07 09 2026 Library Art Austin

Austin Central Library Gallery

By Shunya Carroll

The joke goes that to be a successful artist, you should marry someone with a real job. Partly true because of high demand for art exhibition spaces.

Almost Real Things picked up the Austin Studio Tour last year after art nonprofit Big Medium announced closure. The city wide event was born from limited exhibition spaces and turned workspaces into direct connections between artists and collectors.

Austin’s internationally honored Central Library, rotating galleries give established Artists more opportunities to connect to tourists and residents. On the top floor, mosaics of Texas legends introduced Texas musicians, journalists and trailblazers through enduring tile work.

“There's not a lot of mosaic workshops anywhere in the country, let alone in the middle of Austin,” said J Muzacz, co-founder and owner of the Mosaic Workshop. “[The mosaics] speak to the music culture, they're speaking to nonprofit work.”

The 32 mosaics built with glass, tile, jewelry and concrete depict musician Jackie Venson, Dr. Teresa Lozano Long of the Long Foundation and Sylvia Orozco, co-founder of the Mexic-Arte Museum.

“We like to have as much of an array of people as possible. You know, different voices heard and represented in a genuine and organic way,” said Nicole Parker, Library exhibit coordinator.

Since opening in 2018, the Central Library has put on 24 exhibitions, with others across neighborhood branches.

Selected exhibitors have a budget for installation. All sale proceeds go directly to the exhibitor. The library doesn’t impose gallery fees or take a cut of commissions — common practices at other galleries.

Parker said the rule on the library website prohibiting the sale of artwork is outdated.

“We're not banking on our sales here. It's more for the benefit of the community,” Muzacz said. “Our real goal is to get them displayed in the public. If somebody were to buy one, we would prefer a business with a public facing wall would buy it and then install it, so it's technically public art.”

Parker said the next call for artists will be in 2027. The next call for artists are in 2027 with applications open for three months.

Styrofoam Memories’ by Chris Rabb will follow the Legends project and run from June 17 to Aug. 26.

"I try to increase the outreach annually,” Parker said. But Parker is the only exhibition coordinator in the library system, limiting how far she can extend those efforts.

Library arts fall under the city’s library budget instead of the new Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment Department hub.

Highland Lakes Creative Arts board member Sharleen Reitz echoed AACME’s goals “Public art can turn a community into a destination, which is a powerful economic engine.”