A Staple in the Art Community
Words by Sam Lauron Photos by Eric Morales
Few organizations have evolved with the city’s development and growth over the years like Art Alliance Austin has. For nearly 70 years, Art Alliance Austin has consistently provided a space for the local art community to come together, promote their work, and grow in their trade. And it all began with a small festival now known as Art City.
Art City, formerly called Fiesta, began in 1950 as a community fundraiser for Laguna Gloria. The festival has taken place every year since, but has evolved into a weekend-long event designed to showcase the entire city as a place to celebrate art. April 2020 will mark the festival’s 70th anniversary, making it the second oldest festival in Austin, following the Kite Festival.
While Art City has built the foundation for the nonprofit, Art Alliance Austin has developed numerous programs over the years that tie into the festival and are designed to showcase artists and connect them to the community. One of their mainstays is Art Breaks, an event series where artists open up their studios to the public to share their work and process. Art Alliance is also the city’s host for the international event series known as PechaKucha—Japanese for “chit-chat.” PechaKucha nights are produced four times a year and offer anyone in the creative community a chance to give a short presentation to a group of more than 700 people.
“All of the things we do are to give artists a forum for selling, being recognized, and having a place,” says Patricia Schults, executive director of Art Alliance Austin.
Patricia has long been invested in the city’s artist economy. After working at Austin’s Chamber of Commerce, she continued her career as the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in Sonoma, California, where she initiated a program to elevate the creative economy there. Using that experience, she moved back to Austin and began her position at Art Alliance with the same mission of supporting working artists.
“I think as a creative community, we have some work to do [in order to] come together,” Patricia states. “What are the major tenets that we all agree on, and how can we work collectively to support those?”
The newest program that Art Alliance will be implementing is the Youth Art Investment Project. Modeled after a successful initiative in Colorado, the program is designed to give youth a glimpse into the art buying process by providing in-school curriculum. Students will then have the opportunity to put their art-buying knowledge into practice during Art City where they will purchase a piece to be placed in their school or other community space.
Through their staple programs like Art City, Art Breaks, and with new initiatives like Youth Art Investment Project, their ultimate vision is to continue supporting Austin’s creative community while also amplifying what it means to support artists. “Whether hanging artwork on your walls or commissioning a local artist,” she explains, “we want to start a whole new conversation about what it means to invest in art.”
Come As Thou Art
Art Alliance’s annual fundraiser, ARTBASH, will take shape as an Avant-garde celebration on October 26 at Native Hostel. Guests are encouraged to dress up, explore their creative side, and immerse themselves in the installations and performances that will take place that night. Proceeds from the event will go toward the Youth Art Investment Project.
