Big Medium has big news.
After years of organizing both the East Austin Studio Tour and the West Austin Studio Tour, this year there will be one Austin Studio Tour, and it will be online.
Also, the tours boundaries are expanding. Artists from all 10 of Austin’s city council-designated districts are eligible to participate as are artists living within a 15 mile radius of the Texas State Capitol.
The tour will be Nov. 14-22. Artists can apply at bigmedium.org/austinstudiotour
“Since the tour is primarily virtual this year, we have expanded the boundaries to truly include all of Austin and offer every artist in our city an opportunity to participate and celebrate art citywide,” said Big Medium executive director Shea Little.
Taking the safety of artists and audience seriously, and with city’s health regulations at the forefront, Big Medium will not be coordinating or supporting indoor activities of any kind, Little said.
However the Austin Studio Tour will include outdoor installations and public art that can be safely visited. And the tour’s website will include artist profiles, images of art, virtual studio visits, demonstrations and artists talks.
Little said that going forward, the 2021 tour will also be one combined city-wide tour though any details are pending given the uncertainty of the pandemic.
Since it started in 2003, the East Austin Studio Tour became the city’s largest visual art event with hundreds of participating artists and thousands of audience members. The West Austin Studio Tour started in 2012.
