Take a peek: Creek Show 2022 looks bold

After a successful 2020 return and relocation, Creek Show is back in business and more ambitious than ever. The annual event, which originally featured light installations on and in Waller Creek, started in 2013 as a way for Waterloo Greenway Conservancy to highlight its vision for restoring the creek and creating the Waterloo Greenway park system. Now it's staged in the completely revamped Waterloo Park, the completion of which marked the end of the first stage of the greenway project.

The conservancy, which sponsors the show along with AIA Austin, recently announced the selections for the nine light installations that will be shown at Creek Show 2022. The free community event will run Nov. 11-20 and be will offer nightly live music, food and beverages, and family-friendly activities along with the art show and educational displays.

Every year, Waterloo Greenway enlists a committee of local artists, community leaders, and Creek Show enthusiasts to select installations from candidate submissions. The selection committee chose the following installations and artist teams for the 2022 show. Waterloo Greenway provided the installation descriptions and artists' statements below.

Creek Show 2022 Juried Installations and Design Teams

Installation Name: Portal Potty (pictured above)
Team Name: Salmo Gunn
Team Members: Kristen Gunn, Laura Salmo
Artist Statement: "Like an urban wardrobe to Narnia, inside this magical corridor of porta potties is a seamless tunnel of disco lights and whimsy. Interior walls and all fixtures of the Portal Potties have been removed, creating a hallway illuminated by twinkling LED strips and panels, with an exit in the back that is not visible to outside viewers. Silhouettes of those who enter seem to disappear at the end of the tunnel, creating the illusion that entrants have been magically transported into Creek Show 2022. This installation is a smile and a wink to look past the surface of things and to find beauty in unexpected places.

Installation Name: tunnel vision!
Team Name: Hugh Jefferson Randolph Architects
Team Members: Hugh Jefferson Randolph, AIA; Nina Unger, Michael Gamble, Geneva Sinkula, Tyler Rush, Chloe Ingram, Calder Randolph
Artist Statement: "Tunnel Vision! is inspired by the massive 24’ diameter underground concrete Waller Creek Tunnel that runs from Waterloo Park to Lady Bird Lake. A series of concentric lighted rings focuses the viewer on the dome of the state Capitol, with an interactive light show."

Installation Name: Dream Pants
Team Name: Bade-Schaffer
Team Members: Jodi Bade, Maura Schaffer
Artist Statement: "In that twilight time between awake and asleep, I became aware of a flickering dream. Down along the banks of a forgotten creek, strange apparitions were calling to me. Pants, just pants, frolicked about. They laughed and whispered, 'Hey, check it out!' They glowed with the light of a promise to tell, that soon this place will be happy and well. Thanks dream pants for sharing your secret! I’m so delighted! (I don’t think I can keep it.)"

Installation Name: Enter the Dragonfly
Team Name: Odonata
Team Members: Jake Rodgers, Jennifer Rodgers
Artist Statement: "Enter the Dragonfly envisions the ecological restoration and transformation of Waller Creek as a healthy habitat for a diversity of native life. Dragonflies are one of the oldest and most reliable indicator species of a thriving and stable aquatic ecosystem. Enter the Dragonfly consists of larger-than-life metal dragonflies hovering above the creek waters, their reflections glowing beneath them. Using scale and light, the sculptures visually bring attention to the critical relationship between urban and natural environments while inspiring curiosity, excitement, and thoughtful engagement from the viewer with Waterloo Greenway’s mission."

Installation Name: GOOD~VIBRATIONS
Team Name: Studio 5-1-2
Team Members: Connie Trinh, Anya Moucha, Cecley Hill, Michelle Bright
Artist Statement: "GOOD~VIBRATIONS is a celebration of the hidden landscapes that run beneath our feet and continue to shape our urban environment by bringing them to the surface. Inspired by stalagmite and stalactite formations within caves, this installation drips and oozes over Waller Creek to recreate a cavernous experience. Forms are covered with mirror pieces and spotlighted to scatter light in the spirit of a disco, set to the echoing sounds of dripping water and chirping bats (with some remixes in-between). We encourage attendees to celebrate subterranean landscapes with GOOD~VIBRATIONS by immersing themselves in an experience that employs lighting and sound to highlight rich interactions and the dance of life’s organisms."

Installation Name: Inventories
Team Name: Lawrence Group
Team Members: Jeff Harris, AIA; Marco Cue; Kilpatrick Davidson; Nick Faust; Mohammed Kattan; Luma Jaffar, AIA; Alex Martinez; Leo Sanchez
Artist Statement: "Joseph Jones, late UT Professor and champion of Waller Creek, would spend his lunch hour walking the creek where it passed through campus, keeping an 'inventory' of things seen and found — flora and fauna, along with beer cups and plastic bags — acknowledging the signs of human presence amidst the abundant natural beauty. For our installation, we are channeling our inner Joseph Jones and collecting hundreds of used plastic bottles directly from the creek and from other local sources, coating the inside with luminescent paint, and arranging them geometrically just above the surface of the water. We will then shine UV light across the tops to transform them into a field of glowing objects - a bright 'inventory' of trash — highlighting the human contribution to the story of this wonderful 'cretaceous limestone gutter.'"

Creek Show 2022 Partner Installations

In addition to six committee selections, three local architecture organizations and nonprofits will present three additional light-based art installations at Creek Show 2022. 

Installation Name: LUNA
Partner Organization: Austin Foundation for Architecture
Team Members: Gerardo Gandy, Assoc AIA, NOMA; Stephanie D’Arienzo; Ximena Alayo-Reyes, Assoc. AIA; Laura Brodersen, AIA; James Mooney; Kyle Wilson
Artist Statement: "The dance between the moon and Earth’s bodies of water is one as old as time itself. From influencing tides along our seacoasts to regulating precipitation feeding our inland rivers, invisible forces are at work right before our eyes. LUNA seeks to illuminate the invisible bonds between our environment and each other. With its mirrored materiality, the installation serves as a symbol for diversity and equity while encouraging reflection on the idea that we all contribute to the future of our urban fabric. The infinity effect of the lights and the mirror creates a place for everyone and alludes to the endless possibilities we all represent to our city of Austin."

Installation Name: NeonCity
Partner Organization: AIA Austin
Team Members: Jessica Graham; Brianna De Leon, Assoc. AIA; Dani Williams; Charles Miles; Mandy Mandelstein; Isidro Granados
Artist Statement: "NeonCity is an abstract representation of Austin’s downtown skyline on Waller Creek. The exhibition portrays the city’s colorful and vibrant energy that can be appreciated across Lady Bird Lake, watching the lights of downtown and its reflection in the water. As the city expands, these building blocks represent the growth and potential opportunities as Austin becomes an ever-evolving city that creates opportunities for more people to come together as a community."

Installation Name: Sirius
Partner Organization: National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) of Central Texas
Team Members: Diego Schubb, NOMA; Joyce Kim, NOMA; Gregory Street, AIA, NOMA; Albert Condarco, NOMA; Sabrina Ortiz; Oscar Yanez, AIA, NOMA; Jefferson Yunez, NOMA
Artist Statement: "A hypothetical structure or tunnel that connects two points separated in space and time. Similarly, this installation seeks to connect users through imagery and visual anchor points. Nested in illuminated vessels, these moments overtake the structure of the bridge through an organic form and invite user interaction. In its highest form, the goal of the intervention is to encourage users through the tunnel — providing opportunities for lingering self-reflection in the pursuit of connectivity and aesthetic enjoyment."