current open calls to artists

The Economic Development Department's Art in Public Places Program (AIPP) requested proposals from visual artists or artist teams to design, fabricate, install and de-install short-term or time-based exterior artworks to be sited on City-owned locations throughout Austin.

The intent for the TEMPO temporary public art program is to promote tourism, cultivate curiosity, spark imagination, engage the community in a meaningful dialogue about public art, foster work by local artists and cultivate exploration of the City of Austin. Artists are encouraged to create artworks that reflect the site where they exhibit their work, and design artwork that can be easily installed and de-installed.

Currently, there are no open calls for TEMPO. 

TEMPO 2021 Awardees

Local artists created temporary sculptures and sited them at Austin Public Library branches through Austin. Artworks were deinstalled at the end of August 2022. Visit the online map to see where the TEMPO 2021 artworks were located.

Austin Storybox

Adrian Armstrong, Dawn Okoro, Mobley

Inspired by the rich legacy of Black cultural production, particularly on Austin’s East Side, this sculpture documents and pays tribute to the lives of longtime Austin residents who have helped shape the character of the city. This artwork features portraits of cultural leaders, as well as sound collages collected from interviews.

District 1: Carver Branch Library, 1161 Angelina St.

Watch a video about Austin Storybox.

Storybox artwork

Quinquagenary

Veronica Ceci

Portraits, initially be conceived as ink drawings, will be digitized and replicated in laser-cut balsa wood. Eight lighted portraits will be mounted to the lip of the existing casing projecting the shadow of the portrait to the ground. The projections will be divided among the existing lights with less than half of the total lights used. It will be visible after dark, but it will still be experienced by the community. This is an innovative way to illuminate a bit of history behind the venerable namesake of the library.

District 3: Willie Mae Kirk Branch Library , 3101 Oak Springs Dr.

Watch a video about Quinquagenary.

Rendering shows eight lighted portraits that mounted on the ceiling and project shadows onto the ground.

Two Aztec Parrots

Reynaldo Alaniz

This artwork was on display from October 2021 to March 2022 and was de installed due to vandalism.

Two large limestone sculptures composed of several images representing the pre-Hispanic culture of Mexico. Aztec and Mayan imagery are connected with the face in the center of the Aztec calendar. The intent is to promote more interest in the study of archeology, language, architecture and to promote pride in the history of the pre-Hispanic culture of Mexico before the conquest.

District 4: Little Walnut Branch Library, 835 W. Rundberg Ln.

Watch a video about Two Aztec Parrots.

Rendering shows two limestone sculptures composed of images that represent the pre-Hispanic culture of Mexico.

Flow

Victoria Marquez

This large-scale installation is a study of fluidity, repetition, color, the surreal, and the uncontrollable. Objects pressed into wet paint in the initial step of these paintings results in unforeseen patterns and textures, exploring a way to make something out of uncertainty. The installation will be installed on painted, 4' x 8' panels and mounted onto the brick building.

District 5: Manchaca Branch Library, 5500 Manchaca Rd.

Watch a video about Flow.

Rendering shows 4 x 8 panels painted and mounted onto a brick building. Objects are pressed into the wet paint resulting in a variety of textures and patterns.

LA SILLA DEL SOL

Jonas Criscoe, Mai Gutierrez

This representation of a Mesoamerican sculpture acts as both a glorification and a tool to interpret the natural world. Driving inspiration from ancient pyramids touched by the sunset, it becomes a safe and shaded nook for library visitors to spend some time. The intention is for visitors to be able to congregate while surrounded by colored concrete blocks - a very commonly used building material in the countries of Mesoamerica.

District 6: Spicewood Branch Library, 8637 Spicewood Springs Rd.

Watch a video about LA SILLA DEL SOL.

Rendering shows a Mesoamerican sculpture shaped like an ancient pyramid.

 

Emerging

Lys Santamaria

Three colorful, mosaic domes have a spiraled mirror mosaic center where the viewer sees themselves in the artwork. Radiating from the mirror is a magical blend of colors based on the study of the chakra system, color therapy, and color symbolism. By viewing, touching, and interacting with the domes, a feeling of joy, wonder and happiness emerges to help promote healing for all the residents of our beautiful city.

District 7: Milwood Branch Library, 12500 Amherst Dr.

Watch a video about Emerging.

Rendering shows three colorful mosaic domes with a mirrored center where viewers can see themselves in the artwork.

Little Picchu

Suzanne Wyss and Ilya Pieper

The setting of the ancient Peruvian city of Machu Picchu is recreated by a 1”= 60’ scale, triangulated, welded, steel sculpture. The mountain of Huayna Picchu grows out of the ground, forming three peaks and will have dichroic plexiglass mounted inside some triangles. Prismatic light will be reflected inside the sculpture on the ground below and will change with the natural light though out the day.

District 8: Hampton Branch Library, 5125 Convict Hill Rd.

Watch a video about Little Picchu.

Rendering shows a sculpture depicting the mountain Huayna Picchu.

ReConnected

Laurn Malkani

This 50,000-LED installation will be built from 24 daisy-chained matrix panel displays controlled by a Raspberry Pi 4 and suspended from a rail and cable mounting system. This sculpture explores universal connection by creating a living poem. Each poem is made by scraping intimate public messages about the pandemic, loneliness and longing from online forums like Twitter and Reddit. Re-stitching the messages brings these fragments together into a new whole.

District 9: Central Branch Library, 710 W. César Chávez St.

Watch a video about ReConnected.

Rendering shows a 24 panel LED light installation suspended by a rail and cable mounting system.

Bright Days Ahead

Olaniyi R. Akindiya

Steel plates are CNC-cut in the shape of a circle and mounted onto a center pole. Abstracted human figures are also cut into the steel. This freestanding sculpture explores the cultural traditions of what parents pass on and are continued by new generations. Text that reads; BRIGHT DAYS AHEAD is also CNC-cut into the steel, illustrating immigration of cultures, religions, traditions, beliefs and fashions.

District 10: Howson Branch Library, 2500 Exposition Blvd.

Watch a video about Bright Days Ahead.

Rendering shows abstract human figures cut into circular shaped steel plates and mounted onto a center pole.

 

Past TEMPO Exhibitions