10 Districts. 10 Projects. 1 City.
At its core, Drawing Lines is an exploratory conversation about the dynamics of place. An artist-driven, community-based public art project, Drawing Lines was commissioned in response to Austin's historic 10-1 political transformation from at-large to geographic representation. Embedding artists within the foundation of a rapidly changing, ever-evolving city, it's a project that explores how art itself, as a process, can be part of the conversation around Austin’s newly restructured 10-1 political system and examines the role of contemporary culture in the transition of place.
the exhibition
Drawing Lines: Explorations of Place is an experiential and immersive exhibition bringing together 10 commissioned place-specific public art projects for the first time under one roof to reflect on the new 10-1 political structure, each district’s dynamic cultural life and thus, the city itself. Capturing an historic moment in Austin’s evolution as a city through each of the artists' year-long residency, the exhibition provided a snapshot into the first year of this new council structure and the newly drawn geographic communities it is charged to represent.
Click here to view the exhibition catalog.
The ARTISTS
In 2012, the citizens of Austin initiated and voted for a new political system where city council members represent specific geographic districts, beginning with the November 2014 election. Exploring these citizen-driven yet prescribed boundaries of place, Drawing Lines embedded artists in each of the ten newly drawn districts for the first year to co-create a place-specific public project with the residents of the new districts. The ten district projects came together for the first time in the project's 18-month duration in Drawing Lines: Explorations of Place.
Commissioned artists include Los Outsiders, Deb Esquenazi and Carrie Kenny, Adrian Quesada, Zell Miller III, Sonya Coté, Josef Kristofoletti, Teruko Nimura, Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas, Jack Sanders and Steve Parker.
Updates from the field:
With the final exhibition focused on the exploration of place, and our new political geographies, the historic McKean-Eilers Building at 323 Congress Avenue intentionally roots the artists work in one of Austin’s most defining places where, for generations, culture, community and civic life have intersected to shape the city.
After getting rained out twice this fall, we're now set to roll again this coming Sunday, February 28th at 6:00PM for the installation and lighting of Teruko's Nimura's beautiful and ephemeral District 7 artwork.
Many site visits to incredible buildings across the city and we've finally found the perfect one to host all ten artist projects for the exhibition!
On November 8th, District 5 Artist, Sonya Cote, invited community members to join her and herbalist Nikki Telkes, on a Native Edible Plant Walk. Nikki guided participants through the area surrounding the Cherry Creek Community Garden, an area where 25 houses once stood before a devastating flood.
Despite the overcast skies and intermittent rain, a huge crowd gathered early Saturday morning for the “Grant to Plant: $3333.33 Plant Give Away” at the Natural Gardener down on Old Bee Caves Road in District 8.
District 4 artist, Zell Miller III, celebrated his home district with his piece Youth Voices of the 4, a reading performed at the Gus Garcia Recreation Center on October 24th. Noted community leaders and artists read poems written by youth from the area.
District 1 artists, Los Outsiders, celebrated their Drawing Lines district project on Friday, October 23rd with an opening party at the Cement Loop Gallery. City residents braved the rain and turned out in great numbers to view their project /Person / Place / Thing/
Jack Sanders' Construction Event in District Nine opens at the Elizabet Ney Museum this Wed, 10/7 at 7p, join us! The first of ten to publicly open, the Drawing Lines projects will continue to roll out through November. Join us at the opening parties, learn more about the projects and districts that inspired and informed them and talk with the artists to understand their approach.
An incredible shared experience with the community surrounding the Cherry Creek Community Garden, Chef Sonya Cote gathered recipes from the garden neighbors and made a community meal to christen the 25' table installed earlier that day.
Inspired by the technological advances being developed in District Six and the surrounding landscape and built environment, artist Josef Kristofoletti is developing a new system of painting murals that will take two-dimensional printing to an architectural scale by designing a mural painting robot. Testing the invention in the studio, the giant printer will paint any image in a color dot matrix.
The scaffolding sphere is installed at Elizabet Ney Museum! Each Wednesday through November 15, come talk, or even bring a ball and glove and throw for a while with artist Jack Sanders. The sculpture aims to engage an open dialog about the resident’s growing concerns (or lack thereof) regarding construction, temporary event closures and all-around life in District Nine.
The Asian American Resource Center is hosting artist Teruko Nimura for origami folding workshops! She’ll be back to teach and fold with the community at the Center on Oct. 3 to celebrate the 2-year anniversary of the AARC as well as the grand opening of a new exhibit: “I Want the Wide American Earth,” a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution.
Artist Adrian Quesada had a blast recording with some of the kids from the Anthropos Arts music program for his piece. One more session coming up to get even more horn players from the Anthropos program will fill out his mini cumbia orchestra and there will be a few more surprises...stay tuned!
L-R: Jorge Gonzalez - trumpet, Leo Gauna - teacher, Andres Rios – trombone
Filmmaker Deb Esquenazi, working with Carrie Kenny in District Two, spent time with composer Sam Lipman in his studio collaborating on an original score created using found objects.
Discovering District One through the dimensions of person, place and thing, Los Outsiders rode public transportation to the edges of the district. Follow their entire journey in and discoveries of the district on their tumbler and instagram: http://losoutsiders.tumblr.com and https://instagram.com/los_outsiders
On Sunday May 17th over 120 people gathered at Dove Springs Recreation Center in District 2 for a family portrait. It wasn't just any family portrait - it was the Morales Family Portrait – a portrait of four generations of people from the Dove Springs neighborhood - people that were born, married, and had their own children in this spot in Austin that others rarely hear about.
Part 1 of a video series documenting the development of the Drawing Lines project. This video describes the curatorial process and artist selection.
We want to give a shout-out to Los Outsiders who are the Drawing Lines artists for District 1 for their gallery opening at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Arts Center (ESB-MACC). Gently Fried: An Exhibition in Three Parts, is an exhibit that take head-on the issues of gentrification and displacement in Austin and shines light on the deeply charged issues of change, identity, and our perceptions of home.
Our very own Sarah Gamble sat down with FOX 7 and District 2 artists, Deborah Esquenazi and Carrie Kenny to explain what Drawing Lines is all about. We had so much fun! Thanks, Lauren Petrowski on FOX 7!
The City of Austin’s Economic Development Department is pleased to announce that two Austin, Texas projects have received grants totaling $656,500 from ArtPlace America (ArtPlace), a consortium of leading national and regional foundations, federal agencies, and banks, dedicated to accelerating the field of creative placemaking. The department’s Cultural Arts Division is a partner in both projects.
Part 2 of a video series documenting the development of the Drawing Lines project. This video documents the first meeting among artists and council members.