Programs

Austin Studio Tour

About

The Austin Studio Tour, produced by Big Medium, is a free, self-guided art event that combines the West Austin Studio Tour and East Austin Studio Tour to provide opportunities for artists all over Austin to connect with each other, showcase current work, and for the public to experience the cultural vibrancy of our city.

History

It all started with 28 studios…

In early 2003, three artists, Jana Swec, Joseph Phillips, and Shea Little, stumbled upon an idea; They hoped to make an event that would help support and grow their art making practices while sharing the love with other artists living and working around them in east Austin. The group met with as many artists as they could to share the plan, and launched the first East Austin Studio Tour that same year. Big Medium’s formation as a non-profit stemmed from the first East Austin Studio Tour, a one day event, free and open to the public, with only 28 studios and 50 artists. 

In the fall of 2022, the 20th anniversary and 21 edition of the tour, we had over 520 participants citywide; the Austin Studio Tour continues to champion the abundance of talent that makes up Austin's large and wildly diverse creative community. We're grateful for the dedicated artists, partners, sponsors, and over 50,000 tour-goers who have made this program possible and allowed us to reach such a meaningful milestone. It is through your support that we are able to further our mission of supporting artists through equitable and inclusive platforms to explore their practice and advance their careers, while enabling audiences and artists to create close bonds that elevate our wonderful, ever-changing, creative city.