6.a.i Zilker Eagle Mural Presentation — original pdf

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Zilker Eagle Mural Detail About Austin Parks Foundation About Austin Parks Foundation • For nearly 30 years, APF has partnered with our community to enhance people’s lives by making our public parks, trails and green spaces better through volunteerism, innovative programming, advocacy and financial support. • With a focus on creating equitable access to great parks for all Austinites, APF is helping fill the city's parks funding and resource gap. Funding initiatives like APF’s community-initiated grants have distributed over $3.5 million since 2006, and the annual flagship volunteer event, It’s My Park Day, results in an average of $650,000 in volunteer labor each year. • APF also fosters unique public/private partnerships like the Zilker Train and empowers neighbors all over the city to create a parks system that serves their needs. About Zilker Eagle About Zilker Eagle • Since 1961, a mini train has run in Zilker Park. The previous train, the Zilker Zephyr, went out of commission in May 2019. • Because of our partnership with the City’s Parks & Recreation Dept., and nearly 30 years of proven results, we were contacted to help find an interim solution while Zilker Park undergoes a vision planning process to build a new, long-term plan for the park. • We will operate the Zilker Eagle with proceeds benefiting parks across Austin, while the community has a chance to determine how the train fits into the new vision for the park and its future. Mural Selection Process Mural Selection Process • • Proposals were requested from April-May of 2021 and shared with artist collectives such as HOPE, SprayTX, and Raasin in the Sun, and with art and park partners as well as shared via APF's website, social media and a press release. • APF received about 20 proposals, and scored them based on our internal rubric which took into account the artists' identity (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, gender, etc.) as well as the artists' past work and experience, and how well their proposal addressed the stated goals of the work - namely including community members of all backgrounds, bridging the gap between old and new Austin, and a demonstrated understanding of the audiences this piece should appeal to. • Once scored, the top 10 were then ranked by a broad swath of community members including APF board and staff, volunteers, park adopters, community partners, and Austin youth with a focus on bringing in the perspectives of many different racial, ethnic, gender and other marginalized identities. The top three ranking artists were then interviewed by APF staff to hear more about the proposed work, the install process and vision for the piece before Ian Ingram & Becky Wittsche were selected. Selected Artist and Design Reflections of You from the opposite direction. • A two-for-one immersive tunnel mural depicting a rainbow from one direction and the shimmer of gold • • Ian Ingram - I am a father of two Barton Hills Elementary students, loving husband and professional artist for over 25 years. I’d be so honored to participate in this project so vital to the fingerprint of this town I love dearly. Becky Wittsche - Collaborating with the incredible Ian Ingram for what will hopefully be our 4th mural. Using my experience with budgets, timelines, and task managing, I keep the projects within scope and budget. I am a south Austin mother of two who is devoted to supporting Austin Public Schools through the PTA and Austin Partners in Education. In my spare time, I enjoy camping with my husband and daughters and communing with nature in Austin Parks. • Our proposal challenges the limited parameters of just one single wall, and offers instead a journey of joy, inclusion, diversity and a celebration of LIGHT constructed from “simple” rainbows. Painted as an optical illusion (on the wall, ceiling, and connected pillars), these rainbows are an opportunity afforded by the train tracks holding the viewer in a predictable sight-line. • Appearing at first glance as a basic arc of colors upon approach would give way to extreme bends and optical distortions; large areas of color would bathe the area in reflected light. • As the train continues down the track, a second rainbow comes into view. Fourteen bands of color surround the riders and guide the engine out. Every facet of the architecture facing the returning train (hidden from view on the way out) would be a dazzling GOLD. The effect would be two different tunnels, a rainbow going out, and the gold-at-the-end-of-the- rainbow finale on the return experience. Color fields of rainbow and gold will play with the senses and lend warmth to the darkness, radiating a message of inclusion that Austin has always emitted. • • • THANK YOU!