A new East Austin housing complex offers not only affordable apartments, but also studio space for residents to make art.
Raasin in the Sun, an arts nonprofit, built the studio in the courtyard of Seabrook Square as part of a multimillion-dollar plan to create murals, a playground and other art installations around the development. Some of the apartment units are designated for people recovering from substance abuse and mental health issues, or experiencing homelessness.
“We want to recognize that art is for healing,” the nonprofit’s founder and CEO, Raasin McIntosh, said, “and invite the community to participate in workshops and other things that we’re offering.”
This new project near the Mueller neighborhood is one of many the organization leads, including an Art For All program that hires people experiencing homelessness to paint murals in the Austin Public Library parking garage.
McIntosh said she created Raasin in the Sun in 2014 to elevate public art. The organization pays artists to paint murals throughout the city as a way to revitalize areas and reflect the community.
“We’re not just throwing art on the wall,” she said. “We’re trying to tie in our purpose and help people in that process.”
Tiffany Kowalski, the organization’s program director, said she will create and facilitate studio workshops for apartment residents, artists and other community members. The classes may include woodworking, collage-making, cooking and watercolor-painting.
Her plan is to eventually expand into other states looking for more public art spaces.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT News
Local artists will be able to sell their work at the new studio.
“The reality is the work that we’re doing needs to be done in so many other cities, and not just in Texas,” Kowalski said.
The studio is the first brick-and-mortar space for the organization. Kowalski said it will allow Raasin in the Sun to be a hub for artists instead of borrowing other spaces.
“It just feels real,” she said. “[The space] gives us a heartbeat for the organization in the sense that we have a place that people are going to know that they can come to.”
Kowalski said Raasin in the Sun is planning to host a grand opening for the studio this fall.