Art Show Lights Up Waller Creek, Raises Conservancy Awareness

Waller Creek, one of the largest urban waterways in Texas, is being transformed every night.

Five art installations have been placed on the creek from Lady Bird Lake to Waterloo Park on 15th Street, lighting up the winding waterway at night. The pieces are part of the Creek Show, a display run by the Waller Creek Conservancy to raise awareness about “the importance of Waller Creek’s transformation for Austin’s social, cultural and ecological future.”

The five art installations — The Natural Unnatural, Waller Phantasm, AT/x, Floating the Waller and Volume — are built around themes of conservancy and reflect the role the creek plays in Austin.

For example, Floating the Waller depicts lit inner tubes on a portion of the creek. The fact that the tubes are empty reflects “the disconnect between the desire to interact with the water and an aversion to do so,” because of trash and pollutants.

The Creek Show was created by the Waller Creek Conservancy in 2014, and was a one-night event. This year, the event has been brought back for 10 days and runs through Saturday.

[Photo courtesy of Steve (flickr/creative commons)]