Austin's creative community has been dealt another devastating blow with the announcement that one of its key institutions, nonprofit Big Medium, is closing down - and a combination of managerial turmoil and the city of Austin's decision to pull arts funding from legacy organizations seems to be key factor.
The news came Friday with the immediate closure of their gallery space on South Congress. The Big Medium board issued a statement explaining the closure, stating that "after more than 20 years of proudly serving the Austin arts community, [we] made the incredibly difficult decision to shut down operations. This has not been an easy choice, but it comes after many years of financial hardships and tireless efforts to renew and rebuild Big Medium with limited resources."
While Big Medium may be best known for its gallery space, its impact on the Austin arts scene is much greater. Its roots stretch back to 2002, when co-founder Shea Little and fellow artists Jana Swec and Joseph Phillips moved into a shared studio space on Bolm Road. A year later, that space would become the epicenter of the East Austin Studio Tour. In 2007, Big Medium was founded in part as an umbrella organization over what was then EAST, but it has expanded its portfolio, adding the West Austin Studio Tour and finally unifying that into the singular Austin Studio Tour.
The group has also administered the annual Tito's Prize, supported by Tito's Vodka, a $15,000 prize awarded to an Austin artist who would also mount a show at the Big Medium gallery. Moreover, during the pandemic, Big Medium stepped up to support artists by hosting online exhibitions and established a relief fund that gave out $53,000 in cash to artists suffering economic hardship.
Losing all this will be devastating to an already beleaguered local arts scene, and it ultimately comes down to cash.
The statement went on to explain that the group has faced "an increasingly difficult financial landscape," citing the loss of major sponsors including the city of Austin. Big Medium was one of the many established and familiar groups to lose its arts grants when the Economic Development Department completely overhauled the system in favor of newer entities. Those cuts left legacy organizations with proven track records like Big Medium and Zilker Theatre Productions, and venues such as Hyde Park Theatre and the Vortex, with a deep hole in their finances.
Those financial stresses were only amplified in January 2024, when Big Medium's gallery space suffered a major fire that left them with an estimated $25,000 bill to cover the closure and reopening costs.
With city grants disappearing and expenses only rising, other groups have already folded, such as the TILT Performance Group, a company of people with disabilities, and the avant-garde Capital T Theatre. Now Big Medium joins that list. The board explained, "Despite our best efforts to secure alternative funding and sustain operations, the financial hurdles have become insurmountable. Retaining staff and raising the necessary funds to sustain Big Medium in a healthy way has proven untenable."
However, those financial woes have been echoed by leadership issues. Co-founder and Executive Director Shea Little stepped down in May 2024, and in his place the board promoted then-program coordinator Coka Treviño to curator and artistic director. At the same time, the board launched a search for a new managing director, finally hiring former education administrator Dr. Latasha Carter to fill the role in October. However, both Carter and Treviño only lasted a few months in their roles, stepping down in January and leaving Big Medium without management and facing impossible economic decisions.
The big question now is what will happen to the various programs, prizes, and grants that the organization has administered. The board stated that the Texas Biennial, its annual cataloging and survey of artists across the Lone Star State, will continue through to June as planned and then transfer to a new body to run. Additionally, they wrote that they hope that the Austin Studio Tour, which usually happens in November, "will continue in some form or fashion." However, it remains to be seen who will step up to fill even that one small component of the vast contribution that Big Medium has made to Austin's creative scene.