Announcing a New Mural by Artist Steffi Lynn Tsai at Allens Boots, In Partnership with Waymo
This October, Future Front is proud to announce the launch of a new mural by Austin-based illustrator, designer and small business owner Steffi Lynn Tsai in partnership with Waymo.
This October, Future Front is proud to announce the launch of a new mural by Austin-based illustrator, designer and small business owner Steffi Lynn Tsai in partnership with Waymo. The mural will be on display at Allen’s Boots—an iconic South Congress mainstay since 1977—through December 2024.
The mural is part of a broader rollout of Waymo partnerships this Fall. Now offering rides in Austin, the autonomous driving technology company has partnered with organizations like Future Front to support local artists and small business communities. For this particular project, Future Front tapped renowned illustrator and designer Steffi Lynn Tsai, a generational Austinite, long-time muralist and the co-founder of independent boutique Roommate Collective.
“This mural celebrates the vibrant energy of Austin where local businesses, the environment and community come together. Inspired by the natural beauty of the city, I wanted to design the mural where it looks like we are looking outward from inside the car on a trip through Austin. Small businesses and a respect for nature keep our community grounded. I hope this mural inspires appreciation for both—the entrepreneurs who shape our city and the environment that sustains it.”
Check out the official announcement video on Instagram here, and keep reading to learn more about the artist, including a Q&A exploring her connection with Austin and inspiration for the mural.
✹ ON Creative Connections with Steffi Lynn Tsai
Steffi Lynn Tsai is a hand-letterer, illustrator, and muralist from Austin, Texas. Now traveling the country painting walls to walls and coast to coast!
Steffi’s work is inspired by everyday things, feelings, and simple imagery from her imagination or her surroundings. She likes to create work that inspires people and brings community together through positivity.
Steffi is also most drawn to the environments she grew up around in Texas, and loves being able to incorporate Texan nature into all her works. Steffi aims to make the final results unique to the environment in which they will exist. The goal for her creations is to inspire people through positive messaging, bright colors and everyday imagery that people can connect with!
Q — Describe yourself! Who are you? What is your practice?
I am Steffi Lynn an illustration artist that specializes in murals!
Q — Why murals as a practice? What do you love about them?
I love seeing an idea develop from a small thought to something that is out living in the world for everyone to see at a large scale. I like the challenges that murals can provide and the excitement it can bring to people when they see it!
Q — What was your process and inspiration with this mural project?
I started the process by looking at the overall surface area where the mural will live. I like to work in balance and symmetry, therefore splitting the design between the panels played a big role in the composition. I wanted to create a mural that was inspired by a road trip through the landscapes and environment around Austin. So the middle panel was painted to look like the viewer is sitting behind the dashboard of a vehicle, looking out. I wanted to make sure the mural was bright and colorful so it is eye catching when people walked by.
Q — Tell us about Roommate Collective and your connection to the Austin artist scene.
Roommate Collective is a collective retail space that houses 3 small businesses- Have a Nice Day, Jollie Ollie, and Little Note. As an Austin native, I’ve always wanted to have a place where my products can live and I thought it would be perfect to open a store with 2 friends who thought the same. We are located in Springdale General beside other local businesses and have artists markets multiple times a year! I want to bring all creators together so we can continue to support each other's crafts and passions.
Q — Our theme this year is RITUALS. What are some of your favorite rituals, whether it’s for your creative practice or personal wellness?
This year, an important ritual for me in my creative practice and personal wellness is to be patient with myself. To not rush a project, not rush a feeling, a design , not rush rest.
Q — What’s your favorite Future Front program or moment?
I had no idea Future Front did a festival every year!! That is insane and so much work and soooo impressive!
Behind the Scenes with Steffi and Waymo:
About Waymo x Future Front
Future Front and Waymo will continue to collaborate on projects this year spotlighting the importance of small businesses and independent creatives in Austin, including an activation at the upcoming Fall Season of The Front Market, where 150+ women and LGBTQ+ artists, makers and craftspeople local to Central Texas will be featured in a weekend-long pop-up market at Waterloo Greenway on November 23 and 24, 2024 in Downtown Austin.
ABOUT WAYMO
Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to be the most trusted driver. Since our start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has been focused on building, deploying, and commercializing the World’s Most Experienced Driver™ technology to improve the world's access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo One, the world's first fully autonomous ride-hailing service. To date, Waymo has autonomously driven tens of millions of miles on public roads and tens of billions of miles in simulation, across 13+ U.S. states. For more: www.waymo.com.
ABOUT FUTURE FRONT TEXAS
Homegrown in Austin, Future Front (formerly known as Boss Babes ATX) is an award-winning, culture space and exhibition series—with women and LGBTQ+ creatives at the front. As a 501c3 arts & culture nonprofit, we produce two community-led exhibitions, The Front Market and The Front Festival. Beyond our flagship exhibitions, we host year-round shows and workshops at our creative space in historic East Austin, welcoming 20,000+ visitors per year.
Through these programs and a diverse network of partnerships, we invite the public to dream of a future where creativity, curiosity and intersectional design thrive in Texas—where we see ourselves and our cultures reflected in our communities. Learn more about how it all works, the team, and the important work they do at futurefrontexas.org, and by following along @futurefronttexas on Instagram, Facebook & TikTok and @futurefronttx on Twitter.
PS — We are fundraising for our future. We have a goal of $10,000 by December 2024 and are halfway there. Find ways to support below:
Behind Hot Summer Nights Market: Pop-Up Shops & Vinyl Swaps with Red River Cultural District
This July, we partnered with Red River Cultural District to present The Front Market for Hot Summer Nights, an annual festival celebrating Austin's live music scene.
This July, we partnered with Red River Cultural District on a special vintage and upcycled edition of The Front Market, as part of their Hot Summer Nights festival in downtown Austin.
Held at Stubb’s Liberty Lunch from 7PM to 11PM on July 19 for the first time, this night market featured pop-ups from 16 local curators and creatives, vinyl DJ sets by DJ Mira Mira and DJ Beaujolais, and a community vinyl swap, among vintage posters of the RRCD’s history.
Keep scrolling to get the recap.
MEET THE NIGHT’S ARTISTS AND SPECIAL GUESTS.
PARTICIPATING DJS & VINYL SWAP HOSTS:
Xochi Solis (she/her) is a mixed media artist born and raised in Austin, TX. Her works include multilayered, collaged paintings that rely on the illusions created by photographic surfaces to tell a nuanced narrative about time, place, and sensation. Solis grapples with the question of how to represent an environment where her heritage, her body, and dreams of the future can co-exist. In addition to her studio practice, she spins vinyl records as Mira Mira focusing on the preservation and performance of Tejanx culture.
Follow along at xochisolis.com and @xochisolis. You can listen at mixcloud.com/mira_mira.
Gabrielle Rose (she/they) is a hospitality professional and vinyl DJ based in Austin, Texas. She is active as a resident DJ of Queer Vinyl Collective and independently as DJ Beaujolais, where she pushes the boundaries of her creativity as a vinyl DJ and natural wine enthusiast. She enjoys creating synergetic experiences around craft food and music that foster conversation, learning and community. Her current work includes designing weekly "grape.jam" DJ sets where she pairs vinyl tracks inspired by the associations and memories evoked by interesting natural wines.
Follow along at gabrose.com and @djbeaujolais.
Get the visual recap:
thank you tO red river cultural district for having us.
Hot Summer Nights will be back in July 2025. Check back for details at redriverculturaldistrict.org.
PS — We are fundraising for our future. We have a goal of $10,000 by December 2024 and are halfway there. Find ways to support below:
Introducing Our Annual Supper Club (and Fundraiser) with Austin-Based Chef Deepa Shridhar
For our third re-opening anniversary, we hosted an intimate three-night supper club at The Future Front House with one of our favorite South Indian-Texan chefs, Deepa Shridhar.
FOR FUTURE FRONT’S THIRD BIRTHDAY, WE HOSTed AN INTIMATE SUPPER CLUB WITH ONE OF OUR FAVORITE CHEFS, DEEPA SHRIDHAR.
For three nights this July, we transformed The Future Front Texas House into a communal dining experience by serving a multi-course South Indian-Texan menu from chef Deepa Shridhar.
Paired with the menu from Austin’s neighborhood grocery Thom’s Market, a delicious cocktail menu from Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Topo Chico, ingredients included everything from fermented figs to sesame quail and jaggery. Each dish was hand-selected as an artistic expression through food.
(All proceeds from ticket sales each evening supporting participating tallent, as well as The Future Front House’s free space program for local creatives.)
MEET THE DINNER’S INAUGURAL HOSTS.
Deepa Shridhar (she/her) is a chef, writer, podcaster and TV & Digital personality residing in Austin. Shridhar has been cooking professionally for twelve years, worked at some of the best restaurants in Texas, including her own award winning food trailer, Puli-Ra, and supper club, specializing in South Indian Texan cuisine, her own brand of Third Culture Cuisine.
Currently, Shridhar collaborates on supper clubs and pop ups with like minded businesses across the country that include award winning restaurants and food businesses alike. She’s been featured in many national publications and multiples appearances on the Food Network including Chopped, as a runner up.
Chef Deepa has a substack under the moniker: Sicc Palette. Sicc Palette is a digital platform that houses her podcast, newsletter and a variety of video content that focuses on personal narratives, the definitions of fine dining, immigrant, third culture cuisine and recipes flavored by her South Indian Texan perspective.
Photo by Nitya Jain
Jane Hervey (she/her) is a creative director, recording artist and (accidental) nonprofit founder, living and working in Austin, Texas. Originally from the South Texas border, she currently runs Future Front, a 501c3 culture space she started in 2015, as well as her own creative house, group work.
Over the last decade, she has collaborated with a range of people & places on culture-driven brand strategies, curated experiences and storytelling campaigns—whether she’s working with independent creatives & organizations or brands like The LINE Hotel, Bumble or Red Bull. She’s been a guest speaker for organizations like SXSW, Austin FC, Blake St. Bentonville, We All Grow! Los Angeles, The University of Texas, The Texas Downtown Association and Women Who Code. She’s also lent her time toward grassroots community design and equity initiatives, as well as civic task forces led by the Austin Chamber of Commerce, the City of Austin, the Austin Community Foundation and more.
As an artist, Jane is a singer, songwriter and producer, pulling influences from the likes of Björk and Frank Ocean. The daughter of a zoologist, her work builds worlds around the high-brow, low-brow aesthetics of rodeo queen girlhood and the dreamy tropical, jewel tones of the Texas coast. Since putting out her first four-track lo-fi EP “Sour Grapefruit” in 2019, she has played South by Southwest (SXSW), opened for the likes of OSHUN, Nomi Ruiz, Bunny Michael and composed for an internationally recognized cross-border sound album.
Her work has been profiled in Texas Monthly and ADWEEK, as well as recognized in the City of Austin’s Women’s Hall of Fame. You can learn more at janeclairehervey.com.
three sweet nights of food, art and community, y’all.
bask in the photo recap:
thank you to all who attended.
Art Dinner will be back in July 2025. Check back for details at futurefronttexas.org/comethrough.
PS — We are fundraising for our future. We have a goal of $10,000 by December 2024 and are halfway there. Find ways to support below:
The Front Festival 2024: The Official Recap
Featuring 65 women and LGBTQ+ artists, filmmakers, performers and independent creatives across Texas, The Front Festival 2024 welcomed 1,300+ visitors this weekend.
Over labor day weekend 2024, The Front Festival took over The LINE HOTEL Austin, The Contemporary Austin—Laguna Gloria and Cheer Up Charlies for four days of independent music and film.
Featuring 65 women and LGBTQ+ artists, dancers, filmmakers, musicians, chefs, performers and independent creatives, we welcomed more than 1,300 guests.
Keep reading for a full look at this year’s impact.
All photos by Jinni J and Manny Frayre
thE FRONT FESTIVAL 2024 highlights:
✰ No. 1 — 65 Artists Exhibited
Meet every musician, filmmaker and artist in The Front Festival’s 2024 Lineup here.
✰ No. 2 — 1,300+ Visitors Welcomed
Across Central Texas (and nationwide), friends and family traveled in for a sweet weekend in our Austin hometown. Big shouts to Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Waymo, The LINE Hotel Austin, The Contemporary Austin — Laguna Gloria, Liquid Death, 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 — $1000+ Fundraised
Thanks to donations at the door and our Cocktails For Good Bar by Tito’s Handmade Vodka, we fundraised $1000+ for our Creative Future of Texas Fund throughout the weekend.
✰ No. 4 — $11,000 In Commissions & Contracts
The festival’s programming generated more than $11,500 in commissions and contracts for the festival’s artists and production teams.
✰ No. 5 — 100% Community-Led
It took four team members, 28 volunteers and curators, 50+ collaborators and nine months of planning to open The Front Festival 2024.
This year, for the first time ever, all participating artists were curated from our Annual Open Call, too.
THREE WAYS TO STAY INVOLVED:
✰ Head to thefrontfest.com to keep tabs on next year’s festival (Labor Day Weekend 2025).
Explore each artist on our 2024 lineup here.
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.
We believe in the power of a good show, emerging talent and storytelling.
The Front Festival is an annual, end-of-summer community festival, featuring independent music, film and creative experiences curated by Future Front. Hosted in Austin, we put Texas women and LGBTQ+ artists at the front of our lineups.
A portion of all ticket sales fundraise for Future Front’s Creative Future of Texas Fund, which has distributed $20,000 in awards since 2020. We couldn’t do it without you.
✰ 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 Tuesdays through Fridays for gallery viewings and drop-ins.
Become a member and get complimentary access to all our events, community Slack group, weekly office hours and full creative directory.
Become a volunteer and help us put on more events like this!
Thank you to our sponsors, partners and friends.
✰
Thank you to our sponsors, partners and friends. ✰
We would not be able to nurture the creative communities we care about without support from our sponsors, members, staff, volunteers, friends and 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, as well as our 2024 lineup, head to thefrontfest.com.
On Ballroom, Texas Nightlife And Expression: Bring It From the Back
Bring It From The Back features a curated selection of portraits and scenes from Austin-based photographer ScamLikely’s archives. On view at The Future Front House throughout Summer 2024, the exhibit celebrates the profound impact of ballroom and queer nightlife on Central Texas arts and culture.
Bring It From The Back features a curated selection of portraits and scenes from Austin-based photographer ScamLikely’s archives. On view at The Future Front House throughout Summer 2024, the exhibit celebrates the profound impact of ballroom and queer nightlife on Central Texas arts and culture.
Continue reading to learn more about the show, as well as Manuel Frayre.
✹ about the show, bring it from the back
From spontaneously captured death drops to curated portraits, Bring It From The Back documents the transformational power of Austin-based ballroom collective House of Lepore, as well as a number of event producers, curators, tastemakers and performers shaping Texas’ ballroom scene, through the lens of photographer ScamLikely (Manuel Frayre).
Documented in Texas Monthly and local publications, House of Lepore has become widely recognized and known for popularizing ballroom in Austin’s underground, bringing the queer cultural practice from New York to Texas. As a member of House of Lepore himself, Frayre’s archive is a unique and clarifying window into the collective’s mission, vision and creative practice through the artists’ own perspectives, stories and lenses.
“BRING IT FROM THE BACK” FEATURES 29 ARCHIVAL MATTE PRINTS by scam likely (@__scamlikely__).
Each print is its own archive, documenting the people and places that have defined Central Texas Ballroom culture from 2019 to 2024. View select prints from the exhibit below (provided courtesy of the artist):
✹ ON ballroom as resistance WITH photographer scam likely
ScamLikely aka Manuel Frayre (he/him) is a Latinx, Austin-based photographer, artist, DJ and event producer. He is a member of the legendary House of Lepore, one of Texas' premier ballroom collectives shaping Central Texas nightlife. Through his work with House of Lepore, as well as producing his own balls, shows and parties at venues like Cheer Up Charlies and Coconut Club Austin, Frayre has become a renowned events photographer and curator trusted by the Austin community. With this unique access and lens, he has built an elaborate documentary archive of queer cultural impact in Texas.
“Ballroom is resilient. It’s the fight of the unheard. It takes commitment and true passion to dedicate to this scene and I have tried to respect it as such.
It’s not just an experience or a party for these people, it’s a livelihood and for some the only way they can exist in this unfair world. The theme is really Queer Expression.
Every performer has a story to tell, with their identity, their looks and their body movements.
’Bring It From The Back’ is a love letter to our fight and an invitation to future generations. Every loss is followed by an invitation to progress. So, this exhibit is also dedicated to all of the Trans and Queer people of color who have been taken from us by the hands of suppression. They live through us, through every trophy.”
Read the entire interview with the Austin Chronicle here.
DID YOU MISS Bring it From the back?
Keep up with what we’re up to at Future Front—from events to membership—here.
On Queer Community-Building: Pride Picnic 2024
It was an ecosystem of tie-dye, snow cones, plant swaps, and splash pads. A day of drag fairies, family time, makers’ markets, basketball courts and summer camp queerdom—all strung together by DIY friendship bracelets and shaded park benches.
Pride Month is a party, a protest, an intergenerational conversation, a community invitation, a dance alone and with friends, a belly laugh, a politic, a practice in amplification and celebration, a moment for maximalism and a time for rest.
this year’s pride picnic IN PEASE PARK was no different.
It was an ecosystem of tie-dye, snow cones, plant swaps, and splash pads. A day of drag fairies, family time, makers’ markets, basketball courts and summer camp queerdom—all strung together by DIY friendship bracelets and shaded park benches.
Together, we welcomed 2,000+ visitors to Pease Park, all while highlighting more than 35 LGBTQ+ creatives in Austin’s community. As we reflect on the picnic, here are a few of the day’s highlights and takeaways. Scroll to keep reading.
THIS YEAR’S PRIDE PICNIC takeaways:
✰ 6 Practices to build queer community
“If you’re good at something, give a little away for free.” — drag artist and curator Gothess Jasmine
“Learn to create safety—and spaces of bravery—so you can show up.” — Pease Park COO Chuck Jones on building community when it’s hard to be visible in Texas
“Burnout is real in community work. Be patient with yourself… and unanswered emails.” — The Little Gay Shop co-founder Justin Galicz
“Make time for joy and hard conversations. Learn your capacity and build skills to do both.” — Tabitha Hamilton, co-founder of Black Trans Leadership Austin
“Listen. Welcome feedback and embrace the trust that is built when people feel comfortable bringing feedback to you. Feedback can be a form of collaboration.” — Emmet Hunker, founder of Thee Gay Agenda
“Cultures of consent—cultures of intersectionality—are vital to queer culture. If I like it, I love it. I make that known. But if I don’t feel represented, I make that clear, too. Setting boundaries within community work is a way to prevent harm and violence. It’s also a way to honor, respect and reflect the diverse LGBTQIA+ identities that make our communities beautiful.” — drag artist and curator Gothess Jasmine
HAPPY PRIDE. Learn more about every artist & creative involved IN PRIDE PICNIC 2024 here.
Want to stay involved with Future Front?
Keep up with what we’re up to—from virtual events to membership—here.
"Transcendent Reality" Presents 15 Emerging Artists At The Future Front House
Over the last month, The Future Front House presented Transcendent Reality, an exhibit curated by Maria Romero and Rewon Shimray of woman-owned fine art collective The Gallery ATX.
Over the last month, The Future Front House presented Transcendent Reality, an exhibit curated by Maria Romero and Rewon Shimray of woman-owned fine art collective The Gallery ATX.
Featuring works from 15 Austin-based artists, Transcendent Reality commented on the interplay of technology and the implications it has on our interpretation of reality, including interactive pieces that invited the audience to create their own parallel universe within the pieces through animations, personal testimonies, and moving installations.
BEHIND THE GALLERY ATX
The Gallery ATX is a woman-powered Austin, Texas based fine art collective devoted to exhibiting original and profound works of art from a carefully curated group of artists. Our mission is to impact new audiences through creative collaborations, popup exhibitions, and brand partnerships. By providing a platform to display our artists’ message, we connect a community of diverse creators and collectors.
Find out more at www.linktr.ee/thegalleryatx
MEET THE EXHIBIT’S CURATORS:
Maria Romero (she/her) is a curator, community builder, musician, and seasoned Business Development professional. Originally from Medellín, Colombia, she now calls Austin, Texas home. She founded The Gallery ATX, a local arts non-profit, and serves as its Executive Director. Additionally, she co-founded Mujer Manifesto Zine, a feminist independent publication. Maria also contributes to the Austin creative community as a guitarist/vocalist for the local band CorMae and has been published in Glaze Zine for her creative writing.
Rewon is an autobiographical creative raised and based in Austin, Texas. Whether designing a zine or painting a self-portrait, Rewon’s work reflects her experiences as a queer woman of color, a daughter of immigrants, and a soul in constant evolution.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, studying journalism, religion, and studio art. Rewon has exhibited work across Austin galleries. She is passionate about building communities through art, investing her time in the Austin art community as a freelance art educator, full-time graphic designer, Director of Artistic Programs for The Gallery ATX and the Mujer Manifesto Zine editor.
Missed This Show?
Keep up with what we’re up to at Future Front—from events to membership—here.
On World-Building With Mueni Loko Rudd, Sacugar Edwards & Moses Leonardo
In commemoration of Madly Involved and our Spring Season, we interviewed curator Mueni Loko Rudd, as well as artists Sacugar Edwards and Moses Leonardo, on the world-buildling creative rituals that define their practices.
From February 16 to April 14, we hosted Madly Involved, an exhibit curated by Texas-based cultural producer Mueni Loko Rudd. Kicking off two months of events at The Future Front House for Black History Month and Women’s History Month, this immersive group exhibition interrogated dynamic interplays of race, identity, symbolism and global influences within the contemporary art landscape.
Featuring works by sacugar edwards, Moses Leonardo, Audrey Lyall and Melinda Griffith, Madly Involved explored the intricate relationship between artists and their creations through an array of disciplines and materials—from oil painting and sculpture to bobby pins and building debris.
In commemoration of Madly Involved and our Spring Season, we interviewed curator Mueni Loko Rudd, as well as artists Sacugar Edwards and Moses Leonardo, on the world-buildling creative rituals that define their practices.
✹ ON CURATING YOUR OWN WORLD WITH MUENI LOKO RUDD
Mueni Loko Rudd (she/her) is a Kenyan-American community champion, cultural preservationist, scholar advocate, and tastemaker based in Texas. Throughout her career, she has contributed to community and scholarly work that promotes reimagining liberation for historically oppressed communities. Mueni’s curatorial practice acts through intentionality and mindfulness, challenging the white centered colonial patriarchal art space. She has curated six visual arts and live music shows at Martha’s Contemporary, serves as a grant reviewer for the Texas Commission on the Arts, and is a member of The City of Austin African American Resource Advisory Commission. Deeply committed to her values she has pursued a path in the art space that is rooted in intentionality.
Q — How do you find new artists, new ideas as a curator?
Art is happening everywhere I look so finding new isn’t necessarily my goal. I would prefer to say I keep a curious eye out while just living my life and enjoying. That spirit of exploration has always allowed me to be surprised by what’s on the other end of my openness so to speak. Doesn’t matter if I’m in the South or somewhere new, my eyes are open. As a freelance curator, I often work from the bottom up because my planning is with respect to location. I try to be like water in these situations. So I may enter with certain ideas but usually very collaborative with the venue and participating artists. I want my collaborators to feel proud and correctly represented in my offerings.
Q — What does being a curator regarding creative expression and social responsibility mean to you?
My creative expression and contributions reflect my values already. My values are like my North Star. Even outside of creative spaces, the audience can see these same themes in my written work or research for example. It’s important to me to be in alignment and harmony with myself and the world around me.
Q — What do you think are some of the most inspiring things happening in your circles currently?
I enjoy seeing activism in all my intersections of work and play. I have a behavioral science educational background so I’m used to seeing more critique there but I’m seeing a more creative part of that dialogue. Free them all!
Q — In what ways was this exhibition fulfilling, and what messaging was important to highlight?
The rationale of this show is rooted in my prioritization of reshaping the art landscape by exploring themes related to race and identity. The relationship Black women and Black queer communities have in the art world is complex and multifaceted. Madly Involved is an exhibition that by practice and intention honors the intersectionality and representation observed in the works and lives of the participating artists. We know Black women and Black queer artists face challenges related to visibility, recognition, and the intersectionality of their identities. I challenge art and non-profit spaces alike to engage in breaking down hierarchies and challenging the dominant narratives in art to create space for diverse voices. Future Front invitation to their space and audience is instrumental in challenging traditional norms and fostering a more empathic and equitable art community.
Q — Describe the curating process for this exhibition, how did the central themes come to be?
This group exhibition explored the intricate relationship between artists and their creations through the lens of various sociological perspectives. This collection showcased diverse works that reflect the dynamic interplay of identity, symbolic interactionism, and global influences within the contemporary art landscape.
Q — How do you overcome creative blocks? What rituals do you implement in this scenario?
I do my best to let thoughts and feelings come and go with ease. If I feeling stuck on anything I’m working on I pivot to something else and return when my spirit is back settled. I never stop processing it but forcing myself in a new head space is helpful to refresh. I try to be gentle with myself.
Q — How do you view community building through your work? What does that look like?
A time and a place is something I value. Where I’m doing work matters to me just as much as with whom. Future Front had a focus and I was excited to amplify my own values within their parameters. The social and culture worker in me wants to build community by supporting folks how they see fit. So deep listening and rapport building are at the foundation.
Q — Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations that you're particularly excited about?
I’m excited to share that I’ve been invited to curate at SWIM Gallery in San Francisco this summer. Definitely check out the work Yarrow and his team have done with emerging artists all over the country. Honored to join them and add folks I value to their story.
Q — What do you hope the viewer experience is for this exhibition?
Through the exhibition, audiences witnessed how participating Black women and Black queer artists, deeply immersed in their creative process, draw inspiration from symbolic interactionism. Symbolic elements, both personal and cultural, serve as the building blocks for their expressions, transcending conventional boundaries. The exhibition delves into the impact of identity, social class, and cultural capital on artistic preferences, highlighting how individuals from different backgrounds engage with art uniquely. The spectrum of artistic choices mirrors the socialization processes that mold artistic identity.
✹ ON Creating your own world with sacugar & moses
SACUGAR EDWARDS is a lullaby to the black epic, a hum on a mission to reimagine paradise as one that understands our presence in the future. An ode to their school days in Jamaica, her inspiration begins at memories in the streets with the sun. As Isah Edwards, based in Texas; the (she/her) behind the iPad, they tackle the strenuous stares of anxiety that come with our unwavering radical fight for freedom. Paired with a passion for tech, cultural shifts in our environments, and furthering the conversation on afro-surrealism; she uses Procreate, paint, and any trash she can accumulate to create a militant merge of the dream and its reality. SACUGAR tells the story of the tender black smile and its gold-toothed zeal.
MOSES LEONARDO is an artist born in New York City, New York and raised around the East Coast. They have a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and their work focuses on sexuality, race, nightlife, music, spirituality, and gender.
Q — Can you walk us through your creative process? How do you typically approach a new project or piece of art?
Sacugar: I use everything around me to fossilize the vision in my head by letting the ideas devour me in a frenzy. I take lots of breaks and welcome distractions so each piece is completed by various reworked versions of myself and environment.
Moses: My creative process starts by living life. I have all these experiences and ideas that always end up expressed in some form on the canvas, in video, in writing, etc. After I know what I wanna say I keep working and thinking about what I’m saying until I feel that the thought is complete.
Q — What or who inspires your work? Are there any particular themes or ideas that consistently appear in your art?
Sacugar: I incorporate ideas of what freedom can look like in my work. Our incarcerated populace and the worker’s who clock in, especially the ones who are kids, inspire me greatly. I like to believe they would be my audience if they were free.
Moses: I’m inspired by love, gender expression, metropolitan life, black people, queer people, spirituality, and being alive. All of these themes appear in my art in one way or another.
Q — Can you share a memorable or challenging experience that has influenced your artistic journey?
Sacugar: I had to toss half my portfolio in the trash because I was moving and couldn’t afford to store or keep them. I have friends who are musicians who often lose all their tunes from some tech malfunction but they always just keep making music. Knowing that helped me move on from the paintings in the dumpster, more confident to make it all again.
Moses: Any time I’ve fallen in love or had sex or traveled or took a breath is in my art somehow. Of course most of my paintings encapsulate poignant aspects of my life or queer life or black life, life has the greatest influence on my art.
Q — How do you see your art impacting or connecting with your audience or the wider world?
Sacugar: I believe everybody can relate to some desire to fight for freedoms, my work is propaganda for that front so I hope it ignites a blaze in the kids who see it.
Moses: Whenever a person comes up to me to tell me about their interpretation of my work I get excited to see where my intentions actually took them. It also makes me think about the people engaging with my work when I’m not there, they have their own interpretations and ways that the work may connect to their lives. I focus on that kind of impact but I’m engaging with very universal themes- just through a queer lens. I suppose not everyone is used to that kind of perspective but I think there's a lot that people can learn from by looking at many kinds of perspectives. My niche audience and the world broadly.
Q — Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations that you're particularly excited about?
Sacugar: This summer I am doing a residency with studio two three in VA to work on some prints that honor fight scenes in vulnerable spaces. I’m also doing a series on picket signs for strippers with The Shed in NY. Both those projects will be fun to work on.
Moses: Yes I have two upcoming shows this month that excite me. I have a video project I’m working on with a friend and music on the way as well- all while I still work on new paintings.
Q — How do you navigate the balance between artistic expression and commercial viability?
Sacugar: I don’t do commercial viability because I don't draw for profit so artistic expression always comes first.
Moses: I refuse to make work I’m not excited about- sometimes that means less money and sometimes that means more. The world is a fickle place and the art world is even more fickle but I feel grateful knowing I’m not in a position where I have to compromise the integrity of my gifts to make something I don’t feel proud of or excited by.
Q — Can you discuss any specific techniques, mediums, or tools that are integral to your artistic practice?
Sacugar: I use an ipad and the procreate app to do most of my sketches and the internet has all the references in the world so it’s like a second brain in terms of imagining stuff from stuff.
Moses: Of course paint but really the most integral tool to me as of late is traveling. I get so enriched and inspired by the things I learn and see and do while traveling and it makes me want to make more work in the end.
Q — What advice would you give to aspiring artists based on your own experiences and learning?
Sacugar: Don’t take it so seriously, be lazier, more loose and acquire some intent beyond the ‘art’ act.
Moses: You must live life in order to birth art.
Q — What do you think are some of the most inspiring things happening in your circles currently?
Sacugar: I’ve been hanging out on an army base recently and with all the wars going on the soldiers seem pretty chill about it, it’s pretty inspiring because I don't think i’d be chill about it in that position.
Moses: The New York club scene has always been hot and has always birthed new sounds and aesthetics that the masses consume. I’m inspired by my friends who help shape the landscape of the new wave. I’m surrounded by creatives who are pushing everything that we’ve learned from our predecessors. It’s incredible. Whenever a friend is booked to DJ at a place we frequent or showing work in a gallery or institution- someone who’s from around the way, it makes me proud.
Q — How do you overcome creative blocks? What rituals do you implement in this scenario?
Sacugar: I don’t get creative block because there's always so much to draw about and so many ways to do it. It's the opposite for me. I get so overwhelmed by ideas that I have to lay dormant like a volcano so I don't explode.
Moses: I just ingest more art lol- I’m also blessed to have other mediums in my life that’ll always inspire creativity to flow into my other disciplines. Writing for example has helped me with my music which in turn has helped me with my paintings because of the content inside of the music. It really all flows together with some patience and perseverance.
Q — How do you view community building through your work? What does that look like?
Sacugar: Community building through my work would look like people using everything around them to move towards freedom. I’m really introverted so I'm not skilled in communal hijinks but if my work can serve as a suggestion, that’d be a job well done.
Moses: I think because my work is coming from me, a person with so many intersections. The work inherently becomes sociopolitical. I’ve embraced that in a way that echoes the work of my predecessors. Films like Tongues Untied or Watermelon Woman or shows like Noah’s Arc- made me feel like I was seen, validated and alive. My hope is that my work can reach people of the same intersections who may need to connect or heal by seeing themselves through whatever medium I choose. My hope is also to reach people outside of my intersections who are open to learning or empathizing with another human being going through the same things under a different set of social circumstances and with perspectives they haven’t themselves thought about or had to think about.
photos by jinni j (@heyjinnij)
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On Community Fashion Shows and Queer, Texas Design: Hannah Varnell of Bloodbath Studio
Over the last two years, Future Front has proudly supported Bloodbath Studio’s community fashion shows. As Bloodbath prepares for their third-annual show in 2024, we chatted with the studio's co-founder Hannah Varnell about their origin story, the importance of queer representation in art and cultural gatherings and hopes for a sustainable, vibrant and subversively expressive scene.
Over the last two years, Future Front has proudly supported Bloodbath Studio’s community fashion shows.
Created by and for queer artists in 2022, Bloodbath’s annual fashion shows began as a way to amplify the DIY ecosystem of underground fashion in Central Texas. Each show features a range of rising designers and fashion stars—including voices like DASHE, FLAMER and ALIVE—evolving year over year to reflect an emerging, growing and established fashion community, as well as a spectrum of LGBTQ+ designers, models and producers.
As Bloodbath Studio prepares for their third-annual community fashion show in 2024, we chatted with Bloodbath Studio co-founder Hannah Varnell about the Bloodbath’s origin story, the importance of queer representation in art and cultural gatherings and hopes for a sustainable, vibrant and subversively expressive scene in Central Texas.
Photos by @wne2uu
Hannah Varnell (center in white) at Bloodbath’s Veneration Fashion Show in 2023
Meet Hannah Varnell.
Hannah Varnell is a director, cinematographer, and creative producer.
She enjoys creating worlds that exist in a magical, dreamlike subset of reality and is most inspired by media that creates empathy and provides opportunities for healing. She has produced and shot for BBC, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, Bravo, and Travel Channel. Recent directing work premiered at Tribeca as part of “Battleground,” a film about reproductive rights by Cynthia Lowen. When she’s not making films or throwing Bloodbath fashion shows, you can find her at a thrift shop or resetting her nervous system at an electronic show.
Q — What was the catalyst in creating BloodBath?
The first Bloodbath Studio event was in 2022 as part of Lucktoberfest - a fall festival hosted on Willie Nelson’s Range out in Spicewood, Texas. After years of working the festival, I had magically found an invite to attend Luck Reunion as a guest for the first time. I remember wandering down the iconic main dusty road during the festival surrounded by tiny western buildings with the sun setting behind the Luck sign thinking - this would make an insane runway.
When one of Luck’s creative directors, Matt Bizer, asked if I had any ideas for events that would draw LGBT+ Austin’s queer community for Lucktoberfest, I flashed back to that moment, and set my sights on building our first fashion show.
Q — How would you describe the work BloodBath produces?
Our first show was inspired by what I saw designers like DASHE and This is Sloane doing. The models they were collaborating with were not only their muses, but these powerhouse icons of Austin’s queer community - musical artists, nightlife icons, designers themselves.
The process of inviting everyone together for the purpose of art felt like a sort of communion. It felt surreal. I wanted to keep that magic present, and working with Bloodbath now we aim to create art experiences whose structure lends itself to hearing the voices of all of the artists involved.
Q — Describe the collaborative nature of producing each show.
I’d never produced anything of that scale, so Bloodbath had an extremely collaborative nature from the beginning. It was a lot of me inviting people to be a part of it, not only for their artistic skill but for their expertise and this impressive, world-building type approach to executing their art. For our first independent show, the designers and I co-creative directed, and Danielle Shepherd of Dashe and I were able to team up for the producing — which has been honestly a dream. How to create an event with a cohesive throughline while maintaining space for individual expression is an evolving process we are always learning from.
Q — What is a grounding value that is expressed in each collaboration?
F*ck it, let's try.
Q — Elaborate on ways you stay in touch with your creative endeavors when doing collaborative work.
When I'm don't feel in touch with creativity, it's usually because I haven't gifted myself with enough time alone. When I am alone, I can tap into the source — life, energy, God, whatever you want to call it — and that's where all my good ideas come from. I got rid of my car because I love biking and walking for that reason: you are left alone with the world.
Q — How has BloodBath grown as a production and where do you see it going in the future?
Bloodbath went from a psychedelic-fueled idea to a full-blown grassroots production whose production quality was compared to New York Fashion Week. We’re blown away and humbled by what happens when a good idea meets the right community. We’ll keep finding our way with the help of the community that has come along the ride with us, and we will continue to be inspired by our friends from other organizations also building the fashion scene. We have ideas of how we could join forces with other show producers to make shows more attainable for artists, but for now, we’re focused on our next show — which will be this October.
Q — What is your hope for Bloodbath with Austin’s constantly evolving culture and art?
The independent art culture is what drew me to Austin and it’s the reason I’ve stayed here for 9 years. My hope is that even in the midst of the city’s growing pains, our independent art scene evolves to stay alive and we find ways of executing events that attract international attention to the insane fashion and film talent here. Austin has a growing thirst for thoughtfully-curated, artist-centric events, and is positioned to develop a fashion scene that not only pays homage to our artist roots, but also our entrepreneurial spirit to ask how to evolve a historically-wasteful industry towards more ethical and sustainable solutions.
Q — Where do you see BloodBath in the coming years as a movement?
We want to support a thriving art, fashion, and film industry that prioritizes the well-being of queer people, and we want to continue centering queer beauty as not only the inspiration, but the backstage teams, creative decision-makers, and featured talent of our events.
Photo by @brittanynofomo
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Introducing The Community Clay Fellowship: Broad Studios Club House x Future Front
Open to makers, artists, designers, creatives or creative-curious types of any kind in Austin, Texas, the fellowship covers 18 free six-week ceramics courses at Broad Studios Club House. Released for the first time this Spring, we received 170+ eligible applications for the fellowship.
Generously funded by the independent artists behind women-owned Broad Studios Club House, The Broad Studios Club House x Future Front Community Clay Fellowship has emerged as a pay-it-forward way to make ceramics more financially accessible as an artistic practice and/or a form of creative entrepreneurship.
Open to makers, artists, designers, creatives or creative-curious types of any kind in Austin, Texas, the fellowship covers 18 free six-week ceramics courses at Broad Studios Club House. Released for the first time this Spring, we received 170+ eligible applications for the fellowship. Over the course of two months, our team engaged in a community-led curatorial and rank-choice voting process to select recipients for the six-week class fellowship.
Today, we’re proud to introduce you to this season’s recipients!
Photos by Yvonne Uwah of Broad Studios Club House x Future Front Clay Fellowship Pop-Up
Broad Studios Club House x Future Front Community Clay Fellowship
MEET 2024 COMMUNITY CLAY fellowship recipients
SPRING 2024 COMMUNITY CLAY FELLOWS:
Jazz Hills
Ibiye Anga
Kiara Harris
Kamilah Smith
Bernadette Castillo
Sommer Raynei Henderson
SUMMER 2024 COMMUNITY CLAY FELLOWS:
Leslie Nguyen-Okwu
Elena Carolina Williams
Adrienne Sanchez
Nirvana Haifa
Gerlin Leu
Noelle Thiering
FALL 2024 COMMUNITY CLAY FELLOWS:
Ciprianna Arevalo
Victoria Cardenas
Marley Zollman
Tabitha Guardiola
Nahzaria
Cyber
ABOUT BROAD STUDIOS CLUB HOUSE:
Broad Studios Club House is a team of ceramic/multidisciplinary artists who opened up a ceramics studio and learning space to create a community where artists at every level can feel welcomed, empowered, and inspired.
Learn more here.
ABOUT FUTURE FRONT:
Homegrown in Austin, Future Front is a community space and exhibition series — with women and LGBTQ+ creatives at the front.
As an arts and culture nonprofit, we’re mother to The Front Market, The Front Festival and The Work Conference. Beyond our flagship exhibitions, we host year-round shows, gatherings and workshops at our creative community space in historic East Austin. Everybody and every body are welcome. You can learn more about how it all works, our team and what we do: futurefronttexas.org.