Save Our Spaces March: "Give Us the Keys!"

With signs reading "Invest in Arts and Music," "Life Is Art," and "We Are the Weird in Austin," 75 local artists and musicians followed the Austin Arts Resurrection Marching Band in a second line down Second Street from the Austin Convention Center to City Hall to urge City Council to "Save Our Spaces."

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Organized by the Austin Creative Alliance, the march was intended to draw attention to the crises facing live music and venues from rapidly rising rents and to elicit support from Council as it wrestles with the budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year. When Mayor Steve Adler introduced his Omnibus Resolution for the Austin Music and Creative Ecosystem back in February, the situation seemed very much on the city's radar. And meetings of the Music Commission and Arts Commission over the next several months, as well as the release of a document detailing recommendations for action, kept that hope alive.

But as the budget was being developed in late summer and early September, the creative industries appeared to have gotten lost in the shuffle or been completely ignored. Hence, a little civic performance in the form of a funeral – albeit one with a charge of life in it, borrowed from our sisters and brothers in New Orleans.

In true second line fashion, the marching band led the way, initially playing "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" as a dirge. Behind the musicians, a march participant towed a large white coffin with a closed lid covered with flowers and the sides labeled "Save Our Spaces." But when the march crossed Congress Avenue, the band stopped, the lid was knocked away, and out of the coffin jumped dancer Amy Diane Morrow, who proceeded to twirl and high-kick her way around the other marchers. When the band resumed playing, it switched to an upbeat version of "Down by the Riverside," which it played for the remainder of the march to City Hall.

Amy Diane Morrow comes alive when the march crosses Congress. (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

Once the march had passed the windows outside council chambers at City Hall, Austin Creative Alliance CEO John Riedie addressed the crowd, thanking them for their support before introducing the two leaders of Salvage Vanguard Theater, Artistic Director Jenny Larson and Managing Director Florinda Bryant, to reinforce the necessity of action. "We as artists are resourceful, but the arts are not a resource; we are a necessity," said Bryant. "We teach our communities, and we heal our communities. Our work may appear to be fruits on the tree of Austin, but we're really the roots. Make no mistake about it. The arts are a part of those roots."

"In 2012, the city drafted an Imagine Austin plan. Well, imagine an Austin without us," said Larson. "So we ask the city council to give us the keys. Give us the keys of an underutilized building, perhaps one in your city center that's just housing toilet paper. Give us the keys to an underused rec center, one that is not being used at night or on the weekends. Give us a 99-year lease. Give us a below-market, sustainable business rate. Give us a sign that you give a shit whether we stay or go."

The rally at City Hall: (l-r) Guy Forsyth, Jenny Larson, Florinda Bryant, John Riedie (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

Riedie closed the rally by reminding the crowd that the vice president of human resources for Apple said the tech giant chose Austin as the site for its second-largest campus because of the city's arts and music. "Tech is coming because of us. I want all of you to call your city council person tomorrow, email them, and remind them that arts and music is what brought tech to Austin. Arts and music brought all this wealth to Austin. Arts and music brought all these people to Austin, and it's time to invest. When the city thinks the core of the city is in trouble, they build a hotel. When they think the tech industry is in trouble, they give it $70 million in tax abatements. I'm not saying those are bad investments. At all. I'm saying, we're in crisis. Now's the time: Invest in arts and music."

Photographer David Brendan Hall has provided a gallery of images from the march and rally here. For more information about the Austin Creative Alliance, visit its website.