monthly exhibit allows the studio to showcase and additional 15 to 40 local artists each month, Montgomery said. This offers artists an affordable option to be a part of their community.
“It’s important for artists to not just make art; they need to be able to show it,” she said. “For a lot of artists it’s their livelihood, and they need to be able to sell it and not have to spend a ton of money to do that. It would be nearly impossible for most artists to rent a space like this by themselves.”
Northwest Austin artist Chalda Maloff works out her home studio. For her it is a necessity not only because of the size of the printer and computer equipment she uses to create and print her digital art but studio space is expensive.
She shows her art at a gallery in New York City but has also participated in the East and West Austin studio tours in which the public tours home studios and galleries. But Maloff said it would not be feasible for that type of tour in her area.
“It would be hard to organize any type of an art crawl here because we’re so spread out,” she said. “There are no warehouses or studio space where a bunch of artists can congregate.”
Nonprofit Big Medium—which receives some funding from the city’s Cultural Arts Division and supports visual arts and artists in Texas—hosts the annual West and East Austin studio tours in the spring and fall, respectively.
The west tour is the largest, and studios are located south of US 183 and north of William Cannon Drive between MoPac and I-35. The nonprofit is considering splitting the tour into a north and south tour, Communications Manger Jordan Gentry said.
“We’re figuring out where the people are and how to make it more accessible and walkable,” she said.
Affordable art
Bringing affordability to studio and gallery space for Northwest Austin artists is Deb Otto’s goal. In July she closed her art gallery and home interiors shop Mill & Leaf in the Arboretum because of rising rent. Otto said she is working to reopen her business next spring. The concept will be similar, but she wants to add a membership-based studio space.
“[Artists] really need that in this part of town,” she said. “If you want to rent studio space in North Austin there’s just nothing. People that live in apartments are either on their kitchen table or on their deck [making art]. If you live in a house you’re in your garage or in an extra bedroom. There’s not really optimal studio space.”
Otto said adding a retail aspect to a gallery could be one way to help artists cover overhead costs and make a living off their work. It would also make artwork more affordable for people interested in buying directly from artists, she said.
“People don’t always make an effort to get to art,” she said. “They’ll make an effort to shop, and they’ll see a lot of things they perceive as art, whether it’s a good art print or decor in general. You really have to seek it out if you really want to purchase original art.”
