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Saturday, January 30, 2010
Cactus Cafe to close in August
Events calendar: Upcoming performances at Cactus Cafe
Photos: Cactus Cafe through the years
From the archives: Embracing the Cactus: For 25 years, audiences at this intimate venue have been all ears for the like of Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett and Townes Van Zandt, 01.29.04
In a move that has stunned Austin’s music scene, University of Texas officials announced plans to shutter the popular Cactus Cafe, the landmark campus venue where Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith and others spawned their careers.
UT officials also have decided to nix their decades-long program of informal classes, in which, for a nominal fee, thousands of area residents have learned a variety of skills and subjects, from golf to sewing to languages.
The Cactus Cafe and the classes will cease operations in August, officials said.
The announcement comes amid efforts to save cash and use money more effectively for students enrolled in regular UT classes, officials said Saturday.
“These programs have been going on, reasonably speaking, about 30 years, more or less,” said Andy Smith, executive director of the University Unions, which runs the informal classes and the Texas Union, home of the Cactus Cafe. “There are people in the community (who have enjoyed both), and to those people, this will be like any other thing that stops happening in Austin. That’s regretful.”
Austin singer and songwriter Sara Hickman was upset Saturday night to hear that the Cactus Cafe will close.
“I don’t know how anybody in their right mind would want to take away that treasure,” she said. “It’s a national monument. It’s a part of Texas. And it’s part of this world of sharing our gifts and our talents.”
In a town known for music venues, the Cactus Cafe is often singled out because it’s a true listening room where a hushed audience — it holds about 150 chairs — can hear singer-songwriters from Austin and around the world.
The cuts will save about $122,000 a year, Smith said. The programs had an operating cost of about $1.3 million, he said. UT officials said the Cactus Cafe and informal classes generally draw people who are not full-time students; about 10,000 people attended informal classes last year.
In recent years, both programs have required additional money from the university’s budget, even though they were intended to be self-sufficient, said Juan Gonzalez, vice president of student affairs. “They haven’t been for a number of years,” he said.
Smith said, “If they would have been making a profit, we wouldn’t have done away with them, because they would have been contributors for us.”
Attempts to reach Griff Luneburg, the Cactus Cafe’s manager, were unsuccessful.
UT officials said they will offer other positions to full-time staffers affected by the closures at their current salaries.
The decision was made Friday after a meeting of a board consisting mostly of students that oversees the Texas Union. Gonzalez said the decision “was painful.”
“We examined it very closely, and while the students understand the loss, they also understand there are higher priorities, and to direct services to students, I think, is the higher calling,” he said.
The move comes amid a plan by UT to cut 5 percent, or $29 million, from the state-funded portion of its two-year budget. This month, Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus instructed state agencies, including higher education institutions, to submit budget reduction plans by Feb. 15.
The prospect of budget cutting has come at a difficult time for the university.
Its overall budget, including legislative appropriations, federal research grants, tuition, gifts and other items, rose 2.8 percent, to $2.1 billion, for the fiscal year that began Sept. 1. But after covering higher health insurance charges, increased student financial aid and other costs, UT had just $6.7 million more than the previous fiscal year for academic purposes.
In recent months, UT President William Powers Jr. has overseen an effort to free up millions of dollars to retain and recruit top faculty members. Some staff members have been dismissed, and more layoffs could be in the works.
The Texas Union has a budget of about $4.5 million, Smith said. That money is used to provide programs for students that include an annual film festival, concerts and events for diverse communities.
On Saturday night, word that the Cactus Cafe, which opened in 1979, will close tore through Austin’s music community.
Other musicians who have performed there include Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, the Dixie Chicks and the legendary Townes Van Zandt, who appeared more than 100 times, Luneburg once said.
Country music singer and songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard said the announcement “is some of the most depressing news I’ve heard in a while. The Cactus really helped validate me and many more people as a songwriter.”
“It’s unthinkable,” said David Garza, whose career also started there. “I’m in shock. I can’t imagine Austin without the Cactus.”
EARLIER:
The Cactus Cafe, Austin’s beloved, world-renowned listening room for more than three decades, which has spawned the careers of Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, David Garza, Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves, Butch Hancock and many, many more, is being closed in August, according to an announcement on the University of Texas Web site.
The action, which also will phase out the Informal Classes program, took place at the Texas Union Board of Directors’ first meeting of the spring semester, according to the announcement.
“It’s unthinkable,” said Garza, pictured. “I’m in shock. I can’t imagine Austin without the Cactus. Now I know how everybody felt when we lost the Armadillo and Liberty Lunch.”
Ray Wylie Hubbard was also stunned at the news, which tore through the Austin music community Saturday afternoon. “This is some of the most depressing news I’ve heard in a while,” he said. “The Cactus really helped validate me and many more people as a songwriter. No other university in the world can match an on-campus live music venue like the cozy Cactus.”
“The decision to close the Cactus Cafe and the Informal Classes program was made to minimize the impact of budgetary reductions on students and to protect student core services,” the statement read. “President William Powers Jr. recently asked all university departments to prepare plans that prioritize reductions.” The release said Cactus and Informal Classes employees would be reassigned. It’s impossible to think of Cactus manager Griff Luneburg, who’s been in charge there for 27 years, in any other job.
“I don’t’ know how anybody in their right mind would want to take away that treasure,” said Sara Hickman. “It’s a national monument. It really is. It’s a part of Texas. And it’s part of this world of sharing our gifts and our talents.”
Singer songwriter Ryan Bingham, an odds-on favorite to win the Oscar for best original song for his theme to “Crazy Heart,” was among many artists discovered at the Cactus and signed to a record deal after opening for Joe Ely.
UT’s statement also said that “both the Cactus Cafe and Informal Classes were largely used by non-students, and in recent years both programs required significant subsidies to remain in operation.”
“Although popular with some audiences, these programs are no longer profitable and do not fit within the core student mission of the Texas Union and Student Affairs,” said William Andrew Smith Jr., executive director of University Unions.
Update: Juan Gonzalez, vice president of student affairs, said the decision to shutter the Cactus Cafe was “painful.”
“It was examined very closely,” he said. “Everyone acknowledges the significant history, the list of fabulous artists who have played in the Cactus.”
