East Austin Studio Tour

The city's autumn marathon of art covers work by some 300 artists in 175 venues

By Robert Faires and Wayne Alan Brenner, Fri., Nov. 12, 2010

Hope you've been training for Austin's annual autumn art marathon. With this year's East Austin Studio Tour, your legs need to be strong enough to carry you to more than 175 studios, galleries, and exhibition spaces on the side of I-35 where the sun prefers to rise and your eyes keen enough to absorb work by upward of 300 visual artists. Fortunately, you'll have two weekends to cover all that territory – Saturday and Sunday, 11am-6pm, Nov. 13-14 and Nov. 20-21, for the tour proper – but don't imagine you'll have time to rest between them as the culturally turbocharged event has demonstrations, discussions, performances, community projects, parties, artists' markets, talks, and other events (loosely organized under the heading "happenings") stuffed almost haggislike into the Monday through Thursday that link them.

EAST is still the best way to connect with the people who make art directly where they work (which occasionally happens to be where they live). What's your favorite medium? You have a hankering for ceramics? Try Clayworks Studio/Gallery or Old Cat Died Pottery. You prefer the delicacy of watercolors on fine paper? Check out the Heimsath Studio. Encaustic wax is more your thing? IBVA/Ines Batllo Visual Arts. Handmade jewelry? Oil paintings on weathered aluminum? Pen and ink on parchment? Collography? Photography? Streetwise screenprinting? Soaring glasswork? The enduring blacksmithery of ironmongers? Pysanky batik eggshells? Need we even mention the variety of media at Pump Project and Blue Genie?

It's all available during EAST, and the good people at Big Medium, the originators and directors of this expansive tour, have produced a gorgeous and comprehensive catalog (which includes a map) of the whole deal. What we think will be most helpful to you here is knowing where you can get one of those catalogs. Look: Hot Mama's Espresso Bar, 2401 E. Sixth, 476-MAMA. Domy Books, 913 E. Cesar Chavez, 476-3669. Whole Foods, 525 N. Lamar, 476-1206. East Side Pies, 1401-B Rosewood, 524-0933. Women and Their Work, 1710 Lavaca, 477-1064. Big Medium, 5305 Bolm #12, 385-1670. And the catalog is also available digitally on the EAST website: www.eastaustinstudiotour.com.

The schedule below contains a select listing of some of this year's special events.

Nov. 12

Art Night Austin EAST

7-10:30pm, various locations

Art Alliance Austin, the organization that brings you the Art City Austin festival every spring, kicks off the East Austin Studio Tour in chauffered-and-catered style, giving you a chance to preview and purchase works at the participating venues before the weekend's vast hordes descend. A series of AAA buses will keep the canny artlovers and cultural sybarites flowing among exhibitions and beveraged snackery at Domy Books, Bearded Lady, Co-Lab, Blue Genie, Big Medium, Brocca Gallery, and Fisterra Studio, with music provided by DJ Rox, Mateo, StrangeLove, John Wilson, One4All, and the Finer Print. $55 ($45, AAA members). www.artallianceaustin.org.

Art Night Austin EAST Afterparty

9:30pm-1am, Pine Street Station, 414 Waller

Quimica Chemical by Alonso Rey

Landmarks, the University of Texas public art program, hosts an afterparty with artist David Ellis, who was commissioned to create the motion painting Animal for UT-Austin. The party features a Q&A with Ellis, a poetry reading by Susan Somers-Willett, live painting by Sloke One and Rei, music by DJ Orion, DJ Tako, and Mesanger, and performances by Bboy-Recon and the Austin Urban Dancers. www.artallianceaustin.org.

Nov. 13

The Cobra Show

6-11pm, Cobra Studios, 902 Gardner

Cobra Studios boasts a showing of 19 artists, plus live music by the Lost Soul Revue, Channel 13, and Elaine Barber, and a fire performance by Michael Price.

American Short Fiction Fall Launch Party

7-10:30pm, Domy Books, 913 E. Cesar Chavez

Here you'll find rapid-fire fiction, art, and music.

Nov. 14

ARS + EAST = AWESOME

6-8pm, Shoehorn Design, 1010 E. 11th

This showing of art by students at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders is hosted by Mary Margaret Farabee, Anne Genung, and Cindy Grossman.

Serpentine Geese by Debra Broz

La Deca-Dance De-Vain

6-10pm, Vain Salon, 1803 Chicon

Early Sixties is the theme at this afterparty, with a live photo shoot, a photobooth for guests, music by DJ Yosamite and Stephen Glass, drinks, and more (Sixties dress encouraged).

CircX VorteX

7-9pm, the Vortex, 2307 Manor Rd.

Catch a free circus performance by Sky Candy Aerial Collective, Drishti Dancers, and more.

Nov. 16

Wondercraft: Eastside Knit Night

5:30-9pm, Starving Art Studios, 2324 E. Cesar Chavez

Yarn Harvest and the Wondercraft host demonstrations of knitting techniques by experienced knitters (Tara Tschillard, Maggie Murphy, Julia Chambers, Andrea Harris-Giron, and Kelly Minton), plus a screening of Handmade Nation, featuring Austin crafters Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching and Magda Sayeg of Knitta Please, with free popcorn and Saint Arnold beer.

Nov. 18

Pecha Kucha Night: Volume 9

Kris by Nicole Jeffords

7:30-10:30pm, 501 Chicon

Art Alliance Austin co-sponsors this evening of concentrated presentations – 20 images, 20 seconds per image – by artist Michael Ray Charles, venture capitalist Adam Dell, Charles Moore Foundation Director Kevin Keim, Austin Center for Design Director Jon Kolko, photographers John Langmore and Will van Overbeek, citizen planner and activist Jason Roberts, author/musician Jesse Sublett, and Trouble Puppet Theater Company (Connor Hopkins, Kathryn Rogers, and Jeanine Lisa).

Nov. 19

Eyes Got It!

6:30-9:30pm, Space12, 3121 E. 12th

A reality-TV-style art competition organized by Austin artist, blogger (Bout What I Sees), and former Chronicle visual-arts writer Salvador Castillo. Artists who responded to an open call have their work reviewed by a panel consisting of Okay Mountain artist Sterling Allen, Women and Their Work Program Director Rachel Koper, and Blanton Museum of Art assistant curator Risa Puleo before a public audience. The last artist standing after three elimination rounds wins a solo show at Pump Project Art Complex.