A derelict field in east Austin is a testament to the city’s booming growth and disappearing arts spaces. From 1999 to 2017 an old feed store turned warehouse theater called the Off Center was home to an experimental theatre collective. The Rude Mechs produced dozens of original, award-winning plays, provided cheap rehearsal and performance space for local artists, and offered racially and socioeconomically diverse programs for teens in the neighborhood—until the property was sold out from under them to the University of Texas. One year later, homeless but hopeful, the Rudes trespass on the empty lot that was the Off Center for a ritual called Lost Austin with friends, family, patrons, and anyone who cares to remember.
RudeMechs.com
NowPlayingAustin.com
MakeEveryMedia.com
Hosted by Katie Van Winkle, Produced by Michael Ferstenfeld, Michelle Dahlenburg, and Seth Cleveland, Edited by Mike, Seth, David Fruchter, and Jake Waters.
Featuring musics from Austin,TX – @botany, @jlcudd, @spacejason3d, @dreaun, @chris-owen-49, and one from canada: @hey-exit
This project is sponsored by the Austin Creative Alliance, supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. Find out more about what’s happening in the arts community this week at NowPlayingAustin.Com
