Inefficient operations and a lack of strategic direction have threatened the city’s ability to provide for an increase in cultural opportunities for city residents, according to an extensive audit unveiled by the Office of the City Auditor during the City Council Audit & Finance Committee meeting Wednesday. The audit, which Council requested in 2019, required […]
Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center
An Austin center with exhibits and events that explore Mexican-American heritage and culture.
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Latino groups ask Music Commission to support creation of Latino music fund
A new coalition is pushing the Music Commission to support allocating some of the city’s funds for live music to Latino musicians. Members of the Latin Music Coalition Austin spoke at last week’s meeting of the Music Commission to highlight a proposal that calls for $1.5 million from the recently created Live Music Fund to […]
Posted inPlanning
Arts Commission eyes MACC-Palm School link in supporting city’s push for preservation
The Austin Arts Commission has signed on in support of the city’s goal of preserving the Palm School property as a historic cultural facility, in a nod to the ongoing negotiations with Travis County for ownership of the downtown site. The commission voted unanimously to write a letter in support of the city’s push to […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Arts, culture groups joining forces for bond request likely to exceed $100M
Representatives from the city’s three ethnic cultural centers will join forces with members of the Arts and Music commissions to ask City Council for a bond package request that could add up to more than $120 million. At Monday’s meeting, the Music Commission voted unanimously to form a working group with members from the Emma […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Better luck next time
Best-laid plans… A pair of music festivals set to take place within six days of each other were felled by permitting problems, with one forced to reschedule until September and another planning a move into Austin nightclubs. The Punk In Drublic punk and craft beer festival was scheduled to take place May 5 on the […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Parks board talks MACC design, and cost
Recently, the advisory board for the the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center wrote a letter to City Council asking to be allocated the full project cost – $40 million – instead of the $15 million that was recently recommended for the center from the 2018 bond proposal for city infrastructure. However, at the April […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
MACC seeks full expansion cost – up to $40M – in fall bond election
The advisory board for the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center will ask members of City Council to more than double the $15 million that was recently recommended to be provided to the center from an expected fall bond proposal for city infrastructure. At its meeting last week, board members voted to write a […]
Posted inCity Hall
City pauses arts program amid protests, possible MACC opt-out
The city has paused a program intended to create much-needed venue space for local arts groups amid controversy and concern over how it would mesh with cultural groups that operate out of city cultural centers. Laura Esparza, manager of museums and cultural programs for the Parks and Recreation Department, informed the Arts Commission on Monday […]
Posted inAustin
Board, public debate may slow approval of MACC master plan
City and community leaders hope to move forward with a spring approval of a new master plan for the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center despite a frequently contentious meeting of the center’s advisory board last week marked by debate over the public input process used to develop the plan. Wednesday’s meeting saw members […]
Posted inParks
Dispute continues over program to expand artists’ access to cultural centers
There appears to be little progress in a dispute between a group of Austin arts organizations who claim they’ve been mistreated and marginalized by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department in its work to expand operating hours and access at four arts and culture centers. That means that groups that currently rehearse and perform at […]
Posted inCity Hall
Parks department mired in drama over cultural center access program
The Mexican American Cultural Center Advisory Board voted Wednesday night to ask for the indefinite suspension of a new program that would keep the city’s various cultural arts centers open in the late-night hours. The move came after three performance groups raised their concerns about the Artists Access Program and its associated contract that would […]
Posted inDevelopment
Boulevard eyed as solution to Rainey Street traffic
A major revamp of the Rainey Street neighborhood is one of the options in front of business and community leaders looking to solve an anticipated spike in traffic over the next decade. Members of the advisory board for the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center heard options Wednesday from a mobility study conducted by […]