The leaves may be falling from the trees, but Austin public art is in bloom. This month sees three new works joining the city’s public art collection, and the Art in Public Places folks want us to check them out. They’re trotting out the artists for you to meet and even providing refreshments.
This Saturday, Oct. 16, 10am-noon, Philippe Klinefelter’s Medicinal Plant Wall will be unveiled at the Far Southeast EMS Station, 5811 Nuckols Crossing Rd. The work features five hand-carved, granite reliefs of native and locally grown herbs set into the carved limestone cistern that collects rainwater at the station. Granite benches surround the cistern.
The following Friday, Oct. 22, 4-7pm, Beverly Penn and Steve Wiman discuss the Community Core Sample Project and the Threshold Project that they incorporated into the interior and exterior of the St. John’s Multipurpose Center and J.J. Pickle Elementary School, 7500 Blessing. The project pays tribute to neighborhood history by showcasing photographs, memorabilia, and other found and salvaged objects from the community in 40 wall niches, while 35 marble plaques scattered throughout the site mark the “thresholds” of homes that once stood there.
Finally, on Saturday, Oct. 30, 4-7pm: Linnea Glatt’s Reflect will be unveiled at the South Austin Police/Fire/EMS Station, 400 Ralph Ablanedo. The work creates a contemplative space for remembering public safety officers lost in the line of duty with a landscaped seating area around a hand-carved limestone basin in which lies a mirror. For more information about these events or Art in Public Places, visit www.ci.austin.tx.us/aipp.
If you’ve ever dreamed of climbing onstage with the Austin Shakespeare Festival, now’s your chance … sort of. For its autumnal production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the company is seating audiences on the Beverly Sheffield Zilker Hillside Theatre stage in the midst of the action. Obviously, this means that ASF won’t be able to accommodate the thousands who typically show up for their Hillside Theatre performances, so anyone who wants to see the show has to pick up a special ticket voucher before the show. The vouchers will be available at BookPeople until 6pm on the day of the show, at the Hillside Theatre after 6pm on the day of the show, or through special advance booking on the ASF Web site (www.austinshakespeare.org). Only 300 people per performance, so act now.
This article appears in October 15 • 2004.