Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

Not Really a Mural

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:03:00 +0000

Not sure exactly what this is or what it represents, but we found it interesting. It's located on 5th Street between Lamar and Bowie next to Whole Foods.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Mobile Test Post

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:28:00 +0000

Please disregard this posting as it will only be here a short time. Our laptop hard drive died a sudden death earlier today so I'm testing out the email to
post feature of Blogger as this may be my only way to post until we can replace the laptop. Let me know how it looks if you have a moment. Thanks.

And this picture is from the inside of Rudys Bar-B-Q on 360 near Barton Creek Mall.

Flood Marker

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:42:00 +0000

July 6, 1869. The dams and Town Lake did not exist at this time, so the Colorado River was normally small as it ran through Austin and was commonly called a "stream". The month of July started with rains at short intervals causing the Colorado River to rise gradually. On the 6th, a flood came down the river in walls causing it to overflow at an alarming rate. According to Brown's Annals in the Austin History Center, "the mass of waters rushed down from the narrow and confined channel between the mountains above, to the wider one below, with such fearful velocity that the middle of the stream was higher than the sides, and the aspect it presented was appalling."

The flood of 1935 was one of three major floods to hit the area in the 1930's. Austin was hit with 22 inches of rain in three hours. Between 2,500 and 3,000 residents in East Austin (near present-day IH-35 and the river bank) were left virtually homeless after the waters receded. A Statesman article described the situation: "Sloppy silt was deposited to a depth of from six to 18 inches on the floors, over furniture, bed clothing and in fact everything that the glue-like mud could fasten itself upon, and only the most rugged articles of furniture could be salvaged."

"South Congress Avenue between Barton Springs Road and the Texas School for the Deaf was a crumpled mass of ruins, the street being littered with broken sewer lines torn from business buildings that once stood in the area, broken concrete, twisted water pipes, signs, trees, timbers, structural steel, a number of the new concrete lamp posts erected a month ago by the city and other debris. The street, the pride of Austin and of the state highway department presented a wretched scene." The Montopolis and Marble Falls bridges were also both destroyed.

-Source.

This flood marker is next to Buford Tower on Town Lake. The 1869 flood was recorded at a high water level of 43 feet.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Hatch Chile

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:56:00 +0000

Hatch chiles are in season right now. This past Saturday morning I stopped in to the local HEB. They had set up this to roast some Hatch Green Chile. I had never seen this done before and I wound up staying and watching for about 15 minutes. Later that day I stopped by Whole Foods and they were roasting some as well.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Garden of Hope, Once More

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

One more from the Garden of Hope.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Great Hills Baptist Church

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

A portion of the Great Hills Baptist Church. I liked the way the cross just peaked out above the trees like that.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Garden of Hope, Again

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Another image from the Garden of Hope at Great Hills Baptist Church.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Garden of Hope

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:44:00 +0000

This is part of the Garden of Hope at the Great Hills Baptist Church. I came across it last week while attending a car show. I find it wonderful that there seems to be so many places around the Arboretum area that have been created where you can go to simply "let it all go".

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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2nd Street District

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:40:00 +0000

These are all in the sidewalk at the intersection of northwest corner of 2nd Street and Colorado Street in downtown Austin. These medallions are said to represent the social history and ecology of local the watershed of rivers such as the Brazos River and Colorado River. They were installed as part of the revitalization of the 2nd Street District.

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Ann W. Richards, Congress Avenue Bridge

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:48:00 +0000

From the plaque:

Ann W. Richards
Congress Avenue Bridge
Ann Richards (1933-2006)
Mother, Grandmother, Teacher, Public Servant, Governor, Leader, Friend
The City of Austin dedicates this structure in memory of Ann Richards - a woman who always worked to bridge that which seperates us, and strived to bring people together for the good of our city, state and nation.
Her spirit will forever endure.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Seaholm Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:24:00 +0000

The Seaholm Power Plant, a City-owned retired power generation facility, was designed by Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. and built of cast concrete in two phases in 1950 and 1955 by Odom Construction. The main generator building, the water intake structure along Lady Bird Lake, the five vertical stacks and the fuel oil building immediately to the north of the main structure comprise a building complex that represents a unique period of American municipal architecture and public works engineering.

The Seaholm Power Plant features art deco style common with other municipal waterworks and powerhouses in the 1930s - 1950s. Seaholm is quite unique in its solid concrete construction, as virtually all power plants at the time were constructed of steel and brick. The exterior walls of Seaholm have a scored pattern of 4' x 4' panels and retain the imprint of wood grain from the plywood form work. The architectural design is also unique for it shows thoughtful consideration to the detailing and proportioning of the elevations.

The generator building contained five gas/oil generation units in a towering turbine room with clerestory windows above flanking aisles, and a 65-foot-high ceiling. Two lower floors contain an additional 75,000 square feet. In all, the building has more than 110,000 square feet of useable floor area. The complex also contains an electric utility substation, transmission and distribution facilities, and a utility microwave communications center.

The plant was dedicated posthumously in 1960 to Walter E. Seaholm, who served as Superintendent of Water and Light and City Manager during his 33-year career with the City of Austin.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Lone Star Gazebo

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:03:00 +0000

This is the Lone Star Gazebo. It was designed by Rodolfo Ybarra and constructed in 1995 from the little I've been able to find out. It's located along the banks of Town Lake behind the Buford Tower.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

Adrift

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 22:19:00 +0000

From the plaque:

Philippe KlinefelterAdrift, 2010granite, cypress
This work relates to potential energy, water, and shelter.

Part of the people's gallery, located at Austin City Hall.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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The Story of Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

A shot of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. You can see a couple of the cows from the Cow Parade Austin on the front lawn. If you'd like to see the cows from this years parade, be sure to check our Austin Art Installations blog.

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Una Cancion de Fe y Familia

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

"Una Cancion de Fe y Familia" by Connie Arismendi is part of the Trail of Tejano Legends.

From the plaque:

Linked by their grandparents Don Luis and Don Tranquilino Perex, the Perex and Ramos families share a musical tradition spanning serveral generations. Ruben Rangel Perez, Ernest Rangel Perez, Ruben Ramos, and Alfonso Ramos each led their own acclaimed Tejano orquestras.After their military service, saxaphonist and band leader Ruben Perez formed a popular orquestra featuring local musicians. Ernest Perez performed in his brother's orquestra, led his own orquestra, and perfromed with other music groups.Alfonso Ramos was a saxophone player and lead singer known for his smooth voice and performance of boleros and ballads. Ruben Ramos played drums and sang with his brother's orquestra. Ruben established his own orquestra in the mid-1970's and has had an extremely successful career.Alfonso and Ruben Ramos were inducted into the Tejano Music Hall of Fame. Ruben is a multi-Grammy winner as a member of Los Super Seven, and as Ruben Ramos and The Mexican Revolution.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Open Room Austin

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

From the City of Austin website:

AIPP commissioned artist team, Rosario Marquardt and Roberto Behar (of Miami, FL and collectively known as R&R Studios) to design and construct Open Room Austin, a permanent public art installation for the mound at Sand Beach Park, as part of the Pfluger Bridge Extension CIP Project.
Open Room Austin was conceived as a social sculpture, a place of encounters and stage for everyday life and stories to unfold. The artists' design is an al fresco room surrounded by trees, featuring a long table with a delicate lace tablecloth, benches, and four tree-like chandeliers. It invites visitors to have a conversation, a moment of repose, or to wait for a friend in a space reminiscent of home. Appearing at once real and fantastic, familiar and unprecendented, a slice of domesticity in a public park - the installation is intended to dissolve boundaries between fiction and reality and limits between art and life, suggesting a sense of personal ownership to everyone involved with the event.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Desegregation of Texas Public Schools

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

This Texas Historical Marker is located in front of the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center. You can read about it's history here.

The State of Texas instituted a public school system for African-American students during reconstruction. This segregation of students was further established through the 1896 United States Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the legality of the doctrine, “separate but equal.” Desegregation of schools began after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 that segregated schools were unconstitutional. By 1957, more than 100 Texas school districts had made progress toward desegregation. Throughout the proceeding decades, school districts integrated; in some cases, the Supreme Court provided desegregation plans. While many schools desegregated without incident, others experienced a difficult transition.

The method of desegregation varied from district to district. Some integrated one grade per year; others gave students “freedom of choice,” allowing them to select which high school they would attend. In the end, the movement led to the closing of most African-American schools across the state, including L.C. Anderson High School, a noted institution in Austin. Many of the former school buildings were demolished or left idle, while some were used for various community or educational programs, like Head Start. The closure of these schools affected many residents, since the institutions were often centers of pride for African-American communities. Many of the students from the schools became leaders in their communities, and on state and national levels.

Integration was a slow and often difficult process in Texas, as well as throughout the rest of the United States. Today, desegregation is remembered in Texas as a pivotal event in the civil rights movement, and as the end of the era for African-American schools.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Go Forth

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Go Forth, by Eddie Dixon, was created in cast bronze in 2005. According to the artist, Go Forth loosely represents a woman (Eternity) ushering forth her two children - a girl (Today) and a boy (Tomorrow).

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Sesquicentennial Mural

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:21:00 +0000

The Sesquicentennial Mural is located on the southern exterior wall of the George Washington Carver Branch Library at 1161 Angelina Street in Austin. This mural expresses a voyage through the discovery of Black identity. It depicts a community upon a vessel that embraces the African Diaspora from Pre-Columbian to present times. The artist's name is John Fisher.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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I Wish I Had A Job

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Came across this guy on the bridge over Lamar just south of 5th street.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Brown-Dumas Blacksmith Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:00:00 +0000

From the plaque:

At the turn of the 20th century, the Brown-Dumas Blacksmith Shop was an integral part of Austin's thriving commercial core, where dirt streets and horses and buggies dominated the scene. Built circa 1905, the Brown-Dumas Blacksmith Shop is the only remaining structure of its era near this important intersection of Congress Avenue and West 2nd Street (originally known as Live Oak Street). The Austonian developer recognized the significance of this early brick commercial structure and resolved to incorporate it into the high-rise condominium tower.

The blacksmith shop was in serious disrepair when acquired in 2006 and restoration of the building was to be no small feat. Having stood vacant, abandoned and vandalized for many years, only portions of the buildings perimeter walls remained intact and the roof framing was caved in. Prior to the start of the preservation effort, the fragile and damaged structure collapsed during one of Austin's extreme wind storms in November 2006. Following the collapse, it was necessary to disassemble the building entirely, document the historic components, and store the materials offsite.

The Austonian remained true to their commitment to restore the facade. Plans were drawn up to reconstruct the historic storefront at the base of the new tower, using original materials and recreating the remains of the original signage found on the brick. As a result, the historic Brown-Dumas facade will live on as a reminder of the scale and construction of early 20th century buildings in downtown Austin.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Buford Tower & Kitchens Memorial Chimes

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:37:00 +0000

"On Town Lake at Cesar Chavez Street and Colorado stands the Buford Tower, its few brick stories dwarfed by nearby office buildings. Its appearance gives no clue to its current use and only scant evidence of it's original purposes. Here stands a relatively short tower flanked by flower beds and parking spaces and fronted by a semicircular drive. The setting is a small lakeside park. The acute observer might notice a fire hydrant next to the structure. The hydrant is a clue to the building's past. It was constructed in 1930 as a practice facility for the city's firemen.

The tower consists of six one-room brick stories with internal metal stairs. There is a basement in which practice fires could be built. Firefighters could practice aerial ladder work, flood the upper stories, scale the walls and conduct rescue drills through the windows. The tower was burnt regularly for 43 years until 1974 when it was abandoned in favor of a new facility in a location away from the downtown area.

For four years following its abandonment the tower, undisturbed by regular human activity, stood with it's paneless windows wide open and became a six story pigeon coop. It's condition, to say nothing of it's appearance, deteriorated.

In 1978 the wife of the tower's builder led a camping under the aegis of the Austin Chapter, National Association of Women in Construction, to restore the structure. The restoration included the installation of a carillon and the tower assumed a new function. It went from blazes to birds to Back within the decade. The carillon is capable of a variety of melodies and can be programmed to chime the hour or half hour.

On August 23, 1978 the old fire practice tower officially became the James Buford Tower and Kitchens Memorial Chimes. Captain James L. Buford was an Austin firefighter who was killed during a heroic rescue attempt and Rex D. Kitchens was the tower's builder."

CREDIT: - Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 06, Number 02, Summer 1988, J. P. Bryan, editor, Journal/Magazine/Newsletter, 1988; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45434 : accessed July 29, 2011), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation, Austin, Texas.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Night Wing

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:58:00 +0000

The Austin Chronicle describes the Night Wing Bat Sculpture as a "beautiful chunk of public art". It is located in the small triangle across from the Austin American Statesman complex at the intersection of South Congress and Barton Springs Road.

From the plaque:

Nightwing

by Dale Whistler

The following donors gladly give the City of Austin this Great Bat, honoring Austin's most famous part-time residents, the Bats of the Congress Avenue Bridge:

Austin American Statesman

Austin Energy

Embassy Suites Hotel

Hyatt Regency Austin

Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas

The Downtown Trust

Additional support provided by

Archilume, Inc.

Black & Vernooy, Architects

Clean Cut Landscaping

June 1998

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Balcones Canyonlands Preserve

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:09:00 +0000

Balcones Canyonlands Preserve includes more than 24,000 acres in western Travis County off Loop 360 and is devoted to the protection of endangered species and their habitat.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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Arthouse at the Jones Center

noreply@blogger.com (Arguendo | Dixi) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:34:00 +0000

Arthouse at the Jones Center is the oldest statewide visual arts organization in Texas and is devoted solely to contemporary art. It is located downtown at 700 Congress Avenue.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

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