Our projects model the value of local art and creativity in our everyday lives—and dreams for the future.

① the FRONT MARKET

The Front Market is an independent marketplace and craft fair, hosted biannually in the Spring and Fall. Since 2016, the program has welcomed 40,000+ guests and showcased more than 2,000 creatives, artists, designers, chefs, makers and craftspeople in Texas.

Learn more here.

② THE FRONT FESTIVAL

The Front Festival is an annual end-of-summer community festival and public exhibition, featuring independent music, film and art. Hosted in Austin, the festival platforms the perspectives of women and LGBTQ+ artists in Texas.

Learn more here.

 

③ THE FUTURE FRONT HOUSE

Located in historic East Austin, The Future Front House is a 1200 sq. ft. community space, distinctively designed to offer free/discounted educational opportunities and gathering space for creative community-building, workshops, shows and pop-ups.

Stop by during public hours, become a member or book a community rental. Learn more here.

④ OPEN CREATIVE LEARNING PROGRAMS

Our workshops, educational series and professional development programs build public education around creative leadership, community-building, wellness and belonging.

Current series include Community Clubs, the Work Conference, as well as Future Front’s Artist Residency AND Curators Program.

 

⑤ CREATIVE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS*

We work with community partners and collaborators to design, pioneer and produce cultural programs that nurture the creative future of Texas around three core pillars:

  • We work alongside independent creatives and organizations to nurture a community practice for Future Front, as well as community practices in Texas. This looks like:

    ✰ Offering fiscal sponsorship & pro-bono partnership to like-minded grassroots initiatives that meet FFTX core values & vision

    ✰ Operating The Creative Future of Texas Fund

    ✰ Operating a Community Curators Program

    ✰ Operating the Community Clubs program

    ✰ Collaborating on the creation of projects & programs with partners that increase access to paid resources & capacity-building opportunities for creatives & artists outside Future Front programs

    ✰ Documenting and creating processes, educational opportunities & capacity-building trainings for community-driven curatorial work and program design

  • We collaborate directly with artists and creatives in our programs to bring forward progressive projects that nurture belonging and address inequity in our Texas communities. This looks like:

    ✰ Producing collaborative community showcases and events like The Texan Feminist Throwdown and Pride Picnic that explore social justice, public health and autonomy

    ✰ Creative activism projects around reproductive rights advocacy, gender & racial equity, as well as labor advocacy in creative fields—from community outreach on grant funding to educational resources on public health

    ✰ Ongoing partnerships with gender & racial equity groups & groups that create belong for diverse women, femme, queer, trans and nonbinary folks in creative fields and Texas at-large—from participating in voter advocacy to distributing Census surveys to drag culture advoacy

    ✰ Ensuring our programs are fair-share, reflecting back the diverse cultures present in Texas, as well as the cultural histories that shape our programs

  • We collaborate on projects & programs that increase access to creative wellness in Texas. To date, we have worked on:

    ✰ a pro-bono therapy fund with Colors of Austin Counseling distributing more than 150 therapy sessions to creatives of color in need

    ✰ designing collective-care curriculums for independent creatives centering justice and belonging in their community spaces

    ✰ ensuring that wellness and mental health themes are incorporated into our creative programming—from sessions on burnout and creative work to workshops on meditation

*Active pARTNERSHIPs INCLUDE:

✰ Future Front collaborates directly with like-minded partners and organizations to bring expanded versions of its programs and frameworks to the public.

This has included designing and co-founding a range of public programs with partner organizations, including Pride Picnic at Pease Park, the Downtown Austin Alliance’s first-ever festival and EMERGE at The LINE Austin.

✰ Future Front provides ongoing fiscal sponsorship, mentorship and capacity-building support to independent cultural producers’ public creative projects in Austin.

Current fiscal sponsorees include Black Austin Musicians Collective, Blood Bath’s Community Fashion Show, Broad Studios’ ClubHouse Ceramics Scholarship and more!

 

Attend events, become a member or apply. Everybody and every body are welcome.