Georgetown Arts & Culture

The City of Georgetown is hosting two arts events for our visitors and resident art lovers in April.

Spring Art Stroll

Patrons are invited to come view and purchase art, enjoy live music, and engage in arts activities at various locations in the Downtown Georgetown Cultural District from 4-8 p.m. Thursday, April 21.

Arts activities will take place at locations including Grace Plaza, Grace Chapel with the Full Circle Speaker Series from 5-7pm, Georgetown Art Center, local arts businesses, Williamson Museum, Georgetown Public Library, and the Shotgun House Museum. Visitors are also invited for photo ops and face painting on Rock Street before joining the Mayor at 7:15pm for a dedication of Georgetown’s newest mural, “Traditions to the Future” by Mila Sketch.

Participants in the event will also be able to view and provide feedback on the new street mural and decorative crosswalk at the Georgetown Public Library while enjoying offerings from Southbound Sips and Scoops Ice Cream, as well a blockbuster art exhibition inside the Library.

Find detailed information about the Spring Art Stroll, click here.

Arts and Culture Brown Bag Luncheon

 The quarterly Arts and Culture Brown Bag Luncheon returns at noon April 14. Pack your lunch and join us at the Georgetown Public Library for a presentation by Lynn Osgood, executive director of Civic Arts. Her presentation “Arts Leading the Way in Community Development” breaks down the details of how to use the arts and public art in community development projects and other creative place-making initiatives. Updates from arts and culture stakeholders in the Downtown Georgetown Cultural District will follow Osgood’s talk.

Find more information about the Arts and Culture Brown Bag Luncheon, click here.

Photography by David Valdez

Continue reading “Improvements Made to the Shotgun House Museum”

The City of Georgetown Parks Department would like to commission an artist to design an artistic signage mural for the exterior of an historic water cistern.

Application Deadline: February 28th, 2022

The City of Georgetown’s Arts and Culture Board invites artist proposals for the Heritage Community Garden Mural Project. The mural design should be an artistic interpretation of Heritage Community Garden and serve as gateway signage into the park.

Please click here for full submission guidelines: Request for Artist Proposals_Heritage Community Garden

Please click here to submit your proposal.

Aerial Photograph Collection, Special Collections & Archives, Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas

Continue reading “History of the Track, Ridge, Grasshopper Neighborhoods”

The City of Georgetown Arts and Culture Board has awarded Anthony St. James the first prize award in the 2021-22 Sculpture Tour, a juried year-long outdoor exhibit in the historic Downtown Georgetown Cultural District. Anthony St. James won for his piece 1969-Yesterday, a 3D contemporary sculpture of The Beatles created using steel and stainless steel. The sculpture is located at the corner of Main and Ninth streets across from the Georgetown Art Center.

Second prize went to Dan Pogue for Moment of Reflection, a cast bronze peacock on a steel pedestal. This piece is located on Main Street at the Plaza between Grace Heritage and Kork Wine Bar.

The other sculptures accepted into the tour and awarded Honorable Mention include:

Balancing Apple by Cindy Debold
Batik by Marla Ripperda
Fractal Variation #4 by David Mikitka
Giant Burger by Faith Schexnayder
Hot World / Cool World by Peter Mangan
Icosahedron by Kirk Seese
Intersection by Scott Shubin
Magnify by Kirk Seese
Me, Myself, and I by Cindy Debold
Vector by Scott Shubin
Wings by Kirk Seese
Woman with Rose by David Mikitka

Click here for more information, including a map of the sculpture tour and images of the sculptures. To purchase a sculpture, please contact Amanda Still at arts@georgetown.org.

Pictured above from right to left: 1969-Yesterday by Anthony St James (photo credit David Valdez); Moment of Reflection by Dan Pogue.

Mark your calendars for the inaugural Georgetown Autumn Art Stroll. The Stroll will take place in Downtown Georgetown on Thursday, October 21 from 4-8pm and is an opportunity for patrons to view art and purchase art from artists in Grace Plaza and the Splash Pad at the Art Center , as well as at local arts businesses and arts and culture organizations. The City of Georgetown Arts and Culture Program will provide an opportunity to engage and participate in the creation of a mosaic mural led by muralist and Texas Commission on the Arts Texas Touring Artist J Muzacz. Local arts businesses and arts and culture organizations will also offer unique opportunities to engage with their arts and culture programming. Live acoustic music at Grace Plaza will be provided by Jack Flatau. Subsequent art strolls are scheduled on a semi-annual basis on the Third Thursdays in April and October!

In addition, patrons will have the opportunity to engage with and view conceptual renderings of the upcoming Arts District Capital Improvement Project between Founders Park and Grace Plaza that received Cultural District grant funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts, as well as provide feedback and input on the plans!! Click here to see the plan: District Plan

Grace Plaza is adjacent to Grace Heritage Center and across the street from the Georgetown Art Center. There are many restaurants in the immediate vicinity – such as Kork Wine Bar, Sweet Lemon, District 6, Thundercloud Subs, and Lampost Coffee – as well as many other options around the Square. Pick up a glass of wine or other beverage at any of these restaurant locations to take along with you as you engage in artistic offerings during the evening art stroll.

Event maps will be provided at the Check In area in Grace Plaza, or click here for the online map: Online Map

Participating Venues

Artisan’s Connect Gallery – Join the celebration of the gallery’s 10th anniversary. In the gallery see new pieces from your favorite artists and several new artists’ work. In the Art Atrium (one-night only), get a glimpse of large-format pieces – exclusively from Artisans Connect Gallery.

Full Circle: 3rd Thursdays Speakers Series for Creatives at Grace Heritage Chapel – Join this Circle for Creatives from 5:30-7:30pm for the FULL CIRCLE guest speaker/creative/artist, Alexha Bonner, indoors at Grace Chapel as she demonstrates printmaking techniques.

Georgetown Art Center – Stop by and help create a mosaic mural with Texas Touring Artist J Muzacz, as well as view award winning artwork from the Art Hop exhibit in the Georgetown Art Center gallery. The studio artists at the GAC – Artists @ 816 – will have additional artist booths set up at the Georgetown Art Center Splash Pad .

Georgetown Palace Theatre – Enjoy some of your favorite musical numbers by featured performers from the Georgetown Palace Theatre’s 2021-22 Season Opener of Grease. Street side performances will be accompanied by photo opportunities with the performing artists.

Prima Dora – Check out the variety of artwork and artisan created products at Prima Dora while mingling with the artists as they discuss their work on the night of the stroll.

Participating Artists Exhibiting in Grace Plaza

Arkay Artwork by Rachel Hancock

Art by Jigna Thakkar

ATX Ink by Mark Stalnaker

Java Lisa Art by Lisa Hoekstra

Virginia Headley Maserang Fine Art

Pictured left: Grace Plaza space featuring Moment of Reflection by Dan Pogue from the Annual Georgetown Sculpture Tour.

Artists exhibiting their work in Grace Plaza are part of a juried selection process sponsored by the Georgetown Arts and Culture Program. The next Call for Art will be open February 1, 2022.  Please click here for guidelines: Full Submission Guidelines – Artist Booths for Art Strolls

Funding provided for Texas Touring Artist J Muzacz by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Beginning August 1st, 2021, the City of Georgetown’s Arts and Culture
Board invites artists to submit their applications for booth space during the Autumn Art Stroll on October 21, 2021. The Stroll will take place in Downtown Georgetown from 4-8pm and is an opportunity for patrons to view art and purchase art in Grace Plaza, as well as local arts businesses and arts and culture organizations. The Georgetown Arts and Culture Program will provide an opportunity to engage in a public art project, and local arts businesses and arts and culture organizations will offer unique opportunities to engage in arts and culture programming.

Please click here for guidelines:  Full Submission Guidelines – Artist Booths for Autumn Art Stroll

Please click here to submit your portfolio.

Grace Plaza is adjacent to Grace Heritage Center and across the street from the Georgetown Art Center. There are many restaurants in the immediate vicinity – such as Kork Wine Bar, Sweet Lemon, District 6, Thundercloud Subs, and Lampost Coffee – as well as many other offerings around the Square.

Artists exhibiting their work in Grace Plaza are part of a juried selection process sponsored by the Georgetown Arts and Culture Program. Beginning August 1st, 2021, the City of Georgetown’s Arts and Culture Board will invite artists to submit their applications for booth space during the Autumn Art Stroll on October 21, 2021. A group of artists may submit their work for one booth space as a group exhibition.

At the July 2021 Board meeting, the City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board approved $12,650 in grants to local arts and culture organizations for the 2021 Round II grant cycle. The grants will help fund local arts and cultural programming that includes visual art, music, performing art, and history in Georgetown.

The events and programs funded include:

Central Texas Philharmonic, Inc. the Patriotic Pops Concert by The Central Texas Philharmonic – $5,000

Congregation Havurah Shalom for the ANNE FRANK – Let Me Be Myself Traveling Exhibit – $2,500

Williamson County Symphony Orchestra Society the Spring Concert in Georgetown – $2,500

Georgetown Texas Photography Festival for the Georgetown Texas Photography Festival 2022 – $1,250

Preservation Georgetown for Art at Grace Heritage – Hidden Gems of Georgetown – $500

Artists Molly Fonseca & Kayur Patel for the Healing Artists Workshop and Performance – Stories of Our People – $500

Gary Anderson dba AndersonArt for Jingle Georgetown – $400

Funds are for events and programs taking place in Georgetown between October 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022.

The next Georgetown Arts and Culture grant cycle will accept proposals December 1 – December 31 for events and programs occurring from April 2022 through September 2022.

The Georgetown Arts and Culture Board – in collaboration with Georgetown Title Company – has selected the artist for the mural at Georgetown Title. This mural is the first commercial mural that is part of the Percent for Public Art Adjacent to Capital Improvement Projects. The Georgetown Title building is adjacent to two Public Improvements Projects – Rock Street Sidewalk Improvements and the new 8th Street Parking Lot. This program presents an opportunity for public art to beautify the surrounding spaces that have become more visible to the public.

Selected artist Molly Keen has created a mural design consisting of abstract shapes and colors while highlighting a train element that represents the history of the site, which was once home to Belford Lumber Company and a stop on the railroad. The mural design will undergo a few small revisions with installation to begin in late spring/summer.

Ms. Keen is originally from the Pacific Northwest and is a graduate of Washington State University with a BFA. Keen has spent her career traveling the world, painting 40+ whimsically colored, large-scale murals. Her works are spread across 34 cities and 22 countries, including several acrylic murals as part of residencies in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and Cabanconde, Peru — known for their playful palettes and flowing twists that conjure child-like emotions. For more information on the artist and to view samples of her work, please visit her website by clicking here.