Design Austin Launches WaterWork

On September 12 and 17, 2024, Design Austin and the Trail Conservancy hosted WaterWork, a first-of-its-kind large-scale projection installation at the historic Seaholm Intake Facility. Now slated to be an annual event, the collaboration spotlighted the work of 15 artists and designers who were asked to create brief videos to transform the iconic building along Lady Bird Lake into a dynamic canvas. 

The location was selected for its architectural significance and its visibility to the community, both along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail and to the many passing watercraft. Over the course of two nights, Austin residents were treated to a unique display highlighting the interaction between the city and nature thanks to the project, which was conceived and executed in just five months. 

“I was just staring at the historic Seaholm Intake building,” said co-curator Emily Eisenhart, describing the inspiration for the event. “It was a beautiful May evening. The sun was just perfectly landing on that building, and I thought—as an artist and mostly a muralist—it would be so amazing to have artwork on that building.”

Soon, Design Austin and the Trail Conservancy had partnered to execute an event that would pose a unique logistical challenge. Justin Rankin, Design Austin board member and digital experience design leader at Gensler, led the technical side of the project. “The biggest challenge,” he said, “was just figuring out how to project light that far because we knew that we would have to essentially project from the opposite shoreline…. Figuring out the right equipment to use, figuring out how to set that equipment up, figuring out how to precisely map the light to the facade, and then … in addition to that, figuring out how to get a bright enough picture so that you really get that pop of color and contrast for people to see at night.” Other issues? Learning how to turn off the lights inside the Seaholm building and properly securing the expensive equipment overnight. 

The organizers put out a call for artists and received an immediate, positive response, with 10 of the event’s 15 spots filled almost instantly. “We wanted it to be diverse in all the ways,” said Eisenhart. “We wanted to be inclusive of artists from all different backgrounds and all different careers or points in their career. So we had some artists who were very versed in new media and video, and we had artists who had never animated before. And so we wanted a range of experiences and stories and styles.” 

The artists were invited to think about the coexistence of nature with downtown. Eisenhart’s piece, entitled HUMANATURE, depicted shapes emerging from the lake and onto the facade of the building, shifting from turtles to guitars to hands and other shapes, and culminating in a blue and green human face representing the planet. “My hope is that this piece encourages you to imagine the world around you with new eyes, to focus on what connects us versus divides us, and prompts you to look around you,” said Eisenhart. 

The event was a rousing success, drawing hundreds of people onto the water to celebrate the creativity of a city that is always changing. “People were just so delighted that weird creative things—projects like this—still happen in Austin,” said Eisenhart. 

With some of the expected and unexpected wrinkles ironed out, Design Austin is already preparing to host WaterWork 2025, establishing a new tradition for the community. “We’re really excited about giving the artists more runway to utilize the architecture of that facade,” said Rankin. “Last year, many of the artists treated it as one big rectangle. But with enough time as an artist, you can do some really cool things where you can align, strategically, parts of your animation and parts of your content to things that are happening on the architecture itself. And naturally, that creates a really interesting piece for people to see.”  

Pieces from the inaugural WaterWork are available to view online at thetrailconservancy.org/waterwork, and residents are invited to attend the second annual WaterWork this September.