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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > November > 17
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
East Austin gets TCA designation
Cultural and community leaders today celebrated the official designation of a portion of East Austin as a State of Texas Cultural District Designation
Austin’s African American district was selected by the Texas Commission on the Arts as one of seven designated communities with the first official State of Texas Cultural District Designation on Sept. 3.
The boundaries of the African American Cultural Heritage District (AACHD) are Interstate-35 to the west, Airport Boulevard on the east, Manor Road on the north, and all of the Huston Tillotson University campus to the south.
Austin joins Denison, Hunstville, Lubbock, McAllen, San Angelo and Winnsboro in receiving the TCA designation.
ProArts Collective, along with its community partners, spearheaded the Austin initiative and submitted an application in June to the TCA that contained more than 1,000 pages showcasing the cultural significance of central east Austin.
There’s no funding to accompany the TCA honor, but ProArts Collective executive director Lisa Byrd said she hopes the new designation offers leverage for increased funding opportunities from more sources.
“The inventory of cultural assets found in the district represents a diverse mix of historic and heritage sites and institutions, contemporary arts and cultural organizations, and workspaces and commercial outlets of individual creative and small businesses,” said Byrd. “(The designation effort) has embraced the goals of many community stakeholders with the ultimate objective to respect the historic, ethnic and cultural character of the neighborhoods within the cultural district.”
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Artist selected for Zach Theatre public art project
The City of Austin’s Arts Commission announced today that it has selected artist Cliff Garten to create a work of public art for new Topfer Theatre addition to the Zach Theatre complex adjacent to Lady Bird Lake.
The Venice, Calif.-based Garten will receive a $150,000 commission.
Zach unveiled the design of the $20 million Topfer Theater, by Austin’s Andersson Wise Architects, in October. The sleek 430-seat theater that will be surrounded by a tree-filled plaza and grounds.
“Cliff’s beautiful and thoughtful artistry, working in collaboration with the Andersson Wise team, has the potential to enhance the site in a way that connects Zach to Lady Bird Lake and engages Austinites during the daytime and evening,” said Dave Steakley, artistic director for Zach Theatre.
Garten was selected from among 148 national artist submissions. Through his Cliff Garten Studio the artist has created dozens of public art projects including the recently unveiled ‘Avenue of Light’ sculpture in Fort Worth.
Photo by Laura Seewoester/www.pegasusnews.com
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Hey arts groups — got your own iPhone app yet?
Got an app for your art?
Mimicking a national trend, Austin arts groups are jumping on the iPhone app bandwagon and creating their very own.
The Miro Quartet — the string foursome in residence at UT’s Butler School of Music — launched their iPhone app earlier this fall. Powered by InstantEncore, the classical music info site with loads of fan-friendly tools, the Miro Quartet app pushes info on the ensemble’s latest activities, offers podcasts and sends alerts. (The Quartet plays Lincoln Center Dec. 2.)
Charity Dynamics, which works with non-profit groups created an app for the Paramount Theatre, Austin’s historic Congress Avenue venue. Users can buy tickets, check updates and get alerts.
Both apps are free and available at the iPhone App Store.
The Austin American-Statesman launched its free iPhone App this summer.
