2025 Impact Report: A Record-Breaking 26,000+ Visitors
From welcoming 26,000 visitors (breaking our previous record of 20,000) to hosting more than 200+ cultural events across three seasons, this year was transformative for Future Front’s staff, team, volunteers, members and creative community.
From welcoming 26,000 visitors (breaking our previous record of 20,000) to hosting more than 200+ cultural events across three seasons, this year was transformative for Future Front’s staff, team, volunteers, members and creative community.
Continue reading for some of 2025’s highlights and takeaways.
3 BIG WINS:
① 26,309 visitors across public markets, festivals & creative workshops
② $180,000+ in direct commissions and contracts to 500+ Austin-local artists and Texas creatives
③ 250+ free arts & creative community exhibitions in Austin, Texas
TOP 10 GROWTH MOMENTS:
No. 1 — Across three seasons of public markets, festivals, shows & community programs in 2025, we welcomed 26,000+ visitors, opening up $180,000 in commissions and contracts for 500+ independent creatives and artists in Texas. Despite changes in the federal and local landscape for arts funding, this was a 40% increase since 2024.
No. 2— We hosted 200+ free creative community gatherings at Future Front on 1900 East 12th—from craft workshops and art shows (like History In The Making, Spilled Fruit and Heavy, Heavy, Heavy) to panels and performances. We were able to continue waiving rental fees for Austin residents nearly 75% of the time.
No. 3 — Through The Front Market’s Spring and Fall Seasons, we exhibited 400+ independent creatives, designers, makers, artists, small business owners and chefs from Texas, generating an estimated $1M in economic support.
No. 4 — The Front Festival had another beautiful year supporting 35 women and LGBTQ+ artists, musicians and filmmakers. Across all four days, the through-line theme for this year’s festival was an experimental blend of contemporary and classic lenses on Texas culture. Each night converged to present a future-forward lineup that ultimately brought 900 guests together across generations.
No. 5 — 127 volunteers, board members, community curators and collaborators joined us throughout the year to contribute 1750+ hours of support Future Front’s programs. (This is the largest number of active volunteers in our history.)
No. 6 — We brought back Community Clubs, which saw 27 different Future Front members curate and host free creative sessions for 500+ community members.
No. 7 — We presented 25+ community partnerships and fiscally sponsored projects for free arts healing and creative education workshops, like Broad Studios’ Clubhouse’s Ceramics Fellowship (which provided 13 Austin residents with free six-week ceramics programs) and Listening Sessions for LA (an artist-led fundraiser by 40+ Austin musicians for the LA wildfires).
No. 8 — We worked with local and national organizations like Highlander Center, SisterSong and more to host interactive art exhibits and community teach-ins on the artistic, cultural and creative impact of justice and democracy. This year’s themes centered Women’s Suffrage, Civil Rights and Texas Voter Education.
No. 9 — We began developing the Future Front Framework, a creative leadership curriculum around community design, public arts, cultural curation, small business education, storytelling and adaptive leadership.
No. 10 — We were recognized for our work by a number of partners, sponsors and grant-makers, including the Texas Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. We continued creative community design projects with Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, The LINE Hotel Austin, Pease Park, Red River Cultural District, Waterloo Park and more, too.
For a closer look at this year, head to Future Front’s blog & Instagram (@futurefronttexas).
Your attention made this possible.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS, GRANT-MAKERS, DONORS, VOLUNTEERS AND MEMBERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT.
FUTURE FRONT’S 2025 SEASON WAS SUPPORTED IN PART BY:
THANK YOU TO OUR MAGNIFICENT STAFF, BOARD AND ADVISORS, TOO. WE WOULD NOT BE HERE WITHOUT YOU.
FUTURE FRONT IS PROUDLY FOUNDED BY WOMEN AND LGBTQ+ ARTISTS AND CREATIVES IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
Thank you for nurturing local art and creativity in your everyday life and dreams for the future.
Do you want to get involved in 2026?
Become a member or donate to our end-of-year fundraiser. You can also explore all of the other ways to join us here.
The Front Market Gift Guide (2025)
This year’s Gift Guide is live! We’ve got 100+ recommendations for your holiday shopping, courtesy of The Front Market.
This year’s Gift Guide is live! Keep reading for how to shop—and peek our favorites across each of this year’s gift categories.
NO. 1 — ACCESSORIES
Featured Maker: Luna Chéndi
Luna Chéndi a woman-owned, family-run, sustainably sourced, creative small business, bringing you artistic and unique luxury accessories & home goods.
“With many combined years of working in the fashion, textile design, and fine art industries, the experiences of our designers shaped their dream to create a fulfilling, creative outlet for our ideas and daydreams. “We hope that you find inspiration and happiness in our work, and enjoy joining us through our creative journey.
So, what does chéndi mean? The word chéndi was coined by our Costa Rican grandmother to describe a beautiful orange cat named Pecos Bill who was walking up her New Orleans sidewalk. Over the years, chéndi has been used by our family and friends to describe anything beautiful, cute, or happy—whether that’s a cat or a piece of artwork, a bouquet of flowers, or a knitted sweater. Paired with the word “luna” (or “moon” in Italian and Spanish), we hope that, just like our moon in the night sky, we become a beacon of inspiration, happiness, and peace with our illustrative products!”
Featured Gift: Come Closer Scarf ($225)
NO. 2 — ART
Featured Artist: Elena Marcozzi
From Detroit, Michigan Elena Rodriguez Marcozzi is an American oil painter and fiber artist who beckons viewers into a dreamlike world of texture and color through her wool felt paintings, adorned with whimsical beaded and embroidered embellishments.
The pass two years Elena was based in Austin, Texas, where she found meaning and creative inspiration working as a Teaching Artist alongside artists with disabilities at Imagine Art, a studio collective that furthers her belief in using art to empower and heal. In 2025, she was an Artist in Residence with Future Front Texas.
In 2022, she earned a B.F.A. in Painting from Wayne State University. Following that she was an assistant painter for Detroit based Muralist Elton Monroy Duran of Corpus Art Inc. In 2023, she was an Artist in Residence at the Namingha Institute of the Museum of Northern Arizona.
Looking ahead, Elena aims to pursue graduate studies in Art Therapy, with the ultimate goal of building a career in community arts. Her artistic journey is marked by a deep commitment to both her personal growth and the enrichment of the communities she serves.
Featured Gift: Art Prints & Custom Felts (Contact Artist; Pricing Varies)
NO. 3 — APPAREL
Featured Maker: Future Vagabond
Samantha Asencio (she/her), aka Future Vagabond, is an interdisciplinary artist originally from New York. Shortly after graduating from Pratt Institute in 2015, she relocated to Austin, where she continued her sculptural work. Over time, she shifted her focus to embroidery and later founded the brand FV. The work explores themes of the American road trip, draws on historical references, and examines the notion of impermanence. Her practice invites viewers to consider how memory, travel, and time intertwine.
Featured Gifts: Embroidered Goods ($68 to $280)
NO. 4 — Ceramics
Featured Maker: Barro Babe
Featured Gift: Barro Babe Mugs (Pricing Varies, Contact Artist)
NO. 5 — HOME GOODS
Featured Maker: Barrio Pop Studio
Carlos Moreno is an Austin-based artist, curator, and cultural worker whose practice explores the intersections of scent, memory, community ritual, and material storytelling. What began as a study in the archives of The Andy Warhol Museum became the foundation for a practice that blends scent, story, and cultural memory into experiences of collective care.
Carlos began his museum career in the Director’s Office internship at Artpace nine years ago before completing a fellowship at The Andy Warhol Museum during his undergraduate studies. That early exposure to conceptual art, archival research, and cultural production opened pathways into understanding how objects, materials, and sensory experience can hold—and transmit—memory.
His institutional background includes Artpace San Antonio, SITE Santa Fe, the ICA/Boston, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Carlos holds a degree in Art History from The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Fine Arts, grounding his practice in research, curation, and cultural stewardship.
Through Barrio Pop Studio, Carlos creates experiences that honor ancestral knowledge, support environmental sustainability, and invite people to encounter art through all their senses. His curatorial vision centers accessibility, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and the belief that art becomes most powerful when it gathers people in community.
Featured Gift: Nopal Candle ($28)
NO. 6 — JEWELRY
Featured Maker: Leslie Lenhart
Leslie Lenhart is an Earth-inspired jewelry brand dedicated to illuminating the beauty found in nature through a thoughtful dialogue between distinctive materials and craft. After years exploring design through a diverse range of products, elements, and techniques all over the world, Leslie started making jewelry in her studio out of a desire to cultivate a more physical connection to her creative process. Her background in patternmaking and embroidery design in fashion led to designing artisanal and craft-led accessories that told stories about their makers.
Leslie developed her own perspective and aesthetic through her travels, sourcing pearls and vintage tokens from local markets, beachcombing shells while sailing with her husband, Ricky, and curating visually compelling stories as a stylist. Now, in her own line inspired by land and sea and where they meet, Leslie Lenhart brings together unexpected and intentional curations of objects that remind us of where we come from, what we value, and where we’re headed.
Featured Gifts: Assorted Jewelry ($30 to $230)
NO. 7 — SELF-CARE
Featured Maker: Melo Goods
“I am a 2019 graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with a BFA in Design. I currently work at an innovation agency called Material+ as an Art Director. I’m a versatile, full-spectrum creative who moves seamlessly from concepting 360° brand campaigns to art directing photography and designing digital assets.My creative practice cross pollinates between creating work that is thoughtful and compelling while intersecting brand, social, digital, and e-commerce— in an elevated, authentic way. With every engagement, I aim to work closely with clients as a creative partner to bring their aspirational brand to life.I am currently building a brand called, Melo. A limited fine line of fragrant goods inspired by nature, travel, and everyday rituals. Mas aqui. On my free days you’ll find me out in Marfa, Texas or secluded beaches of La Paz, MX, playing tennis (kinda good), taking pics of textures, or collaborating with gojema. 🤠”
Featured Gift: Travel Spray ($38)
NO. 8 — FOODS & SIPS
Featured Maker: Hijita
Hijita makes small-batch Mexican chocolate rooted in ancestral wisdom, guided by wellness & equity, and inspired by favorite childhood drinks.
“Our cacao is sourced directly from family farms & co-ops in southern México that are passionate about cultivating heirloom cacao through agroforestry systems. Our first ingredient is always regenerative Mexican cacao, delicately sweetened, and enhanced with thoughtfully sourced botanicals. As hijitas of strong Mexican women, we feel called to deeply understand and take ownership of our cultural legacy.”
Featured Gift: Hijita Drinking Chocolate ($11)
NO. 9 — PETS, PLANTS & PAPER GOODS
Featured Shop: Host Publications
Host Publications is an award-winning, women-led independent publisher located in Austin, Texas. Devoted to our mission to elevate historically marginalized writers, Host Publications publishes radical poetry and fiction by emerging LGBTQ+, BIPOC, intersectional feminist, and immigrant voices.
With every book we publish, stage we set, and event we host, we work to empower our community of writers whose work inspires social transformation and creates a new sense of what is possible in writing.
Featured Gift: Praisesong for the People by 2024 Texas Poet Laureate Amanda Johnston ($20)
This Gift Guide features makers, artists and craftspeople The Front Market, which opens every Spring and Fall. Learn more here.
The Front Market's Fall 2025 Season: The Official Recap
For The Front Market’s Fall 2025 Season, we exhibited 150+ independent artists, makers and craftspeople, welcoming a record 7,000+ visitors across the state of Texas.
For The Front Market’s Fall 2025 Season, we exhibited 150+ independent artists, makers and craftspeople, welcoming a record 7,000+ visitors across the state of Texas.
Bask in the visual recap.
Photos by Kate Nuelle
The Front Market would not be possible without support from our sponsors, members, staff, volunteers, friends and you. Thank you.
THIS SEASON’S IMPACT:
★ NO. 1 — 7,000+ VISITORS & 150+ ARTISTS AND MAKERS
From ceramicists and fiber artists to woodworkers and jewelry makers, we exhibited more than 150 artists, makers, creatives and independent craftspeople across Texas, with an average of 3,500 visitors joining us each day.
★ NO. 2 — 100% COMMUNITY-LED CURATION & PRODUCTION TEAMS
It took four staff members, 20 board members, 24 event volunteers, 200+ collaborators and one year of planning to open The Front Market’s Fall 2025 Season at Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park.
★ NO. 3 — $2,000+ DONATIONS RAISED, $10,000+ IN COMMISSIONS & CONTRACTS DISTRIBUTED
Thanks to support from our members, volunteers and sponsors at Waterloo Greenway, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Texas Commission on the Arts, City of Austin's Economic Development Department, Topo Chico, Miscellaneous Rentals and Moontower Rentals, we were able to keep the market free and open to the public, with community workshops, DJ sets and art installations each day.
You can read about this season in The Austin Chronicle, Austin Monthly, Austin American-Statesman and more.
Want to stay involved?
★ Head to thefrontmarket.com (click here) to tap into the Fall 2025 Season lineup of vendors, workshops, DJs, and collaborators at anytime.
★ Remember whyThe Front Market matter. Local artists, makers and creative small businesses build community. Learn more at thefrontmarket.com/mindset.
★ Explore all we do at Future Front—and find what’s for you—at futurefronttexas.org/programming.
The Front Market will return in May 2026 for our Spring 2026 Season.
Applications will open in January 2026 at thefrontmarket.com/apply.
Another Summer-Camp-Style Season Of Community Clubs At 1900 East 12th Street
Hosted by and for community members, this season’s clubs welcomed 20+ new instructors and more than 500 public visitors. From Sewing Club to Community Table Supper Club, these gatherings fostered and nurtured the local creativity of Austin.
During our Summer 2025 Season, we once again opened our doors at 1900 East 12th for three months of Community Clubs.
Hosted by and for community members, this season’s clubs welcomed 20+ new instructors and more than 500 public visitors. From Sewing Club to Community Table Supper Club, these gatherings fostered and nurtured the local creativity of Austin.
ENJOY THIS YEAR’S VISUAL RECAP.
All photos courtesy of Summer 2025 Season Club Hosts
Curious about our Community Clubs program?
Inspired by Future Front’s start as a meet-up ten years ago, Community Clubs have become one of Future Front’s newest pioneering programs, exploring ways to build affordable third spaces in our community.
Featuring clubs hosted by and for members of the community, the summer-camp-style series offers 20+ clubs every summer, exploring creative growth, creative practice and creative connection:
01. Creative Growth — Learning a new skill or way of doing things
02. Creative Practice — Deepening a creative practice, ritual, habit or interest
03. Creative Connection — Celebrating / supporting something everyone in the club loves
Visit Our East Austin Location on 12th Street
Future Front’s community studio is located at 1900 E 12th Street (also known as Dozen Street) within East Austin’s historic African-American Cultural Heritage District.
Future Front’s community studio is located at 1900 E 12th Street (also known as Dozen Street) within East Austin’s historic African-American Cultural Heritage District.
Located in East Austin between I-35 (West), Manor Road (North), Airport Boulevard (East) and East 7th Street (South), this district is more than just a geographic area—it is a living narrative of resilience, creativity, and community pride that has shaped the identity of Austin for generations.
As we learned from conversations with former Six Square Executive Director Nefertitti Jackmon, Preservation Austin board member Miriam Conner and KAZI Station Manager Reno Dudley, historic East Austin has been defined by much more than the ramifications of the City of Austin’s 1928 City Plan, the rising pressures of gentrification, as well as the recent (and controversial) acquisition of 70% of land parcels on 12th Street by developers at Eureka Holdings.
Despite the lack of visible investment from local government and institutions (only 16% total of landmarks in all of Austin are BIPOC) in preserving East Austin’s history, the area’s roots are vibrantly tied to:
cultural centers and historic spaces like:
community-powered radio station KAZI 88.7
The Dedrick Hamilton House (where The African American Cultural and Heritage Facility now stands)
Austin’s first university and HBCU Huston-Tillotson University
nationally known icons like Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Jackie Robinson and Dr. JJ Seabrook
The African American Cultural Heritage District in Austin, Texas, stands as a powerful reminder of the rich history, culture, and contributions of the African American community to the city.
Planning a visit? Book a tour with Black Austin Tours.
We’re also neighbors to many creative spaces and small businesses, as well as organizations that champion the District’s heritage. Scroll and click on each image for more details.
Future Front is open to all on East 12th Street.
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. Make space and tend good relations here and 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.
Hot Summer Nights x The Front Market: Transforming Stubb’s Into A Creative Hub
Thanks to the 500+ fans that popped by Red River Cultural District’s second-annual Hot Summer Nights Market, presented in partnership with Future Front and The Front Market.
Thanks to the 500+ fans that popped by Red River Cultural District’s second-annual Hot Summer Nights Market, presented in partnership with Future Front and The Front Market.
For one night only during the district’s iconic multi-venue festival, we transformed the back of Stubb’s into a full-on creative hub with local artists, handmade goods, vintage finds, and community conversation.
ENJOY THIS YEAR’S VISUAL RECAP.
Photos by Levi Thompson, courtesy of Hot Summer Nights
Hot Summer Nights is a free annual three-day district-wide music and arts festival held in the Red River Cultural District located in the heart of downtown Austin.
Founded in 2017, Hot Summer Nights was originally created in an effort to provide additional revenue to district members, as well as paid opportunities for musicians and artists in the traditionally slower summer months.
Hot Summer Nights Market is an official Future Front Public Space Partnership.
Alongside partners, Future Front pioneers unique, community-based models for cultural programming and place-making initiatives in all kinds of spaces—from museums to city streets to public parks—around three core pillars: Creative Community-Building, Creative Wellness and Creative Belonging.
Over the last decade, we have collaborated directly with like-minded companies and organizations to bring expanded versions of our programs and community design frameworks to the public. We regularly co-found, design, curate and manage a range of public place-making programs with partner organizations, like Pride Picnic.
VIBE Downtown: $30,000 In Grants, Five Community Curators
Designed in collaboration with Future Front, VIBE Downtown amplifies the art, local culture and vibe of Austin, Texas.
Powered and presented by Downtown Austin on September 19 and 20, the inaugural VIBE Downtown distributed $30,000 in arts and culture events over five community events on Old Sixth Street.
VIBE Downtown was designed to fund $30,000 in commissions for local artists and creatives, emerging from a year-long public engagement process facilitated by 501c3 arts and culture organization, Future Front Texas. Reflecting feedback from cultural stakeholders, VIBE offers more than a weekend to remember. The experience builds a bridge toward gaps in economic prosperity and addresses urgent needs to cultivate art, culture and community downtown.
Free and open to the public, this year’s inaugural pilot program welcomed 1075+ visitors, as well as cultural activations by five local grantees: Where Y'all At Though?!, Bobby Pudrido, The Mosaic Workshop, Slow Fashion Festival and Shake It Africa Austin.
ENJOY THIS YEAR’S VISUAL RECAP.
Photos by Jasmin Porter
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO DISCOVER DOWNTOWN.
VIBE Downtown reflects a year-long community design effort and public engagement process for Downtown Austin Alliance and Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, facilitated by executive leaders from 501c3 arts and culture organization Future Front Texas.
Downtown Austin Alliance Staff
Raasin McIntosh, Lead
Emily Risinger, Co-Lead
Amanda Baez
Jenell Moffett
Leta Harrison
Marilyn Willson
Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation Board of Directors
Dewitt Peart, Secretary, Downtown Austin
Jennifer Wiebrand, Gables Residential
Kevin Brown, DuBois Bryant & Campbell
Nick Moulinet, Chair, DPR Construction
SaulPaul, SaulPaul Productions, Foundation
Xavier Pena, St. David’s Foundation
Future Front Leadership Team
Jane Hervey, Lead
Xochi Solis, Lead
Participating Active Urbanism Committee Members (DAA)
Nick Moulinet, Chair
Adrienne Brown
Albi Hasku
Andy Austin
Ashley Kegley-Whitehead
Dan Jefferson
Eric Schultz
Heather Hart Potts
Janis Daemmrich
Kevin Brown
Lindsay Palmer
Marissa Rivera
Martin Nembhard
Michael Girard
Rachel Blair
Rebecca Senchak
Sania Shifferd
SaulPaul
Xavier Peña
VIBE Downtown 2025 Awardees
Whereabouts?! Happy Hour, Panel and Live Performances by Where Y’all AT Though?! ATX
Piecing Together Mosaic Mural by ATX Mosaic Workshop
Con Mucho Amor Bobby Pudrido Productions
Live Performances and Dance Workshops by Shake It Africa Austin
ATX Mending Lab and Swap by Slow Fashion Festival Austin
VIBE Downtown Brand + Creative Team
Program Design by Raasin McIntosh, Emily Risinger, Jane Hervey and Xochi Solis
Event Design by Emily Risinger and Jane Hervey
Production Design by Xochi Solis
Creative Direction by Jane Hervey
Art Direction and Logo Direction by Jesús Acosta
Projection Installations by Essentials Creative
Videos by Carlos Nevarez
Photos by Jasmin Porter and Raven Birk
VIBE Downtown 2025 Selection Committee
Reno Dudley, KAZI FM 88.7 Austin Director
Olivia Tamzarian, Marketing and Outreach Supervisor, The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (ESB-MACC)
Keyheira Keys, Austin curator (formerly Six Square)
Marissa Rivera, Active Urbanism Committee-Downtown Austin Alliance, ofCOLOR Co-Founder
Mikaela Rodriguez, Austin DJ and electronic music producer
Melissa Garcia, Downtown Live Music Professional and Events Leader
Lu Farrell, Artist, community organizer and digital strategist
Emmy Laursen, Curator of Public Programs & Engagement for The Contemporary Austin
Sania Shifferd, Active Urbanism Committee-Downtown Austin Alliance, Architect, Project Management
Marina Islas, Outreach & Exhibits Manager at the Austin History Center
You can learn more about VIBE and how to support the program’s mission in 2026 at vibedowntown.org.
On Ceramics, Steel And Sound: Heavy Heavy Heavy by Emily No Good
Presented by Future Front, Heavy Heavy Heavy is a solo show from Austin-based multidisciplinary artist Emily No Good.
Presented by Future Front, Heavy Heavy Heavy is a solo show from Austin-based multidisciplinary artist Emily No Good.
Through hand built ceramic sculptures, welded steel structures, soundscapes, and songs, Emily explores the weight of modern humanity through both playful and dark forms. These pieces offer a reflection of globalization, societal trajectory and everyday life.
Heavy Heavy Heavy also marks the first of a new series in solo shows at Future Front. These shows will reflect the journey of Austin-based multidisciplinary artists like Emily No Good—weaving long, collaborative and iterative relationships through organizations like Future Front and the city’s local culture.
Continue reading to learn more about the show.
MEET THE ARTIST
Artworks by Dontrius Williams. Photo by Jinni J
ABOUT EMILY NO GOOD
Emily No Good (aka Bad Chuck, @emilynogood) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Austin, Texas. With a background in songwriting and audio production, Emily has been releasing music and scoring fine art films for the last decade. She also works as a tattoo artist, creating bold, playful, minimalist designs.
In recent years, Emily’s practice has expanded to focus on sculpture. She uses ceramics and steel to create pieces that juxtapose difficult realities with a tongue-in-cheek lightheartedness.
EXPLORE PHOTOS FROM THE EXHIBIT:
All photos by Kate Nuelle
DID YOU MISS HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY?
Keep up with what we’re up to at Future Front—from events to membership—here.
The Front Festival 2025: The Official Recap
This year’s Texas-local lineup featured 35 different musical acts and films, all from independent artists, musicians and filmmakers shaping Austin and Central Texas beyond. Each night converged to present a future-forward lineup that ultimately brought 900 guests together across generations.
Over Labor Day Weekend 2025, The Front Festival took over iconic Austin venues—including The LINE Hotel Austin, The Contemporary Austin—Laguna Gloria and Antone’s Nightclub—for four days of independent music and film.
This year’s Texas-local lineup featured 32 different musical acts and films, all from women and LGBTQ+ artists, musicians and filmmakers shaping Austin and Central Texas beyond.
We welcomed musical performances from talent like rising contemporary cumbia artist Vanita Leo (San Antonio) and conjunto fiddle keeper Belen Escobedo (Austin), as well as independent short films from emerging Central Texas filmmakers like IN TOW (Austin) and Behind The Strings: Amplifying Black Feminism in Guitar Culture (Dallas).
Across all four days, the through-line theme for this year’s festival was an experimental blend of contemporary and classic lenses on Texas culture.
Each night converged to present a future-forward lineup that ultimately brought 900 guests together across generations.
Keep reading for a full look at this year’s impact.
All photos by Jinni J and Yvonne Uwah
THE FRONT FESTIVAL 2025 HIGHLIGHTS:
★ No. 1 — 32 Independent Texas Artists Exhibited
Meet every musician, filmmaker and artist in The Front Festival’s 2025 Lineup here.
★ No. 2 — 900+ Visitors Welcomed
Across Central Texas (and nationwide), friends and family traveled in for a sweet weekend in our Austin hometown. The festival was profiled in Tribeza, CultureMap, Fox7 Austin, CBS Austin and so many more.
Big shouts to Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Antone’s Nightclub, The LINE Hotel Austin, The Contemporary Austin — Laguna Gloria, the City of Austin’s Economic Development Department, We All Belong: Austin Against Hate, the Red River Cultural District, Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, as well as Future Front’s donors and members, for making it all possible.
★ No. 3 — $6000+ Fundraised
Every year, a portion of all ticket sales support Future Front’s programs, which have distributed $1M in creative commissions and honorariums in Texas since 2015.
Thanks to donations at the door and our Cocktails For Good Bar by Tito’s Handmade Vodka, we fundraised $6000+.
(This year, all proceeds directly benefit our recent loss of federal funding. Thank you!)
★ No. 4 — $10,000 In Commissions & Contracts
The festival’s programming generated more than $10,000+ in commissions and contracts for the festival’s participating artists and creative production teams.
★ No. 5 — 100% Community-Led
It took four team members, 48 volunteers and curators, 75+ collaborators and one year of planning to open The Front Festival 2025.
THREE WAYS TO STAY INVOLVED:
★ Head to thefrontfest.com to keep tabs on next year’s festival (Labor Day Weekend 2026).
Learn more about why the festival exists here.
Want to be a participating artist in next year’s festival? Read about our Artist Open Call here.
★ Remember why spaces like The Front Festival matter.
The Front Festival is an end-of-summer community festival, featuring independent music, film and art in Austin, Texas. Curated by Future Front, we put Texas women and LGBTQ+ artists at the front of our lineups.
We believe in the power of a good show, nurturing local talent and contemporary Texan storytelling.
Everybody welcome.
★ Explore all we do at Future Front—and find what’s for you—at futurefronttexas.org/programming.
Apply to a program, like our upcoming Fall Season of The Front Market.
Attend upcoming events at the Future Front House and around Austin.
Visit The Future Front House, open on Fridays and during select events for gallery viewings.
Become a member and get complimentary access to all our events and weekly office hours.
Become a volunteer and help us put on more events like this!
Thank you to our sponsors, donors, members and friends.
★
Thank you to our sponsors, donors, members and friends. ★
We would not be able to nurture creative community in Texas without support from our sponsors, members, staff, volunteers, friends & you. Thank you.
Want to stay involved with Future Front?
Keep up with what we’re up to—from virtual events to membership—here.
To learn more about The Front Festival, head to thefrontfest.com.
On Spilled Fruit: A Guest Exhibit By Chance Weick
In July 2025, Future Front hosted Spilled Fruit, a curated selection of portraits and multidisciplinary works by LGBTQIA+ artists in or from Texas.
In July 2025, Future Front hosted Spilled Fruit, a curated selection of portraits and multidisciplinary works by LGBTQIA+ artists in or from Texas.
Continue reading to learn more about the exhibit.
★ ABOUT THE SHOW, SPILLED FRUIT
Spilled Fruit brings together artists exploring themes of body, memory, survival and joy through radically personal practices that spill across medium and genre.
In a region where queer visibility often demands courage, Spilled Fruit offers a space of abundance and resistance, inviting audiences to witness Texas-based queerness in all its lush complexity. Together, the works reflect a bold reclamation: “Fruit that spills is not wasted—it is bold, vibrant, uncontained and there for nourishment.”
★ PARTICIPATING ARTISTS INCLUDED:
JEFFREY JIN
Jeffrey Jin is a queer, Chinese American photographer born and raised in the suburbs of Houston within the confines of a pious Chinese church community. Since taking their first Are You Gay? quiz at age twelve, religious faith has been supplanted with a devout interest in both analog and digital photography as tools to strengthen identity and preserve what’s most familiar: their family and queer friends of color. In doing so, their work unveils narratives surrounding upbringing, corporeality, and a deep affection for the physical and virtual landscapes they inhabit—from Texas' winding roads to the Internet’s deep caverns.
Their images have been featured in publications including Dazed, Far-NEAR, and Nowness, and have been exhibited across Houston, New York City, and Shanghai. They are an alumnus of the Eddie Adams Workshop, a member of Diversify Photo, and hold a degree in Asian American Studies and Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. They are based between New York City and Texas.
SCOTT MABE
Scott Mabe's work exists somewhere between the analog and the digital, the landscape and the figure. It is this space, the in between, where he finds a point of view that is ultimately queer.
Born in Texas on a dairy farm to a Baptist preacher and a schoolteacher, the youngest of six children, Scott began taking photographs of the rural landscape and the people who inhabited it at a young age using disposable Kodak cameras. After studying Photography and Art History at the University of North Texas, Scott moved to New York City where he has honed his skills in digital photo manipulation. This has led to his current body of work, which bastardizes the rural landscape of his childhood, documented in analog, with found digital erotic images. Scott is also heavily (and happily) influenced by the horror and weird fiction genre, as well as heavy metal music.
SETH PRESTWOOD
Seth Prestwood was born and raised in lower Alabama and at eighteen moved to Nashville, TN to attend Watkins College of Art, Design & Film, where he graduated with a BA in Fine Art with an emphasis in sculpture. For the last fifteen years he has worked for several studios (as well as his own) producing murals, logos, sculptures, sets and faux finishes. In his personal work he weaves images and symbols collected from travels, lovers and nature with scenes from his past, creating dreamscapes for his characters while leaving enough anonymity for the viewer to form their own narrative. Themes in his work are loss, longing, resilience and the tensions between his Southern Baptist upbringing and navigation of where he belongs in the queer community. Consistent in his practice are painting, printmaking, sculpture, writing, drawing, and photography.
Steven Foley
Steven Foley, based in Athens GA but raised in Taylor TX, works as a professor of linguistics at the University of Georgia. A lifelong artist, he is especially passionate about collage as a medium of texture, fate, and recontextualization.
CHANCE WEICK
Chance Weick was born in Dallas, Texas and has resided in Austin, Texas for 8 years. He studied photography at the University of Alabama. He currently works for Texas Student Media at the University of Texas at Austin which publishes The Daily Texan and multiple print and digital publications produced by students. He is a big advocate for freedom of speech.
Much of his work is centered around portraits and highlighting vulnerabilities that make us human.
TONY KRASH
Tony Krash is a photographer, videographer, and conceptual visual artist born and raised in Oak Cliff, Dallas, TX who currently resides in Austin, TX. Inspired by documentary photography and the juxtaposition of traditional and contemporary Latinx culture, Tony has been professionally practicing since 2017. He documents people with whom he forms relationships and who are part of his brown and queer community. His photographic approach typically involves portraiture and still life, using objects to evoke queerness, sensuality, confidence, nostalgia, and a hint of darkness. His work often carries a political undertone, aiming to establish a history of full representation in the South. As a queer Brown creative, his interests span emo and Hispanic cultures, evoking unapologetic queerness.
STEPHANIE GONZALEZ
Born in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1988, Stephanie Gonzalez's art journey is a fusion of Mexican and American influences. Inspired by her grandfather's admiration for Bob Ross, she began creating at 14. Stephanie's work evolved from landscapes to powerful abstractions, where she embraced intuition over technique. Stephanie draws from her experiences as a lesbian Mexican woman, channeling her emotions into mixed media works using vintage magazines and discarded materials. After earning a Bachelor's in Interior Design from the Art Institute of Houston, she pursued a Master's in Fine Art, broadening her scope to sculpture and conceptual art. Stephanie's art now graces international collections, including prestigious venues like Starwood Hotels and the CICA Museum in South Korea. Stephanie's work has been shown in museums such as The Masur Museum of Art in Louisiana and the Holocaust Museum in Houston, and she shows her work in various galleries around the U.S. She has received awards from the Glassell School of Art, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, and Rising Eyes of Texas.
Her recent work explores geometric landscapes, delving into the spiritual and the interconnected. Stephanie Gonzalez's art continues to captivate and evolve, leaving an indelible mark on contemporary art.
JET TREVINO
Jet Treviño’s body of work reflects a self-taught journey, shaped by raw exploration and relentless practice. Bursting onto the Austin scene in 2012, his natural talent and vision carved out a space in the Austin art world, helping shape the vibrant, rebellious creative culture the city is known for today. His canvas spilled beyond studio walls, pouring onto the streets—quite literally—alongside a community of artists he grew up with, learned from, and inspired in return.
With a sharp eye for haunting portraiture and arresting surrealist imagery, Jet’s work commands attention, pulling viewers into a space where reality fractures and reshapes. His art doesn’t just invite contemplation; it stops you cold, forcing you to reconsider your own reality—and your place within it.
★ EXPLORE THE VISUAL RECAP.
DID YOU MISS THE SPILLED FRUIT OPENING?
Keep up with what we’re up to at Future Front—from events to membership—here.