Fall 2019
Austin Unknown was created from a common love for the city we live in. Our team agreed that some ot the best aspects of the city were also the least known, so while other magazines will give you an outsider’s view, we’ve focused on the Austin that locals know and love. We went on a deep dive about the game industry, the Central Texas Food Bank, natural wonders, influential art, and the unique music culture in Austin. Austin is a rapidly growing city with people from all over the country and world moving here. With the growing fame, there is a spotlight on Austin and what is unique about it. However, there are aspects that can get repetitive when you can see them in every Austin magazine, such as the ACL music festival and the running community. There is a lot of Austin that is special but not focused upon, and we strive to have our magazine spread light on what we love about our city. During the process of creating our magazine, we put a lot of hard work into going all around Austin, finding interviewees valuable to Austin, writing our feature stories, and creating our graphics. We hope that people who read our magazine find it entertaining and have learned something new about Austin.
Austin Unknown • 1
Contents Meet the Editors
4
The inspiration behind the Magazine
Geeky is Weird, but is Weird Cool?
6
How local game stores support the weird culture of Austin
A Hungry World
14
How the Central Texas Food Bank gets food to those in need
20
The best--and least known--natural recource in the city
28
The East Side Studio Tour, a major event for local artists
34
A look into the local Austin music scene
Underground Austin Austin and Art Austin: The Live Music Capital of the World
by Henry Edgmington
by Helen Randle
by Calder Randolph
by Isabella Comer
by Begum Erkan
The Lamar street bridge at sunset, taken from the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge in downtown Austin.
2 • Austin Unknown
Austin’s skyline appearing behind Lady Bird Lake.
Game Page
11
12
Favorite Foods
18
26
LASA & the Arts
What Game Should You Play?
The Best of Austin’s Parks
32
38
Austinites’ Favorite Music Events
Austin Unknown • 3
Meet the Creators Henry Edgington is a student at LASA. He enjoys music a lot and is starting to make some of his own with his guitar. He also has a passion for language and wants to learn a few more. He loves to swim and is on the PoolJags swim team. Henry is also on a CyberPatriot team for LASA. In addition to music, he has a passion for games of all types, and loves to play them with family and friends. He would like to be a musician or a linguist when he grows up (or both).
Helen Randle was born in Austin and has lived there her whole life. She is currently a freshman in high school at LASA. She enjoys scuba diving, surfing, and skiing. She loves learning and has learned lots from researching the Central Texas Food Bank. She also loves to read, cook, and spend time with friends. She likes playing board games and doing crafts. She has no idea what she wants to do in the future.
Calder Randolph is a lifelong Austinite and a 15-yearold at Lasa high school. He loves hiking, biking, and longboarding to explore the unknown parts of his city. Other interests include cooking, woodworking, pottery, and music. The Edwards Aquifer has always intrigued him, and this fascination has led to his feature story about the caves and springs of Austin. He hopes to keep pursuing his creative interests while also helping the environment and other people in the future. 4 • Austin Unknown
Isabella Comer is a ninth-grader at LASA high school. She was born and raised in Austin and she loves the city. Isabella has always had a passion for creating art, and her feature story is about Austin’s artistic community, with a specific focus on the East and West Side Studio Tours and the artists who participate. Her other passions include reading, baking, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family. When Isabella graduates, she aspires to be a wildlife zoologist and artist. Begum Erkan was born and raised in Austin, Texas and is currently a freshman at LASA high school. Music has always been a huge part of her life and in her spare time, she enjoys playing the cello in orchestras. Begum has always appreciated the unique music in Austin and through writing her feature story, she has been able to go on a deeper dive into the music culture here in Austin. Other things she enjoys doing are playing volleyball, ice skating, and reading interesting science articles. After graduating from high school, she plans to major in biology, chemistry, and eventually go to medical school to become a dermatologist.
Austin Unknown • 5
6 • Austin Unknown
Geeky is Weird, but is Weird Cool? By Henry Edgington
T
he weird culture of Austin has been around for a while, and has been a staple
A big part of geek culture in Austin is supported by local game stores, which serve as local hubs for the culture.
“You have to be a little bit weird to want to do battle with goblins and ghouls, elves and dragons and stuff like that.”
-Morgan Booksh, Social Media Manager, Pat’s Games
of Austin culture as a whole. Geeks have almost always existed, and in Austin the two cultures seem to grow from each other, creating something new.
Pat’s Games, located in North Central Austin and encased in a fantasy atmosphere has its own weird atmosphere to boast. The building itself is designed to look like a castle— it has turrets,
ramparts, and to reach the entrance you must walk over a moat. Morgan Booksh, the social media manager at Pat’s Games, understands how special Austin is. Growing up in New Orleans and moving to Austin when he was 11 years old, he has a different view on what makes the city weird. “They’re pretty similar cities in a strange way,” Booksh said. “They both have a lot of great music culture. They both have very diverse populations, different for their own reasons. New Orleans has better food, I’d say. But Austin has a lot more going on in terms of industry and business. And in New Orleans, there’s not a whole lot of good work. But in Austin there is. I like both Austin Unknown • 7
“Pat has always nurtured a family-friendly environment,” Booksh said. “So, on Fridays, it gets a little rowdy with a bunch of kids coming in to do the Kids Sealed at six. But I’ve always liked that there’s like a very wide age range of people who play here. Very diverse. The playgroup just feels like a very safe space and a very loving (Left) A collection of Magic: community.” The Gathering cards Pat’s Games was founded cities fairly equally.” in 1993 by Pat Johnson, a Booksh moved to Austin with lifelong lover of card games, board games, and geek culture his mother after his parents were divorced. His mom chose in general. Outlaw Moon, a game store located closer to to move to Austin because she was a freelance writer and downtown Austin was opened by Brandon Zuern to create the city had many more job a fun environment for geeks opportunities for her.
8 • Austin Unknown
(Above, Below) The interior of Pat’s Games
everywhere. “Austin’s a pretty cool city, and people travel from all over the place to be here,” Zuern said. “Whether it just be for their work or festivals
The interior of Outlaw Moon, showcasing the many games they have.
like ACL or SXSW. I’ve got regular customers that live in England and always stop by because they’re here for SXSW. Whenever that’s going on I see them hop in and buy stuff.” Austin’s geek culture is hard to find, especially as widespread as it is here. Even for people who live nowhere near it, it is one of a kind. “I’m from Ohio, so there wasn’t a whole lot of worldliness there,” Zuern said. “And when I come work here, I meet people from every walk of life, and that’s pretty rad.” Zuern was exposed to a very different culture and community in Austin,
compared to his hometown. Once he opened his own game
complete strangers. “The weird culture thing is kind of a strange “My friends phenomenon itself,” Zuern originally said. “I think the town is a very literate town, a introduced me town that likes to read and to games like compete and stimulate the Dungeons and mind, and I think the games are definitely a strong part Dragons, and now of that. Reading’s a big that I know the deal --there are a lot of bookstores in this town-rules, I’m teaching and a lot of individualism, the guy across and I think you get that from me now.” more when you have a thoughtful, interested population.” -Alex Maury Austin has a special culture store, he was able to play the to it, which specializes in games he loved with friends or Austin Unknown • 9
Outlaw Moon’s interior, showing the store’s vast expanse
bringing out and enjoying the weirdness of everyday life. This culture causes people to do anything from dressing strangely, or just being themselves. Alex Maury, a game enthusiast, came to Austin from Washington State. He started off by playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game and moved up to games like Dungeons and Dragons. “I’ve been playing this game, which is Warhammer 40,000 for about 10 years now,” said Alex Maury plays Warhammer Maury. 40,000 with his friend Warhammer 40,000 is a popular miniature war game. Maury was teaching the game 10 • Austin Unknown
to his friend, who had never played it before. “My friends originally
introduced me to games like Dungeons and Dragons, and now that I know the rules, I’m teaching the guy across from me now,” Maury said. Even though all three of these people work or play at different stores and hail from different places, they recognize how unique Austin is, and what makes it special. “You have to be a little bit weird to want to do battle with goblins and ghouls, elves and dragons and stuff like that,” Booksh said. “So, in terms of the pure, raw weirdness, I’d say fantasy games are definitely up there.”
Crossword Puzzle
#
# '
# ( ( #
! " # $%
&
' # ( ) *
Answers
Austin Unknown • 11
Down 2. Spring 3. Austin 4. Jazz Music 5. Magna Carda 8. Games Store 9. Food Bank 13. Sculptor 15. Antone’s 17. Music 18. Weird
Across 1. Limestone 6. Creativity 7. Hunger 10. Cavern 11. Volunteer 12. Austin City Limits 14. Card Games 16. Community 19. Karst 20. Artist
What Game Should You Play? By Henry Edgington
Do you like playing outside?
Never
So
m
et
Yes
im
es
Video Games How do you prefer to play?
I have to be sitting down
P C
12 • Austin Unknown
I’m fine either way
Console
On the move
Mobile
Sports What do you prefer? Bat
Basketball Hands Feet
Soccer
Baseball
Board Games Hard
Strategy
What’s your difficulty level? Easy
Casual/Family Games
Medium
Roleplaying
Austin Unknown • 13
Volunteers from the Central Texas Food Bank (above) moving greens out of pickups. Courtesy of Paul Gaither. People in need receiving food from the Central Texas Food Bank (below). Courtesy of Paul Gaither.
14 • Austin Unknown
A Hungry World How the Central Texas Food Bank gets food to those in need
By Helen Randle
G
hunger, and we know that one in five children, specifically under the age of 18, are facing hunger,” Mares said. “They don’t know necessarily where their next meal is coming
expects.
oing hungry is “We serve a lot of people who miserable, and figuring out are just down on their luck., how to get food when you we serve about 46,000 people can’t afford it is difficult. every week,” Gaither said. Many organizations help “The stereotype is people have access that its people who to food when they stand on the corner “We know that one in five can’t afford to buy it for change, children, specifically under the asking for themselves. but that’s not really
age of 18, are facing hunger. the case. Only about Not having enough 7 percent of the They don’t know necessarily food is a problem clients we serve are for some people where their next meal is homeless. And twoaround the world. coming from.” thirds of the clients Food banks try and - Emily Mares, we serve actually combat hunger by providing food to Volunteer Engagement Manager, have jobs. a lot of working poor people the people who need Central Texas Food Bank are just having it. The Central Texas from. And that, to me that says trouble making ends meet.” Food Bank (CTFB) is a large that it’s a really big issue... food bank in Central Texas The food bank mostly Hunger doesn’t just affect one which serves an area twice provides food to people who type of person that it really the size of Massachusetts. don’t make enough money to is a wide-ranging issue and it Emily Mares, the volunteer support themselves or their affects a lot of people around engagement manager for the families. They have many their community.” CTFB, explained the food ways individuals can get bank is the largest non-profit involved as well. They rely focused on hunger relief in the Paul Gaither, marketing and on volunteers to support the communications director for area. difficult process of getting the CTFB, explains that the food to people in need. people they help often are “We know that one in seven not who the general public people in Central Texas faces Austin Unknown • 15
Volunteer sorts food in the warehouse of the Central Texas Food Bank. Courtesy of Paul Gaither.
Elizabeth Peña, the agency services director for the CTFB, explains that there are many ways people can volunteer for the food bank.
“People who are interested in helping the food bank can get started in a variety of ways,” Peña said. “If they just wanted to learn more about hunger, they could read about the issue online or they can go to our website to learn more. If they just want to be able to give food to people, they could do that by having a food 16 • Austin Unknown
drive in their community. Or they could come and actually volunteer to learn more: you can volunteer to sort food or you can actually volunteer to give it out. So there’s a lot of different ways you can get involved, big and small.” Most of the work done at the CTFB is done by volunteers. The bank has many different jobs available to volunteers. “Our warehouse is really our main signature volunteer opportunity. It’s the opportunity where we have the most need and where we
have the most volunteers to come through,” Mares said. “So we do warehouse shifts six days a week, Monday through Saturday, two to three times a day; mostly a morning, afternoon, and evening shift and our warehouse volunteers help us sort, clean, and pack food donations that come to us from various donors. Whether it’s an individual who brings in canned food from their pantry or HEB sending a truckload of food to us, that needs to be sorted.” Because the quantity of food they receive that needs to be
sorted, most of the volunteer opportunities are in the warehouse, sorting food. The work there include looking at expiration dates, wiping down and cleaning the cans, and sorting the food into categories. “In our kitchen, we make meals for after-school programs during the school year and in the summer, we make meals for kiddos who may not have access to free and reduced lunch while school’s out in the summer,” Mares said. “And so our volunteers help us with a variety of tasks related to doing that maybe some actual food preparation tasks, it may be helping essentially dish those meals into our serving trays and sealing them so that they stay safe and fresh and meet all food safety standards.”
food distribution. “So those partner agencies could be anyone from an actual social services agency that’s running a food pantry to perhaps a church that’s running like a smaller food pantry just for their constituents to perhaps a school or a maybe a Boys and Girls Club that runs a food pantry.” The CTBF has the partner agencies within 30 miles of them come to pick up the food. They have a fleet of trucks that deliver food to farther away partner agencies.
“We work with over 200 partner agencies across our 21 county service area.”
As well as preparing food in the kitchen, the CTBF has volunteer opportunities in their garden where volunteers do things like take out weeds, harvest, plant, or lay down a watering drip tape. “We work with over 200 partner agencies across our 21 county service area. And these partner agencies are the ones who really help us distribute the food sort of on the ground into their own communities,” Mares said when asked about
predetermined location... And together with our staff and more volunteers with other volunteer opportunities or mobile food pantries. Kind of set up a serving line of food and folks can come through and all they have to do is tell us that they’re in need of food, we don’t ask them to prove anything or provide qualification papers, nothing like that. Essentially if you ask for help, we will give it to you.” The Food Bank serves 150300 families at each of the mobile food pantries. They do one almost every day of the week and do around 50 of these mobile food pantries every month, taking food to food deserts, places without a grocery store.
- Emily Mares,
“My job at the food bank
Volunteer Engagement is important to me because Manager, Central Texas it’s an honor to get to work Food Bank with volunteers. Volunteers “The one other way that we distribute food primarily is through our mobile food pantries,” Mares said. “So that’s essentially where we load up one of our big 18 wheelers or a box truck with several thousand pounds of food. And one of our drivers and one of our staff members will go out to a
choose to give away their time for free because they believe that the work that what the food bank is doing is important,’’ Mares said. “And they decide that it’s an important thing to do without any sort of compensation or without any tangible benefits. I’m really inspired by people who are moved to volunteer their time.” Austin Unknown • 17
By Helen Randle
Most Popular Cuisines
BBQ (4 people)
Sushi (6 people)
Mexican (9 people)
Italian (14 people)
Most Popular Drinks 5 -Coke 6
-Other
4 -Iced Tea 9 -Lemonade 8 -Sprite 15 -Water 3 -Sparkling Water
18 • Austin Unknown
Thai (7 people)
Most Popular Desserts
Cake (5 people)
Pie (5 people)
Cookies (5 people)
Ice Cream (25 people)
Most Popular Entrees Pizza 23.5%
Pasta 23.5%
These results are from a survey of 51 9th graders from LASA.
Soup 3.9% Sandwich 3.9%
Other 17.7% Burger 15.7% Taco/Burrito 11.8%
Austin Unknown • 19
20 • Austin Unknown
9 • UNKNOWN AUSTIN
A pool formed by the flow of Rollingwood Springs sits under a limestone cliff near Lady Bird Lake. Ferns, trees, and wildlife thrive by the water of the springs.
The story of a world beneath our feet by Calder Randolph
U
nderneath the highrises and traffic filled streets of Austin lies a vast underground network carved in limestone. The dry portions make up the city’s numerous caves, while other passages are filled with the water that emerges at the hundreds of springs in the Austin area. Karst is a word used to describe all the limestone terrain which has been carved away, leaving voids in the stone. Austin’s karst provides everything from springs to relax by, caves to explore, and habitat for many species. To maintain these pristine features,
experts study the science behind our aquifer and work to preserve it. Speleologists study all aspects of caves, hydrogeologists study the aquifer, and ecologists study the life supported by the karst. Austin was founded in 1839 in part because of the area’s numerous springs, and even as more people move to the city, the spring water is still an aspect of what makes it unique. “Austin’s really known for it’s bats, and we’re really known for Barton Springs, and all of the water that comes out of Barton Springs, in order for it to get underground in the first place, it had to go in a cave. It’s really sad to me that no
one really realizes that, no one appreciates that,” said Justin Shaw, a speleologist. Shaw’s findings from studying Central Texas caves goes to educating the public about karst. He hopes that an increased awareness of caves will help preserve the health of this resource. This work leads him to explore these underground passages whenever he gets the opportunity. “Sometimes people have a hard time wrapping their hands around that, like, ‘Wait a minute, you just did this for work for five days in a row, and you get a day off, and now you’re gonna pay to go do this Austin Unknown • 21
somewhere else?’ Yeah. I like it that much,” Shaw said. While most of Austin’s caves are small passages with few formations, they are still an essential piece in the Edwards Aquifer, funneling millions of gallons of water underground when it rains. Some caves, like Blowing Sink in south Austin, are navigable all the way down to the water table, at which point all voids are filled
in, posing a risk to everything that relies on the aquifer, from samanders to people. To demonstrate this and figure out the movement of contaminants, hydrogeologists put a biodegradable dye in the caves which ends up at Barton Springs.
of the coastal plains. These pipes often end at springs, where the water comes to the surface. Barton Springs is a well known spot for Austinites and visitors alike, but there are plenty of other ones to go to, all with their own stories and beauty.
“We put dye in the caves out in southwest Austin,” describes Shaw. Some of these six, seven, eight, nine,
“There are springs all over town. Because of the way the geology of our landscape is, most of our springs are over on the west side of town, but there are very significant springs on the east side of town…. There’s some significant springs along the colorado river,” said David Johns, a hydrogeologist for the City of Austin’s watershed protection department.
“Rock climbers, mountain climbers do it cause it’s there. Cavers we do it cause it’s not there.”
-Justin Shaw, Speleologist
with water. At these spots scientists can monitor the quality of the Aquifer’s water “Imagine if I can get down there what kind of contaminants can get down there,” Shaw said. While it is often thought that spring water is incredibly clean, the Edwards Aquifer’s passages do little to filter it. Contaminants can easily seep 22 • Austin Unknown
Lady Bird Lake is a common spot to hang out on a hot summer day, and while not known for the springs along it, they offer a peaceful getaway from the city.
12 miles away, and 2-3 days later we’re able to retrieve that “There’s a really cool dye.” spring on Lady Bird Lake, upstream of MoPac called Here, fast moving water Cold Springs,” said Mateo moves in large underground Scoggins, a stream ecologist passages to get from its entry for the city. point to a spring in only a couple of days. This system of natural limestone pipes runs beneath much of Austin west of the Balcones Fault, where the rocky Hill Country meets the clay rich earth
Cold Springs, a favorite spot for paddle boarders and kayakers, flows into the lake through several spots in the hillside. People have piled up
rocks to make pools where clear, cool water sits beneath a massive cypress. Before the Colorado River was dammed to make the lake, the springs might have been even more impressive. “As I understand, that is about the high spot on a spring that was about 40 feet high from the base of the river all the way up to there… Historical accounts refer
to it as ‘doubling the flow of the Colorado River’. So you’re talking about a very significant spring,” Shaw said. Just down river from Cold Springs is Rollingwood Springs. While not as raging of a stream, the dripping of water from a fern filled grotto is a critical part of the ecosystem. Plants and animals are found here in abundance from the lifegiving water of
the spring. “In Austin [springs] tend to be really important because they do provide that baseflow, the flow that we see in our creeks normally.” Scoggins said, on the importance of this springflow for the creeks in Austin, both east and west. This water provides a space for many creatures to live in a creek ecosystem, but because
Many cliffs in the Austin area are a view into what happens underground. Ferns growing on this wall (below) indicates water seeping from passages in the limestone. Up the creek from the cliff is a small cave most likely formed by spring outflow long ago (left).
Austin Unknown • 23
UT Grotto members restore La Crosse Cave at the Wildflower Center. Like many others in Texas, this one was historically filled. Photo courtesy of Justin Shaw.
of the growing city, some of the last intact ecosystems in Austin are at risk. “A lot of our springs have been disappearing over the last 50 years or so,” Scoggins said. Though the problem has increased dramatically in the last half century, it started even before Austin was founded when the early 24 • Austin Unknown
settlers had ranches on the land and filled in caves. “If you’re out in the middle of nowhere and you want to fill in these holes… A lot of times it was to keep water at the surface, sometimes it was because people were concerned about livestock falling in them. In either case you’re gonna go for the big ones first… As they went along they filled in more and
more caves,” Shaw said. Volunteers from the UT Grotto, a local caving group, and other organizations have worked to restore caves, not just for the sake of the environment, but also for the exploration and recreation that comes from it. “It’s exciting to go out there and literally find new caves. I’ve found a lot that way by
District Park Cave in South Austin showcases many cave formations made by dripping water depositing calcite as it moves along the ceiling and when it hits the floor of the cave. Photo courtesy of Justin Shaw.
spotting the filled caves and then digging them out,” Shaw said.
celebrate and learn more about groundwater because you can caving. see it more frequently and it means more to you if you have For people that prefer staying something in your own area Anybody interested in above ground, Scoggins that you can hang out in.” exploring a cave can find that suggested “Finding a creek experience at the recently and/or park nearby that you Whether it’s caves or springs, restored La Crosse cave at the can get to regularly, it’s a the Edwards Aquifer gives Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower really wonderful way to people many opportunities to Center which is open to the go out and look at them at explore, help the environment, public every February during different times of the year... and wonder about what other the Austin Cave Festival. those local creek opportunities secrets Austin might be Here experienced cavers and are the richest way to holding. new cavers come together to experience Austin’s creeks and Austin Unknown • 25
by Calder Randolph
This creek which winds through the hills of northwest Austin features many waterfalls flowing over limestone ledges.
Bull Creek Greenbelt
Mayfield Park & Laguna Gloria
Laguna Gloria’s sculpture garden and Mayfield Park are two great spots on Lake Austin.
Shoal Creek Greenbelt
dy
La
k ee Cr n lt rto be Ba een
Gr
Bir
This 809 acre natural space has everything for an adventurous Austinite--springs, caves, wildlife, and even cliffs to climb.
26 • Austin Unknown
Want a place to escape into nature, or just somewhere to have fun? These parks selected by our team are some of our favorites.
d
Lak
e
Seiders Springs Park on Shoal Creek features stately oaks and cool springs where an 1840s homestead once stood.
Over 7.3 miles of trails following Walnut Creek.
Walnut Creek Trail
Explaining the immensity of greenspace within the city through numbers
227
Miles of trails
288,000
The equivalent of a trip from London to Paris
tta n oo kly
than the size of Manhattan
Br
Data courtesy of the Austin parks and Rectreation Department and Texas Outside
4,100 Acres more
nh a
acres of greenspace
Ma
18,714
n
Trees within Austin’s parks
Austin Unknown • 27
Austin and Art
A
By Isabella Comer
ustin’s artistic community is vibrant, with much to do. One annual event that artists around Austin participate in is the East and West Side Studio Tours, where artists showcase and sell art from the comfort of their studios. One local painter, Philip Wade, thinks that the Studio Tours are important to Austin’s artistic community. “It benefits by getting people to discover all these artists around town.” Wade said. The city wide tours are open for two weekends every year. People all over Austin get to explore art and be exposed to types and styles of art they have never seen before. Artists showcase their artwork from their studios. People can buy the art, or talk to the artist to get commissions. 28 • Austin Unknown
Beth Shapiro, an Austin artist, said “Many artists participate in it, and it’s a huge event and the city gets behind it. Everyone’s excited about art for two weekends out of the month. People come out and artists get visited by 50,000 people. People going to the artists studios and looking at their work is a wonderful opportunity if you’re an artist, because you get people exposed to your work that might not see otherwise.” The exposure artists get during the Studio Tours helps to promote their work, and it expands their business. The more people that know about the individual artist, the more work they can sell. Being a full time artist can be difficult, and some buyers don’t want to pay full price for art pieces. “They expect to bargain,” Wade said.
By expecting to pay less on their art it makes them difficult to support themselves. “You do worry about money.” Even though Studio Tours are beneficial to the artists, they are not perfect. Artists can
“Since I am in a building with a lot of other artists we get almost too much traffic where people don’t have time to appreciate the art. They’re overwhelmed by how much they see.”
- Melissa Borrel, Artist
get tired or overwhelmed by the tours.
Blue and green glass bottles with pears between them, standing on a window sill. There are flowers and leaves pressing up against the window. The overall painting has a calming blue color theme. It is named Blue Bottles and Pears. Painting made by Philip Wade.
“The tours can be exhausting.” Wade said.
overwhelmed by how much they see.” said local artist Melissa Borrel.
“Since I am in a building with a lot of other artists we get almost too much traffic where people don’t have time to appreciate the art. They’re
Austin is well known for its live music, but some Austinite artists feel that there is a lack of attention on smaller local artists.
“There should be more ways to display art other than exhausting studio tours.” Borrel said. Austin is a large city and will continue to grow, but unlike Austin Unknown • 29
other big cities, there aren’t any places where local artists can try and spread their art to the public. Public art galleries are created so local artists have a place to display their art, and nearly all large cities have one, yet this is what Austin lacks.
they smile at you, they sign the guest book, they never look at you again and then you get a phone call a few months later saying ‘We would like to get our son painted or our dog painted, or we’d like a landscape painted’.” Wade said.
“There is a very big hole that no one seems to talk much about. This is about the only town in the universe that doesn’t have a major exhibition space for artists that is open to the public, there’s no art center,” Wade
The Studio Tours have been an ongoing event for thirteen years as of 2019. Some artists are veteran
said.
The East and West Side Studio Tours make up for some of the lost potential that not having a public gallery. One of the best things about the tours is that anyone can display their art where as in some galleries only those who pay can be apart of it. Despite some people making it a little difficult for the artist, the East and West Side Tours help the artist quite a bit. People see the art and become inspired, they might want a commissioned painting or to buy one of the artworks on display. “I think it’s important because it’s very good exposure, people come in, 30 • Austin Unknown
“I’m a new person to Austin, I found that certain organizations were really helpful and supportive”
for every artist and expose all types of art styles to the public. There are many different types of mediums, from figure painting to plexiglass colors. People seeing different styles promotes them to explore more types of art or to find interesting artists. Experiencing the tours could encourage someone to start doing art themselves. “Austin has a strong sense of community. They don’t do anything quite like Austin does.” Shapiro said.
- Beth Shapiro, Artist
to the tours, while others are new to the experience. Shapiro provides her first impression of her experience in Austin’s artistic community. “I’m a new person to Austin, I found that certain organizations were really helpful and supportive,” Shapiro said . The East and West Side Tours were founded to make art easily displayed
Colorful glass art display hanging on a wall. Created by Melissa Borell, a local artist and participant of the studio tours.
A cool toned painting of a woman holding yellow flowers sitting by a table. Painted by Philip Wade.
Paint of ocean waves and shore line, with bright blues and oranges, encapsulating the movement of the ocean. Painting by Philip Wade.
Austin Unknown • 31
Percentages of LASA students that want to be professional artists in the future.
55.1%
No
Maybe 35.5%
Yes
9.3%
3.2 percent of people said that they wanted to be a freelance artist. Freelance artists dictate what they do, as in they do not work for anyone but themselves.
32 • Austin Unknown
LASA & THE ARTS By Isabella Comer
1.6 percent of people said they wanted to be a sculptor. Sculpting is a difficult medium of art where you work with stone or clay.
11.1 percent said that they wanted to be a professional painter. Painters can be commissioned for paintings, such as portraits, landscapes, or photographs.
56.6 percent of students said that they wanted to do something else than the other occupations listed. Austin Unknown • 33
Austin: The Live Music Capital of the World M
usic is a big part of Austin’s identity and everywhere people go, there is always a band playing or venue right around the corner. Someone who was born and raised in Austin, knows that music is really important and it brings people together and makes people happy. In the 1980s, Austin was dubbed the “Live Music Capital of the World” because it has more live music venues per person than any other city in the US and today is where many famous festivals take place. Austin is a place where many musicians can grow and frequently perform as well. A popular music venue in Austin is Antone’s Nightclub 34 • Austin Unknown
by Begum Erkan
and it has been in Austin since 1975. “Antone’s is a crucial part of Austin culture, since Clifford Antone opened the club in 1975, it has been a place that honors artists and their music that has shaped the Austin music scene” said Abbey Judd, the owner of Antone’s Nightclub. “Antone’s is where many local musicians cut their teeth and got their start, like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gary Clark Jr.” Venues in Austin are great platforms to put yourself out there on the path to music. For decades, Antone’s has been a place for artists, experienced and inexperienced, to perform and get themselves known. “We support local musicians with our residencies, where
local musicians will regularly play gigs at the club, which is a crucial part of supporting the music industry in Austin,” said Judd. “Antone’s has a legacy of great musicians and continues to honor Clifford’s legacy to be about the music.” Many artists in Austin work very hard for many years to work their way up and become well-known for their music. Jonas Alvarez is a singer and songwriter who has been performing in Austin for almost two decades. “I’ve been playing in Austin, I would say, since 2000. I lived here in Austin but I used to play a lot on the outskirts of Austin. And then finally, I started putting my band together. I started booking myself throughout Austin. So, now I just play everywhere,”
said Alvarez.
The exterior of Antone’s Nightclub. Courtesy of Antone’s Nighclub.
Jonas Alvarez grew up in San Antonio and came to Austin. He has been performing here since the early 2000s and before. Before becoming more well-known, he was part of many bands and occasionally performed solo pieces too. “I started playing guitar when I was about 16 and then started getting involved in bands and playing. And then, I would say about the 2000s, I started writing songs.” said Alvarez. “I started putting a band together and we started
“I’ve been
playing in Austin, I would say, since 2000. Then, I started putting my band together. Now I just play everywhere.” -Jonas Alvarez, a singer-songwriter
playing these songs, live, all my original stuff, and people were like ‘Hey that sounds good’. I would say this was around 2003.” Austin is a diverse city with people from all over the world, so listening to music in different languages is not a foreign concept. Alvarez’s music is a fusion of multiple genres, such as Spanish flamenco and jazz, and his lyrics are both in Spanish and English. Austin Unknown • 35
Jonas Alvarez (left) performing as part of a duo. Courtesy of Jonas Alvarez.
“I like to have a Spanish, new,” said Alvarez. flamenco style, rhythmic “When you see that style. The rhythm to a lot Magna Carda is a hip hop many people for the of my songs, is what they and first time listening to neo soul duo that originates call Corumba rhythm. And it’s from Spain, or it at least you live, it just really in Austin. Magna Carda was has Spanish sound to it. And formed in 2012 by Dougie put the bug into then I start to rock it up a Do, the producer and little bit, or I may add some everyone’s head that keyboardist, and Megz jazzy chords, whatever that Kelli, the rapper. They we could actually means. Jazz up the chords a became more widely known do something with little bit on the progressions. in the Austin music scene But, I still have that same old this.” after performing at the X rhythm going and now I can games in 2014. Before -Magna Carda, a turn it into something,” said hiphop and neo soul duo deciding to take a path Alvarez. towards music, Dougie Do and Megz Kelli had other other bands. Looking forward into the ambitions. future, Alvarez plans to “So, my plan is to keep continue releasing new songs “I grew up most of my time in playing music, keep writing, and perform all over Austin as and just keep coming up Houston and London, Megz a soloist and occasionally with with new material. Just new grew up in New Orleans 36 • Austin Unknown and moved to Dallas after inspirations, just something
The duo Magna Carda. Megz Kelly (left) and Dougie Do. Courtesy of Magna Carda.
Hurricane Katrina. Megz came originally to pursue a degree in writing. None of us knew we’d ever go down that far the well in music,” said Do. For both Dougie and Megz, being in Austin has allowed them to be creative with the music they make and push the limits. “For our genre at least, being in Austin really forces and helps you at the same time to think outside the box. For us, we knew we had to compete with people maybe not as good as us, but they had a full band. And being in Austin, a full band makes or
breaks you as far as keeping the audience’s attention and growing fanbase,” said Do.
“This is where so many musicians have found a home and people know they can visit Austin and hear “I think it influences the incredible live music. Music mindset we have on certain tourism even incorporated things. When we really try into the local government in to be different in a song or Austin. It is an important part video, being here makes us of the economy and a part of really push our limits of ‘What the culture of Austin,” said haven’t we done yet?’.” Judd. Being in Austin really influences musicians to start a career in the arts and produce music or all genres. Austin attracts many people from all over the world with its many thrilling music festivals and venues. Austin Unknown • 37
Pecan Street Festival
SXSW
Other
None
ACL
A total of 93 9th graders were surveyed
38 • Austin Unknown
50 40 30 20 10
None
ACL
SXSW
Pecan Street Festival
Other
Music Events 9th graders Have Been To
Carnaval Brasileiro
A total of 93 9th graders were surveyed
Willie Nelson 4th Waterloo of July Music Festival Picnic
Urban Music Festival
Austin Unknown • 39