“We want to be the entry point in the northwest and hope to reach people that are basically in our neighborhoods who don't go to big downtown events or are new to town,” said Andrea Loomis, an Austin-based German glass artist.
Austin Studio Tour, an annual citywide artist studio tour that allows the public to visit participating studios for free and watch the artists work, will host the second weekend. Formerly the East and West Austin Studio Tours, the merged Austin Studio Tour is produced by Big Medium. It is divided into three categories with individual artist studios, dedicated art spaces or temporary art experiences. With over 520 participating artists, attendees are expected to narrow down their list depending on their interest.
“Every artist does their work differently, and I will have my glass kiln running and do demonstrations,” Loomis said.
Loomis’ gallery, located at 8303 Pommel Drive, Austin, is a participant in the Austin Studio Tour. She is also a part of a group of six artists in the northwest who have gotten together to create a smaller map that people in the northwest can focus on. There are new locations in the Arboretum and on City Park Road added to the tour, she said.
ArtUS Co, a nonprofit organization with studio space at 10000 Research Blvd., Ste. 141, Austin, will showcase 12 studio artists at work. The nonprofit has a gift shop in the store front and vendor space for pop-up artists, gallery coordinator and visual artist Celica Ledesma said.
Esteban Guerra who works with oil, stone and clay, has his studio in Jester Estates.
“There's a different feel to experiencing art in this part of Austin, because there's a lot of natural beauty. It influences my environment,” Guerra said.
A group of artists are also located on City Park Road. They include multidisciplinary artists Ashley Blazer and Stephanie Strange, mixed media artist Autumn Mae Crocker, collage artist Juliette M.M. Nickle, visual artist Raymond Uhlir, and landscape painter Daniel Arredondo.
Austin Studio Tour will run a third weekend on Nov. 19-20 with focus on east of I-35.
