
Client: City of Austin, Art in Public Places Program
Location: Austin, United States
Completion date: 1999
Artwork budget: $51,000
Project Team
Client
Fidencio Duran
Office of Economic Development
Overview
This work is inspired by Sunday afternoons at my grandparents' small farm in central Texas. It is painted with Acrylics on canvas measuring 9' x 90' and is installed over the west ticket counter at Austin Bergstrom International Airport.
Goals
The goals for the ABIA commissioned artwork was to convey the "nature and character" of Austin. The selected artists presented various interpretations ranging from traditional landscape to interactive conceptual art with references to central Texas. My autobiographical narrative reflected the site's history of Mexican American sharecroppers and farmers prior to its time as Bergstrom Air Force Base.
Process
The design by Page Sutherland Page with Lawrence Speck, principal Architect featured two prominent sites for murals at the Main terminal entrance. It reflected his familiarity with the mural tradition in Texas and Austin. It detailed the panoramic walls with specific sized panels that I used as templates for my conceptual design. For the fabrication I collaborated with a Master welder to build the support bars of Aluminum angle iron. I adjusted wood lattice on the bars' interiors to staple the canvas. The installation was conducted by me and the welder. The works fit perfectly into the build niches and were later lined with aluminum and wood panels.