The gist
“Stars of Dripping Springs” is a public art project that represents the city and its designation as an International Dark Sky Community.
“The star is really key to our brand, and key to who we are,” Dripping Springs Tourism Manager Pam King said.
The city partnered with the Dripping Springs Art League to select eight “startists” to create new stars for the project, in addition to two stars that were commissioned. In total, Phase 2 of the project will feature 10 new stars.
Each star will represent a different category, with previous themes ranging from the Hill Country and wildlife to cultural heritage and music.
The details
While all six of the stars from Phase 1 are displayed on Mercer Street, the new stars will be spread out across the city.
One star will be placed in each of the five city parks. Additionally, the project’s sponsors, Deep Eddy Vodka, Ally Medical Emergency Room and Flying Fish Swim Academy, each selected a star to display at their businesses. Lastly, a star will be placed outside of City Hall and outside of H-E-B, the project's Phase 1 sponsor. These two stars were slated for Phase 1, but had to be moved due to construction work at the buildings.
The background
Dripping Springs city officials wanted to create a public art project for many years before it came to fruition. The city had money budgeted for the project, but little knowledge of how to find interested artists. When the DSAL was formed in 2023, it helped fill in the gap.
DSAL leadership issued a call for artists in the spring. Applications were anonymized so the joint panel of city and DSAL judges could vote without bias. Winners were given the summer to work on their stars, and the first round of stars was unveiled on Mercer Street last December.
After the first phase was a success, the city and the DSAL decided to initiate phase two.
“Our members are excited about [the project],” DSAL President and co-founder Steve Friedman said. “We have eight selected, but I think we had 45 designs that were submitted. So ... there's a lot of interest in this. And we're talking about a third round for next year.”
Looking ahead
The city will host a public unveiling event at Dripping Springs Ranch Park at 6 p.m. Oct. 8. All 10 stars, along with their respective artists, will be revealed at the event before the stars are relocated to their permanent homes by November.
