The city’s three ethnic cultural centers are being considered to house hubs for music and other artistic endeavors that would provide members of the local Black, Latino and Asian American communities with more opportunities to explore and advance their creative careers. The process is in its formative stages, with a $50,000 request for proposals open […]
Music & Entertainment
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Music Commission to continue push to improve venue accessibility
The Music Commission plans to continue its work in making music venues of all sizes more accessible to the disabled, following the positive results from a task force on that issue convened last year by the Circuit of the Americas. At Monday’s meeting, commissioners discussed how they can interact with members of the Mayor’s Committee […]
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Council votes clear path for April rollout of Live Music Fund
The city will begin taking applications for the Live Music Fund in April, after City Council approved two resolutions Thursday clearing the way for the awarding of grants to musicians and event promoters. The two items approved on consent were not considered controversial. They provide an additional $525,000 to the program’s nearly $4 million budget, […]
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Exodus: Census shows musicians leaving Austin over affordability
Austin’s political and business leaders now have clear data to back up years of anecdotal evidence that local musicians are being driven out of the city due to the high cost of living and the general affordability crisis. The cost crunch faced by Austin musicians is one of the starkest findings of the new Greater […]
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New cultural arts awards bring opportunities, disappointment for applicants
Staff in the city’s Cultural Arts Division prepared themselves to hear some frustration in response to the selection of the first recipients of a radically structured system for awarding arts contracts. During last week’s Arts Commission meeting, staffers reviewed the steps involved in scoring and selecting the 35 recipients of $3.8 million in funding dedicated to […]
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Convention center eyes ‘campus-style’ events schedule during closure for expansion
Leaders from the Austin Convention Center plan to take a campus-style approach to coordinating a greatly scaled back calendar of meeting and event business at downtown hotels during the four to five years the facility is closed for a substantial reconstruction expected to cost more than $1 billion. Staff from the convention center spoke with […]
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City preps $1.5M in assistance for creative spaces facing displacement
The city is preparing to open the application for the latest iteration of the Creative Space Assistance Program, which provides up to $50,000 to organizations, artists or for-profit venues facing financial hardships that could lead to their displacement. The $1.5 million allocated for this year’s program is the largest amount of city funding so far […]
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Live Music Fund headed for final Council vote next month
The city’s Live Music Fund is expected to get final approval from City Council in February, nearly three and a half years since it was created using millions of dollars in Hotel Occupancy Tax revenues. At last week’s Music Commission meeting, staff from the Music and Entertainment Division said the Purchasing Department is finalizing portions […]
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Millennium Youth complex among first sites considered for creative space bond funds
The Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex may be one of the first two sites to receive some of the city’s $12 million in bond funding for creative space preservation. On Thursday, City Council will vote on a request from the Austin Economic Development Corporation authorizing $2.4 million from the bond funds to be spent on the […]
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Events task force delivers recommendations for managing major gatherings
The city will likely begin collecting and publishing comprehensive information on major events and music festivals in the coming years as part of a widespread revision to the special events ordinance that regulates large gatherings impacting communities and city services. City Council is expected today to approve the long-awaited recommendations of the Special Events Task […]
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EDC talks deals but no details of creative space investments
At the end of this month the public will get the next detailed look at how the city plans to purchase and assist a handful of struggling creative spaces, but won’t get to hear specifics about which businesses have been chosen to receive city investment. The Austin Economic Development Corporation, a semi-public deal-making entity created […]
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Long Center makes sole bid to manage city’s Live Music Fund
The Long Center for the Performing Arts appears almost certain to be named as the organization that will handle the application process and payments for recipients of grants from the city’s long-awaited Live Music Fund. The fine arts center was the sole applicant for the third-party administrator contract, which was handled via a request for […]