Art Spotlight

Meet 4 Austin art groups shaping the creative community

Big Medium hosts the annual East Austin Studio Tour.

Photo by Shelley Neuman

Austin is a collaborative town, so it’s not surprising that Austin’s art organizations are often about more than just promoting or producing great art. Whether it’s through initiatives to inspire youth, projects to foster dialogue or large-scale public art installations, these organizations share common goals of enhancing the creative community and creating vibrant experiences for our city.

In anticipation of CultureMap’s first Social of the year, we took a look at the four arts organizations that will be spotlighted at the event and the ways they promote — and encourage — collaboration within Austin’s creative community.

Big Medium
In 2003, Austin artists Shea Little, Joseph Phillips and Jana Swec held their first East Austin Studio Tour, inviting Austinites across I-35 (a much bigger deal a decade ago than it is now) and into artists’ studios, homes, garages and kitchens ... wherever they made their work. The idea was to give artists a way to show their work outside of a gallery setting and to give audiences a unique, authentic look at the creative process.

Now, EAST is a sprawling affair, with an estimated 15,000 attendees wandering into creative spaces all over the east side. It’s a blast to attend, and it's one of the best opportunities in the city for artists to sell their work and, just as importantly, engage with the community.

Community engagement is a driving force behind every project — big or small — that Big Medium is behind. In addition to EAST, there’s a West Austin Studio Tour and the Texas Biennial, an independent survey of contemporary art in Texas. Thanks to Big Medium, two large-scale renovated sites on the east side — Bolm Studios and Canopy — have become multi-artist studio/exhibition/retail spaces, giving artists not only places to work, but places to collaborate and gain a sense of artistic community.

Art Alliance Austin
Art Alliance Austin has been helping promote and produce art in Austin for a long time now. Established in 1956, Art Alliance Austin’s goal is to strengthen Austin’s artistic community through experiences. Through festivals like Art City Austin and projects like Hello Lamp Post, Art Alliance Austin dedicates itself to giving artists and art organizations platforms for showcasing their work.

Flexibility and inclusiveness is a key part of Art Alliance Austin’s mission and one of the reasons the organization has continued to evolve so successfully. Working behind the scenes on administrative things like development, event planning and marketing, Art Alliance Austin helps connect artists and audiences. In doing so it generates impressive economic benefits for the entire city.

Art Alliance Austin is responsible for $2.5 million in annual economic impact. The organization has gifted $332,000 to downtown art institutions since 2000 and $89,400 in commissioned projects since 2008.

Ballet Austin Guild
Love seeing Ballet Austin perform The Nutcracker every year? You can thank the volunteers of the Ballet Austin Guild for making that a reality. A nonprofit subsidiary of Ballet Austin, the Ballet Austin Guild is a volunteer-based organization that has been supporting Ballet Austin since 1975. The volunteers see themselves as “ambassadors of dance.” They not only support Ballet Austin, but help foster relationships within the Ballet Austin community.

Each year, the guild helps more than 13,000 Texas elementary school students and teachers attend Ballet Austin’s The Nutcracker school shows. Guild members also work with Ballet Austin’s Community Education program as docents, visiting schools throughout Central Texas and giving students an educational presentation about dance and the The Nutcracker.

Oh, and the merchandise sold during The Nutcracker and other Ballet Austin performances? That’s being sold through the Ballet Austin Guild’s program Gift Barre, the organization's largest fundraising source, which helps make the Ballet Austin Guild one of Ballet Austin’s largest annual donors.

Creative Action
Creative Action started in 1997 as Theater Action Project, a violence prevention program developed by four graduate students in the UT Drama and Theater for Youth program. Now, the organization employs more than 75 people and operates with a budget of $1.3 million. But the goal is still the same: designing drama-based programs to help engage youth on social issues.

Using a team of professional "teaching artists," Creative Action seeks to inspire youth creatively and academically and give them an opportunity for learning that is fun, hands-on and full of experience.

Through a range of programs the organization helps more than 16,000 youth annually. Creative Action was named a finalist for the 2012 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, selected by the President’s Committee on the Arts.

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Learn more about these organizations on Thursday, March 26 at the first CultureMap Social of the year at the Contemporary Austin at Laguna Gloria. There will be drinks, bites from Apis Restaurant & Apiary, a photo booth, custom jewelry station, and tunes by DJ Nabiya de Grace.

You can also vote to decide which of the four spotlighted arts organizations wins a 5,000 advertising package from CultureMap. Tickets are only $15 and can be purchased here.

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Music Matters

Meet 4 local music organizations that are the heart and soul of Austin

Photo by Dave Pedley

CultureMap Social on June 29 celebrates local organizations that play a key role in upholding Austin's music community.

In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” In Austin, music is the glue that holds the city together. It reminds us of who we are and where we come from. Without music, Austin would not be what it is today. Music is the heart and soul of our city.

The CultureMap Social on Monday, June 29 celebrates organizations that play a key role in upholding Austin’s music community, creating support and advocacy for professional musicians and fostering the growth of aspiring musicians.

In honor of the event, we're spotlighting organizations that offer various opportunities to enrich lives through artistic expression and musicianship.

Kids in a New Groove
Research has shown that learning to play an instrument helps to develop the brain, impacting emotional development and maturity, social skills and the ability to handle several tasks simultaneously. Recognizing this, Kids in a New Groove (KING) provides free, in-home music lessons for the underserved youth in foster care.

Founded in 2009 by Karyn Scott, KING pairs foster children with a music mentor who can offer consistent guidance, so that foster youth involved in the program can walk away with a skill set, self-confidence and a healthy relationship with an adult. Through mentorship and music education, KING’s teachers aspire to help students succeed academically, emotionally and socially.

KING students recently performed at X Games Austin, providing an opportunity to perform among professional musicians, which directly ties in to the KING mission: “to show the world and, more importantly, youth themselves, what they can accomplish with passion and dedication.”

Austin Music People
Austin Music People (AMP) advocates for the “brands, bands and fans” that have laid the groundwork to create the rich music culture found in Austin today. The intent behind AMP is to not only uplift musicians and industry professionals but also demonstrate to the City of Austin the actual dollar amount contributed to the economy.

The organization identified a need in the community when high-rises started to spread like wildfire and the entertainment scene faced city restrictions on when and where live music could occur. AMP set to work to secure a voice representing the interests of musicians and the important creative and economic influence live music has on the city.

Working in conjunction with music industry businesses, musicians and supporters, AMP serves the music scene by participating in city and policy development, informing the public and representing live music interests in public and private forums.

By providing concrete numbers about Austin’s live music and music tourism sectors — such as the $1.7 billion generated for the Austin economy, the 18,148 permanent and seasonal jobs that are created and the $38 million contributed annually in city tax revenue — AMP is showing us why music matters not only to individuals but also to Austin as a whole.

Black Fret
To say it’s a struggle to be a full-time musician would be an understatement. As a tribute to the artists who contribute to the city’s designation as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” Black Fret gives opportunities to musicians to create and perform their art form.

By utilizing the symphony patronage model, membership-based Black Fret nominates local bands for the chance to win a grant. Last year, the Austin nonprofit awarded $100,000 in grants — $10,000 for 10 musicians — allowing winners to advance their careers.

The 2015 nominees include Tameca Jones, Not in the Face, Riders Against the Storm, Holiday Mountain, Shakey Graves, The Nightowls, The Digital Wild, Ruby Jane, Gina Chavez, Danny Malone, Shinyribs, Nakia, Mother Falcon, Migrant Kids, Max Frost, Jazz Mills, East Cameron Folkcore, Aaron Behrens, Casey McPherson and Dan Dyer. All of them will receive a grant this year. Once Black Fret reaches its membership goal, the organization will be able to select more than 40 artists each year to receive $25,000, keeping the Austin music scene alive and well.

Austin Music Foundation
Much like Black Fret, Austin Music Foundation (AMF) works to empower musicians through programs, events and initiatives aimed at strengthening the city’s creative economy. From business education as it pertains to music to bringing people together from all corners of the music industry (artists, managers, producers, executives, etc.), AMF aims to sustain the city’s diverse music community.

Recent news for the organization includes its fourth annual Music Industry Collaborative program, which helps music entrepreneurs with existing businesses acquire the resources and mentors needed to be successful. AMF has also partnered with the Circuit of the Americas for its Summer Series at the Austin360 Amphitheater, where AMF will curate local performances to open for national and international headlining acts.

Interested parties can get involved with free and low-cost musician consultations, monthly workshops and panels, and quarterly mixers that help unite the Austin music community. It’s programs like these that help instill faith for the future of Austin and its heart and soul, the music. The beat will go on.

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Learn more about these organizations at CultureMap Social on the WET Deck at W Austin, June 29 from 6-8 pm. Listen to live music from Keeper and DJ BoomBaptist and sample summer fare from TRACE. Plus, treat yourself to a mini massage, channel your inner rock star with a look from the beGlammed beauty bar, and step into Smilebooth's Record Studio presented by Cadillac.

During the evening, you'll vote to decide which of the following music organizations — Kids in a New Groove, Austin Music People, Black Fret, Austin Music Foundation or Dub Academy — wins a $5,000 advertising package from CultureMap. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here.

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