CultureMap Exclusive

Get read-y: 2011 Texas Book Festival to include east side Lit Crawl

How do you make the Texas Book Festival even cooler?

How about holding lit-themed evening events along a bevy of east side hangouts like Liberty, East Side Drive-In and Gypsy Lounge?

Yeah, that might do it.

Inspired by the awesome success of San Francisco's Litquake Festival, the good folks at the Texas Book Festival revealed to CultureMap Tuesday that they are currently planning the first ever Texas Book Festival Lit Crawl.

CultureMap got the exclusive first look at the special engagement which will include twenty big-name writers...

This event will be presented in partnership with American Short Fiction, the national literary journal that's edited right here in Austin. Together, these literary powerhouses and consummate party planners are putting together a night that you won't want to miss.

(Here's where you 'ooh' and 'ahh' in appreciation.)

This extravagant east side event will burst to life during one of the nights of the Festival (Oct 22 or 23) and span the stretch of 5th and 6th Streets east of I-35.

"The neighborhood feel is very important to us for this event," says TBF Executive Director Heidi Marquez Smith. "We want it to be fun for the authors and attendees, to really reflect Austin's spirit at nighttime."

CultureMap got the exclusive first look at the special engagement which will include twenty big-name writers of all genres (and age groups) that will be reading, signing autographs and enjoying Texas hospitality at many of our favorite east Austin spots.

TBF Literary Director Clay Smith is in charge of programming for this ambitious event. "Some authors will be coming to Austin specifically for the Lit Crawl," he points out. "Twenty authors as compared to the 224 present at the entire festival. This is going to be a big deal."

We can't provide all the names of the authors to y'all quite yet, but we'll be the first ones to let you know when the big (GIANT!) lineup gets finalized.

In the meanwhile, you can help us figure out the best ways to make an east side Lit Crawl the most kick-ass beer n' book event to ever happen in Austin!

What would you like to see included to really give these visiting authors a good dose of our weird little city?

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New

Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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