Public art takes a leap forward

It was a single tree a fairly average-size cedar elm that in any other Central Texas landscape wouldnt have seemed remarkable.

But leafless, painted white, seemingly hovering over the middle of Lady Bird Lake and accompanied by 14,000 prayer flags that lined the nearby lakeshore path, that tree became arguably the most-seen work of art in Austin in 2013.

A project sponsored and funded entirely by the nonprofit arts organization Women & Their Work, Thirst was a collaboration between artist Beili Liu, architects Emily Little and Norma Yancey and landscape architect Cassie Bergstrom. Conceived as a symbol of the more than 300 million Texas trees lost to the recent drought, Thirst withstood two floods and drew enormous attention and chatter, with images of it ricocheting around social media.

And in combination with other progressive public arts projects that debuted last year, Thirst also suggested a turning point for art in Austins public realm. In the past year, significant public art projects have been launched at the University of Texas, in East Austin and at the Contemporary-Laguna Gloria.

I think Austin is beginning to get to the point where perhaps we realize we dont have to resort to the standard conventions of public art, says Doug Dempster, dean of UTs College of Fine Arts. Perhaps were beyond the bronze age of considering heroic bronze statues as the only kind of public art.

Just a couple of weeks after Thirst debuted in late September, James Turrells The Color Inside opened on the University of Texas campus. The curvilinear chamber on top of the Student Activity Center is one of Turrells skyspaces, a roofless structure designed to capture a view of the sky.

The structures aperture is surrounded by computer-controlled LED lights that illuminate the walls with changing color during an hourlong program every sunset and sunrise and radically yet subtly alter a persons view of the heavens.

A pioneer in the use of light as an artistic medium, Turrell is one of the most important living American artists today, and the October opening of The Color Inside a $2.1 million project by UTs public art program, Landmarks garnered national attention. And the buzz continues.

Demand to view The Color Inside has been so strong, in fact, that UT officials have had to extend the reservation system to see the piece even though original plans had been to dispense with reservations a month after the piece premiered. (Viewing The Color Inside is free, and the work is available for viewing any time the Student Activity Center is open. Reservations to see a sunset light sequence are needed and can be made online at turrell.utexas.edu.)

Meanwhile, during the wildly popular East Austin Studio Tour in November, the citys Art in Public Places program launched Tempo, the citys first temporary public art initiative.

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Public art takes a leap forward