Waller Creek Show 2018: New art, new location

Amid the excitement of the art- and design-saturated early days of November in AUstin—which includes Austin Design Week and the East Austin Studio Tour’s first weekend—we always look forward to the grounding and lovely presence of the Waller Creek Show.

Sponsored by the Waller Creek Conservancy, the annual show reflects the growth of Austin’s commitment to both excellent design and to the restoration and enjoyment of its natural landscape.

In late fall of every year since 2013, light installations created by architects, landscape architects, artists, and designers have been placed above, below, and in the creek and residents have been invited to wander in wonder through the displays. The family-friendly show shines a light on the Waller Creek Restoration Project, an ambitious plan to revitalize the creek on many levels, including flood control, pedestrian pathways, and native plant and wildlife restoration. You can take a peek at what’s in store in the renderings below.

aod (Jose Roberto Corea (lead), Courtney Jones Burton, Gretchen Leigh Du Pré, and Jeff Fletcher)

Campbell Landscape Architecture + TAB LABS (Cameron Campbell (lead), Bill Baird, Taurin Barrera, Stuart Campbell, Jenny Janis, Viddhi Jhaveri)

This year, the free, family-friendly show will take place Friday, November 9 through Saturday, November 17 (with a “First Light” private preview event and fundraiser on Thursday). It’s in a new location for 2018: between Ninth and 11th streets, adjacent to Symphony Square, the historic space that the conservancy is also restoring, in part to house its offices.

Drophouse Design (Christian Klein (lead), Matt Satter, Christy Taylor)

Lemmo Architecture and Design (Ryan Lemmo, AIA (lead), Stephanie Lemmo, Assoc. AIA (lead), Jonathan Butler, Julia Martinelli)

The Doyle House (1007 Red River Street) will be a hub for free interactive activities and games the whole family can enjoy every night from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Thinkery and Stars & Science Austin will be on-site Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The design teams will be at the Creek Show Artist Talk from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, November 15 at CB’s Lounge at Stubb’s. The event is free with RSVP.

Polis (Daniel Goodwin (lead), Brianna Graves, Olivia Nguyen, Bruce Wilcoxon)