Future Front operates a Community Studio on 1900 E 12th St in East Austin, Texas.

PUBLIC VISITING HOURS:

  • FRIDAY GALLERY HOURS — 12 PM TO 6 PM

  • WEEKNIGHTS & WEEKENDS — SPECIAL EVENTS

Group of people seated at a long dining table in an art gallery, enjoying a meal, with colorful artwork on the walls.
People gathered at an art gallery or event space, engaging in conversations and socializing.
Neon sign reading 'tiyotee tote texas' glowing in a darkened room, with silhouettes of people and a person wearing a cap and glasses near a counter.
A street scene featuring a white building with colorful graffiti art on the side, advertising businesses such as 'The Little Gay Shop' and 'Redeemer', with a black SUV driving by on the street.

ON VIEW: “In the days of various light”

Presented by Preservation Austin and Future Front, In the days of various light is a site-specific, community-centered installation by Austin-based artist Xochi Solis, reflecting on the cyclical relationships between memory, transformation, and collective renewal within the city’s cultural landscape.

Across its duration, the installation acts as a counter-archive, continually reshaped as collaged layers and community offerings build upon one another, tracing how Austin’s stories are held, altered, and carried forward. Just as plants thrive within interconnected systems, Solis explores how art-making, storytelling, and collaboration sustain cultural ecosystems. Building upon Solis’s ongoing collage practice rooted in ancestral memory, Tejana identity, and the materiality of place, this installation expands from the intimate terrain of her family’s history in East Austin toward a collective ecology of stories.

Curated by Jane Hervey, In the days of various light reflects the journey of Austin-based multidisciplinary artists like Xochi Solis—weaving collaborative and iterative relationships through our city’s local culture. This exhibit has been presented as part of a seasonal collaboration with Preservation Austin.

COMMUNITY STUDIO FEATURES:

  • The Future Front House offers a 1000 sq. ft. space for creative community gatherings, workshops and rentals. The space has been designed for intimate community events for five to 100 guests.

  • Come through for Future Front workshops, art shows and community meet-ups, as well as programming by and for artists and creatives within the Austin community.

  • At The Future Front House, event rentals are only $125 per hour, as part of our commitment to making creative community space available.

    Any and all income goes directly toward covering the space’s hard expenses ($5,000 per month), as well as staffing costs. This supports our effort to offer to the space for free or at a subsidized cost for artists and creatives with community goals.

  • On the side of The Future Front House, you’ll find an historic mural by local artist Chris Rogers.

  • Our studio is located within East Austin’s historic African-American Cultural Heritage District, which is home to many other creative spaces and businesses, as well as organizations like Six Square, the What Once Was Heritage Center at Rosewood Courts and Austin’s first HBCU and higher learning institution Huston-Tillotson University.

    ★ Trona — bar — 1812 E 12th
    ★ Little Nishi in King Bee — sushi — 1906 E 12th
    ★ Nixta Taqueria — restaurant — 2512 E 12th
    ★ Comadre Panaderia — bakery — 1204 Cedar Ave
    ★ Keep Looking Shop — bookshop — 1614 E 12th
    ★ community garden — café bar — 1401 Cedar Ave
    ★ The Plant Society — plant shop — 1912 E 12th
    ★ Lynny’s Diner — café bar — 1914 E 12th
    ★ The Little Gay Shop — boutique — 1902 E 12th
    ★ Sam’s BBQ — restaurant — 2000 E 12th
    ★ Austin Daiquiri Factory — bar — 2000 E 12th
    ★ El Tigre Coffee Shop — coffee bar — 1614 E. 12th
    ★ Origin Studio House — hospitality group — 2925 E. 12th
    ★ Open Form — yoga studio — 2900 E 12th

  • The Future Front House supports a number of our collective-care initiatives, including affordable creative space, micro-grant programs for women and LGBTQ+ creatives and neighborhood projects.

  • Click here for details.

Future Front is open to all.

Our 1940s building is nestled within Austin’s African-American Cultural Heritage District, and we hope to live up to the legacy of our block.

From soil to cement, our building has a long history that precedes us (from its first owner Vera Barton to the We Rise mural). We acknowledge and honor our neighborhood’s German immigration origins in the 1800s), legacy of Black entrepreneurs following the 1928 City Plan in the 1950s, as well as the diverse Indigenous peoples and all elders—past, present and future—who have shaped and continue to shape this land on which we gather, too.

We invite you to celebrate their active cultural contributions and traditions. Take care now.

Through this creative space in East Austin and our flagship programs, we create:

  • Educational opportunities for creative skill-building and creative wellness

  • Fund community cultural events

  • Develop community-building educational resources

  • Offer subsidized access to arts and culture public space

  • Nurture free, public arts programming

  • Experiment with community-driven and creative place-making and place-keeping models—together.

RENT THE STUDIO →
LEARN ABOUT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD →