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Higher & Better Use For Downtown Alleys
Jude Galligan | March 20, 2013 | 4 Comments

Higher & Better Use For Downtown Alleys

austin_alley_project

This effort could yield some cool results.  The idea is in focus as Art Alliance Austin will feature in April an alley installation adjacent to the Austin Club.

Councilmember Tovo’s office is capturing the attention of downtown stakeholder groups, including Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Commission, which has spun off a working group, for consideration of a masterplan for downtown Austin’s alleyways.

“Traditionally [alleys] are associated with garbage collection and can be associated with crime,” Tovo says “so, there’s the notion of kind of taking another look at them and really thinking about what kind of potential they might bring to our downtown area.” – KUT News

Repurposing alleys is not a new idea, and many cities around the world have embraced them as valuable real estate.

In fact, the concept for revitalizing downtown alleys has come before Austin City Council at least once before.  Back in 1971, architect David Graeber proposed repurposing the alleys behind 6th Street, from the Driskill Hotel to Waller Creek.

“By establishing cafes, boutiques, business offices and unusual shops, the alley could be a major economic stimulant to the downtown area.  Businesses could face either the alley or 6th Street, or more advantageously, both.” – David Graeber

Austin Architect, David Graeber's "Serendipity Alley" concept from the 1970s. Daily Texan, September 24, 1971

Austin Architect, David Graeber’s “Serendipity Alley” concept from the 1970s. Daily Texan, September 24, 1971

[Image credit Art Alliance Austin/Creative Action and TBG/Dan Cheetham (Fyoog) and Michelle Tarsney]

Filed Under: austin art, buildings, downtown austin, history
Fairy Tale Themes Come to Life in 2nd Street Shop Windows
Fred Schmidt | December 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Fairy Tale Themes Come to Life in 2nd Street Shop Windows

2nd St Holiday Window 2012 - Believin

One more unique and wonderful thing to do with friends and family this holiday season…
Head on over to the 2nd Street District for another edition of the Holiday Window Walk! Twenty retail windows have been done up by design and fine arts students from our area colleges in beautiful themes on classic fairy tales. It all kicks off tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 8th and will be up through New Year’s. Come by and join the festivities!
Here’s a nice little story on Amanda Ivarra’s blog, Miss A, that tells how this all came to be.

Filed Under: 2nd Street District, austin art, austin retail, austin small business, downtown austin
ZOMG – Topfer Theatre at ZACH Theatre Brings Austin Theatre Back to the Forefront of Austin Culture
amber gugino | September 19, 2012 | 1 Comment

ZOMG – Topfer Theatre at ZACH Theatre Brings Austin Theatre Back to the Forefront of Austin Culture

Be on the lookout for performance of famous balcony scenes to happen at this exterior, front-facing balcony of the theatre. I'm also told that the balcony will actually end up being made of glass, rather than the metal pictured here.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a personal tour of ZACH Theatre’s new mainstage, The Topfer (pronounced top-fur) Theatre earlier this week.  This theatre allows ZACH to truly make the jump from a small professional theatre to premiere regional theatre by providing a new, state of the art performance facility as part of downtown Austin’s already growing culture and arts scene. Downtown Austin needs a real regional theatre, and this structure and the excitement it will bring to the theatre and arts community is a huge step in the right direction.

Per an article in the Austin Chronicle (link) – ZACH Theatre had been contemplating building a third theatre in its complex as early at 1985, when they held over some funds from that year’s bond election to help fund building a third theatre.  In 2000, the economy stalled, putting the project on hold, but,  through a kick-start of funding of $10 million through the 2006 City of Austin bond election, and then fueled by direct private donation – the project was revived in 2007.  Overall, it’s a $22 million project, and they still need to raise about $2 million for completion.

The ZACH Theatre compound falls within the Zilker Neighborhood Association, but it is easily accessible to downtown Austin condos and homes and, really, feels like a part of downtown to many. I was told the ZNA was supportive the variances Zach Scott needed to build the Topfer Theatre.

As a college Theatre Major and all around theatre nerd, I was soooooo impressed with the Topfer Theatre and Kuykendall Stage.

Some tidbits:

  1. Celebrated Austin actress Karen Kuykendall has her ashes kept under the stage, isn’t that crazy?! (What’s even crazier is that there are no “r”s in “Kuykendall”!)
  2. The Topfer Theatre has a LEED Silver Certification
  3. Over 70 new parking spots have been added to the ZACH Theatre compound
  4. 40 new trees were added to the lot, as well
  5. The AC and other mechanical components of the theatre have a separate foundation from the stage – this is to minimize any possibility of noise and rumbling during performances.
  6. The theatre’s design is taken from the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago (the house is a little narrower)
  7. The theatre house seats ~420
  8. The theatre was designed by the same architects who did The W – Andersson-Wise Architects
Now, for the good stuff – the pictures (please note that the theatre is still having final touches done to it – not fully finished yet)!

For more incredible pictures and theatre fun facts – check out Bryan Kosarek’s Gay in Austin Texas Blog.

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Interested in searching for Austin homes for sale in or near Downtown Austin?  Be sure to check out our property search to view Austin homes for sale.

Additionally, here are some condominiums in Downtown Austin that are near the theatre – to learn more about these individual buildings, visit their pages:

 

Filed Under: austin art, austin condos, austin lifestyle, Austin photos, images, austin recreation, austin small business, austin towers, austin towers and high rises, development, downtown austin, high rises, urban family
O. Henry Pun Off at Brush Square Park in Downtown Austin May 19th
amber gugino | May 17, 2012 | 1 Comment

O. Henry Pun Off at Brush Square Park in Downtown Austin May 19th

O. Henry Pun Off Austin Texas

Yes. Yes, O. yes.  It’s that time again, folks.  Time for the 35th annual O. Henry Pun Off.  Taking place this Saturday (May 19th, 2012) at the O. Henry Museum (adjacent to Brush Square), this delightful competition celebrates the pun with two separate competitions – Punniest in Show and Punslingers.

However, a video is worth a million words – so, check out some of these punny finals videos from previous years: [Read more...]

Filed Under: austin art, austin history, austin lifestyle, austin news, austin parks, austin recreation, downtown austin
Artwork By Mike Johnston (The Day I Found Treasure At Austin Java)
Jude Galligan | April 10, 2012 | 10 Comments

Artwork By Mike Johnston (The Day I Found Treasure At Austin Java)

mike-johnston-austin-3

mike johnston artist at Austin Java

On Saturday, I walked into Austin Java on 2nd Street, ’bout to get my omelet on.  Chillaxin.  There I was, standing in line, just looking around, and I realize that every piece of art work on the walls is making an impact on me.

A flyer taped to the wall explained most of the artwork was by Mike Johnston.  Life surprised me with these paintings.  All of them bringing a smile to my face.  They put a skip into my step.  14 pieces in total.  Each is repurposed scrap wood.

I purchased every piece in the store.

I couldn’t carry everything home, so I walked home beaming at my purchase, and returned later to pick up my treasure.

“Street art” is one of my favorite visual mediums. Bold, unexpected, high-contrast, ironic, symbolic, stylized, comical, etc.  Some of my favorite “public art” is found on the Lady Bird Lake train overpass, the Lamar underpass, the wall on Castle Hill, the wall on E 5th Street near Saltillo Station.

I’ve seen Exit Through The Gift Shop, and am basically familiar with the work of Shepard Fairey and Banksy.  Which makes me no more than a casual fan of a couple of notable artists.

I didn’t know about Mike until walking into Austin Java, and that’s part of what made this such a nice discovery.  I’m excited to have a collection of local art work that totally vibes with me.  I look at it and smile.

As I research and learn more about Mike and his work the more happy I am to be the newest host of these paintings – which will probably be on the walls of our soon-to-be-redone office (you should stop by in a few weeks to check it out).  Until then, check out more of Mike’s work here.

http://www.offthawalls.blogspot.com

-Jude

Filed Under: 2nd Street District, austin art, austin lifestyle, austin small business, DAB Artists, downtown austin, Downtown Austin Districts Tagged With:
Downtown Gets Magical This Weekend
Fred Schmidt | September 2, 2010 | 3 Comments

Downtown Gets Magical This Weekend

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For something very fresh and different this weekend to drown our mundane laborous lives, check out these cool events on tap ’round the hood:

The 1St Annual Austin Street Magic Festival TONIGHT, 6th & Red River next to Esther’s Follies (home of our own fantabulous, Ray Anderson), 6pm-2am and FREE!

And that’s just the warm up.

For you uber fans of fun and illusion, there’s an entire gathering of renown magicians from across the lands assembling all weekend at the Austin Convention Center. Details here:

Austin 2010 TAOM — that’s the Texas Association of Magicians.  Here is the TAOM Facebook page too.

Here’s a news story from News 8.

And also more info to be found on the pages of Austin corporate lawyer (but always a magician at heart — and skill), Hull Youngblood.  You can check him out — and be his friend — via the TAOM Facebook link above!

Much fun for all so make like a bunny and vanish your abode already!

Filed Under: 6th Street Historic & Entertainment District, austin art, austin lifestyle, austin recreation, downtown austin, entertainment district, life in austin
Jude Galligan | July 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Artists Inspired By The 80′s: Free Exhibition at Domy Books

DAB fan Erin Portman sent this to us and we couldn’t resist showing some promo love.  The upcoming “88” Event held at Domy Books on Sat., Aug. 7th from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m., is a free exhibition, organized by Andy Coolquitt, offers a view through the lens of 1988 in Austin to demonstrate how “we developed as a visual culture … what we’ve learned and what we’ve lost and where we need to go.”

As a child of the ’80s, it’s always interesting for me to look back at those years with the benefit of hindsight.  Memories of Vision Street Wear and Hypercolor tee-shirts, jeans with tightly rolled cuffs, Michael Jordan, and ubiquitous Patrick Nagel fashion art posters hanging on the walls of bachelor pads around the country.

What were artists working on and exhibiting in the ’80s?  Coolquitt continues… “My interest in this exhibition is to publicly celebrate these amazing people that I learned from, to provide a small glimpse into some of the ideas that were floating around 22 years ago, and to see what they are up to now.”

One of the artists, Elisa Jimenez’s – Project Runway alum, and named by Vogue as one of today’s emerging designers to watch – interactive show starts at Domy at 7 p.m. and will feature models unveiling her creations while transitioning the event into a raw and immediate parade to OKAY MOUNTAIN for a final runway-esque presentation at 9:30 p.m.

[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157624622595928"]

After “88″, on Sunday., Aug. 8 from 2 to 5 p.m., Jimenez will host a pop-up store at W3LL PEOPLE, located at 215 Lamar Blvd., featuring pieces from the Hunger World, her spontaneous couture and one-of-a-kind “ready-mades” of which she’s built her 14-year career. They are all hand wrought, hand drawn and imbibed with scented oils. Elisa’s celebrity clients include Marisa Tomei, Courtney Love, Cher, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lisa Bonet and Melissa Auf Der Maur, among others.

More details on this event are available at http://www.domystore.com.

Filed Under: austin art
Jude Galligan | June 23, 2010 | 6 Comments

Wallspace With Permission – Austin’s Untapped Canvas

After last night’s public briefing on the boardwalk design, i rounded the corner at city hall and noticed a painted wall with the website “placingroutes.org”. This morning I checked them out, and was delighted to discover what Placing Routes is about.

idea —> proposal —> permission —> realization

simply put, the business owner has a wall/space and the artist has an idea/concept. from there, a mural, a sculpture, a piece of art is born.

CASH mural at Wahoos. This awesome pic is from Austin Texas Daily Photo

Artists paired with buildings.  Have an artistic idea for a wall space?  Artist or building can bring an idea to the table.  Take permanence off the table, and you open up a world of opportunity, especially in downtown Austin.

A few years back, I helped to launch Wallspace Media, an advertising company that did this with projection.  We obtained permission to utilize wallspace, and did our thing.  You see this with graffiti artists, too, who developed the concept of “permission walls”.  Walk down E 5th, and across from Cafe Mundi you’ll see a massive amount of artwork on the back of an aging warehouse.  All done with permission.

As you walk around town, you’ll notice the potential for this.  Stark surfaces everywhere have the potential to bring vibrancy to the community, and energy to those who see it.

Filed Under: austin art, austin lifestyle