SXSW features street art for the first time! This year the festival community sponsored various art projects at the 28th annual music festival in Austin, Texas. Throughout the festival's history the focus has been on music, film, and technology, which all overlap with the visual arts, but this year was the first time there were scheduled, dedicated art projects throughout the city not just art happenings in the periphery. From interactive light art, tech community arts projects, to the most public of all, street art murals throughout the city's landscape.
More about the festival:
“The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conferences & Festivals offer the unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW® is the premier destination for discovery.
Year after year, the event is a launching pad for new creative content. New media presentations, music showcases and film screenings provide buzz-generating exposure for creators and compelling entertainment for audiences. Conference panel discussions present a forum for learning, business activity thrives at the Trade Shows and global networking opportunities abound. Intellectual and creative intermingling among industry leaders continues to spark new ideas and carve the path for the future of each ever-evolving field, long after the events’ conclusion.”
All in All Austin is an artistic and creative hub for all types of creative minds, so it only made sense to extend these ideas of fostering creativity to the visual arts as well.
And who better to bring the arts to Austin than POW! WOW! Hawaii and SprATX? POW! WOW! Hawaii in collaboration with SprATX has sponsored a variety of mural projects around the city of Austin. This year local artists Mouf, Truth, Lucas Aoki, Ana Maria will be featured alongside international artists Rone, Yoskay Yamamoto, Tatiana Suarez, and Meggs.
About POW! WOW!
“POW! – It’s the impact that art has on a person. WOW! – It’s reaction that art has on a viewer.
Together they form POW WOW, which is a term that describes a gathering that celebrates culture, music and art.
Centered around a week-long event in Hawaii, POW! WOW! has grown into a global network of artists and organizes gallery shows, lecture series, schools for art and music, mural projects, a large creative space named Lana Lane Studios, concerts, and live art installations across the globe. The central event takes place during Valentine’s Day week in February in the Kaka’ako district of Honolulu, and brings over a hundred international and local artist together to create murals and other forms of art. The festival is expanding to cities and countries such as Taiwan, Long Beach, Israel, Singapore, Jamaica, Washington D.C., Guam, New Zealand, Germany and more.”
About SprATX:
"SprATX is a resource to connect with the local street art scene in Austin as an artist, someone who enjoys street art, or an organization that needs professional and experienced talent for an event or custom mural."
This team of public art creatives along with participating artists took over the walls of Austin and exemplified how the visual and the sonic work in tandem to inspire and speak to a community.
Check out some of the images from the various mural projects throughout the city! For more images visit SprATX's Instagram page @spratx
Mural by RONE.
Mural by Argentinian artist Lucas Aoki, who lives and works in Austin.
Mural by Austin artist MOUF.
