Raaaaa-aackkkk! The screech of grackles is the sound of Austin, along with the twang of electric guitar from your aspiring-musician neighbor’s garage and electric saw from the remodel going on down the street. For some, the glaring (like she’s working things out), noisy, purple-black birds are urban pests. (For real, never park beneath a grackle-roosting tree.) But the ubiquitous bird also enjoys a surprisingly robust fan following, as evidenced by the number of grackle-painting artists, including Carly Weaver, Cathy Savage, and Caitlin B. Alexander. Kinetic and LED grackle art even graces the walls of Austin’s award-winning Central Library.

But the Austin artist whose grackles I absolutely adore is Christy Stallop, especially her lucha libre series. Yes, her grackles wear Mexican wrestler masks! Recently she branched out from painting on wood panels to sculpting a larger-than-life grackle, a project for which she won a TEMPO grant.

Ganador, an imposing figure with velociraptor talons, is temporarily on display outside the Manchaca Road Branch Library in South Austin. To learn how Christy constructed Ganador, check out her fascinating blog post.

His oil-slick feathers are made of old bike tires! Ganador stares blankly but regally from within his colorful lucha libre mask. It’s such a quirky, Texas-meets-Mexico piece. Christy will be talking about Ganador at the library on Thursday, October 17, at 3:30 pm, if you’d like to see it, and meet the artist, for yourself.

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.