Nonprofit organizations such as Art Alliance Austin and The Contemporary Austin are working to educate Austinites on the importance of supporting artists financially, and many seasonal art fairs provide an outlet for the city's creative community to sell their work.
"We have amazing artists and curators, and we want to make sure Austin can retain those people rather than them getting a start here and going elsewhere," Art Alliance Austin Executive Director Asa Hursh said. "We want to put Austin on the map because we deserve to be there."
Both Art Alliance Austin and The Contemporary Austin aim to better connect artists, grow the city's artistic brand and educate residents to become art enthusiasts. The Contemporary Austin benefitted in 2013 from a $9 million grant that helps better utilize the group's two facilities—The Jones Center, a downtown contemporary art gallery, and Laguna Gloria, a 14-acre sculpture park off Lake Austin. The two locations previously operated separately but now co-host indoor-outdoor art events that make Austin unique from other art markets, Executive Director Louis Grachos said.
"That art-and-nature combo creates the kind of culture around art that you'd see at Austin music festivals," Grachos said. "We want to keep doing bigger projects that will resonate in the community very much like those music festivals."
But Austin must first concentrate on growing its art community, he admits, to help the city become an art destination in addition to a stop for music and film.
"We don't have a very deep or sophisticated art market here," Grachos said. "But galleries are growing, and artists in the community are very self-motivated and very resourceful in this growing city."
Hursch agrees more local financial support is needed to ensure artists can remain in Austin, he said. Until then, Hursh said the city would continue to be more of a starting point for artists.
"But as we grow and become recognized as one of the most exciting cities in America, we really deserve to be more than [a career launching pad]," Hursh said. "That is one of the goals for us, to figure out how to make this market bigger."
He suggests the city leverage its grassroots mentality to do more authentically Austin events, such as the East Austin Studio Tour, or EAST, an annual art tour held each November that included work from more than 400 artists this year.
"There is plenty of art being sold, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth, in fact, at EAST, but it's also not the sort of event that can sustain artists financially," Hursh said. "Hopefully, EAST provides an entry point for people into Austin's art scene—not just one night per year."
Many artists work year-round to showcase their work at various holiday fairs taking place throughout Austin. One of the longest-running holiday shows, Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, was started by Bruce Willenzik in 1976 as a way to overcome slow end-of-year sales at Armadillo World Headquarters, an iconic Austin business that closed in 1980.
"I grew up in retail, so I knew the last days of the holiday how much everybody loves to shop," he said.
Willenzik became the show's executive director in 1981, bouncing the event around venues until landing at the Palmer Events Center in 2010. He said his show benefits from a national reputation because of its commitment to helping participating artists improve in their respective crafts.
"We care about your success even after we get your money," said Willenzik, who has served on the Austin Arts Commission since 1989.
Art Alliance Austin runs a similar event each April called Art City, a juried fine art fair that draws more than 20,000 people and nearly $1 million in sales, Hursch said.
"I think it's important to have marketplaces because it's absolutely critical for these artists," he said.
Tiny works of art
Travis Heights resident Wolf Sittler has participated in the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar for more than 20 years. He specializes in wooden handcrafted furniture such as chairs, tables and lamps, often working with customers directly on custom-built creations.
"A chair is not always one-size-fits-all, and that's why we exchange ideas to create something that fits," Sittler said.
But art is about constantly changing and evolving, he said. To that end, Sittler has nearly completed his first creatively designed tiny home—a freestanding residential structure that is typically 100 to 400 square feet. He intends on promoting the project during Armadillo Christmas Bazaar to potential customers.
Sittler said he also hopes to one day expand to more abstract artwork.
"For years I've done what I consider to be functional culture," he said. "One of these days I'll do something beautiful but not useful—or beautiful and useful because it gets peoples' imagination going."
Art season in Austin
Austin's artists can benefit from annual holiday art shows primarily showcasing local works. Here are three that seek to make a year-round difference for Austin artists.
Blue Genie Art Bazaar
Blue Genie Art Bazaar this year added an additional 5,000 square feet of space at The Marchesa Hall & Theatre near Highland Mall, allowing 40 additional artists to participate in the 14th annual event, said Dana Younger, the event's co-founder.
The show started on a whim, he said, and has grown to include more than 200 local and regional artists. Blue Genie Art Bazaar, which runs through Dec. 24, has helped connect many artists with new and enthusiastic art collectors, he said.
"We love to put them in touch with the artists directly and let those connections grow," Younger said.
Despite the long list of art fairs each holiday season, Younger said there is enough room for all the shows to coexist.
"Collaboration is the spirit of Austin, and we try really hard to embody that spirit," Younger said.
Cherrywood Art Fair
The Cherrywood Art Fair at Maplewood Elementary School on Dec. 13-14 included 92 artists hand-picked by Chula League, a nonprofit that hosts the annual event.
Chula League's mission to support East Austin artistic opportunities carries over year-round through its Little Artist, Big Artist 10-week program, which pairs fifth- and sixth-grade students with artists for a spring show.
"The big artists are reminded how cool it is to make a piece of art and see that progress through a child's perspective," Chula League Executive Director Patti Shampton said.
Armadillo Christmas Bazaar
Armadillo Christmas Bazaar started in 1976 as a two-day event so popular it was extended three days. It has become such a nationally recognized show that six top artists from the original Ann Arbor (Mich.) Street Art Fair—consistently one of the top art fairs—are featured in Austin this year, said Bruce Willenzik, executive director of the bazaar, which takes place Dec. 16-24 at Palmer Events Center.
"Our show stresses prosperity for all because we'll spend whatever time it takes to create a successful show," Willenzik said.
