WaterWork

WaterWork returns to the Seaholm Intake Facility on Friday, September 25, and Saturday, September 26, with projections starting at 8:30 PM both nights. It's a free, open-to-the-public show on the edge of Lady Bird Lake, and the whole thing is built around the building itself.

The program features two- to three-minute video works by 22 Central Texas artists, including Alexis Hunter, Beili Liu, Chris 'Tobar' Rodriguez, and the collective Essentials Creative. Each piece comes with an original sound score by local Austin musicians, so you're getting a visual and an audio component for every one. The videos are projected onto the facade of the historic Seaholm Intake Facility, which turns the old power plant into a canvas of art, light, and motion. Each piece is tailored to the architecture, and the work explores the coexistence of Austin's bustling cityscape and its restorative natural spaces.

Co-curator Emily Eisenhart describes the project as a total creative experiment. The idea came to her during a spring architectural boat tour of Lady Bird Lake, when she wondered if the building's facade could be used for projection mapping since it couldn't be painted. That's how the show came together: using light instead of paint to work with the structure. It's presented by Design Austin in partnership with The Trail Conservancy, with support from This is Texas Water and an Elevate grant from the City of Austin ACME. The Texas Rowing Center and Austin Rowing Club are staying open late for the event and donating a percentage of rental proceeds to the Conservancy.

It runs Friday, September 25, and Saturday, September 26, starting at 8:30 PM at the Seaholm Intake Facility on the Seaholm Waterfront, right on the edge of Lady Bird Lake. Admission is free and open to the public.