Looking for free family fun over the holidays? Why not burn a few calories on a self-guided walking tour of public art in downtown Austin? My daughter and I did just that a few days before Christmas. I was eager to see Kempelen’s Owls, a pair of supersized sculptures of great horned owls perched at the northeast corner of 2nd Street’s yellow, arched bridge near Central Library.

Kempelen’s Owls

The owls are an open-sourced permanent public artwork created through a collaboration between New American Public Art and the City of Austin’s Art in Public Places.

Their amber eyes seem to follow you as you walk around them. Kempelen’s Owls, according to NAPA’s website, has its origins in 1700s robotics technology:

“Inspired by the 18th-century robotics of Wolfgang von Kempelen, Kempelen’s Owls is an interactive sculpture that fosters curiosity. Two Texan great horned owls, each standing ten feet tall and constructed of layered metal and composite materials, perch atop dodecahedrons and silently observe their surroundings. The interactive features of the work are hidden, awaiting discovery by visitors who can activate them to trigger movement in the owls.”

Naturally we could not rest until we’d discovered the hidden wheel in the bench that turns each owl’s head. Yep, those heads can rotate 360 degrees! We had fun wheeling the heads in different directions.

Woo-hoo, over here!

Facing this way, what better backdrop for a horizontally striped owl than the layered skyscraper popularly known as the Jenga Tower?

A few nights later, driving home from a holiday drag show, we spotted the owls again, their eyes and soccer-ball perches aglow. These owls have got it going on.

On our way to the next public artwork, I stopped to admire a passionflower still in bloom alongside matching purple lantana clambering up a fence.

They’re part of Central Library‘s lovely landscaping, and I was surprised to see the passionflower in bloom following a recent light freeze. Maybe downtown stayed above freezing.

Botanical Mural at Seaholm

We walked over to Seaholm District, a new mixed-used development on the site of Austin’s old power plant, and found this lovely botanical mural by Austin artist Rex Hamilton.

The vibrant colors make it irresistible as a selfie backdrop.

Fractal Tree

One of my favorite downtown sculptures is Seattle artist Paul Sorey‘s Fractal Tree at the corner of West Avenue and W. 6th Street. Here’s a post I wrote about Fractal Tree a few years ago.

Vicious Venue

We popped into Austin City Hall to check out the People’s Gallery (and its LEED-certified architecture) and stumbled upon this pixelated vulture sculpture, which we instantly recognized as the work of our friend and neighbor Shawn Smith.

“‘Vicious Venue’ is a sculptural installation consisting of a group of life-size pixelated vultures devouring obsolete office technology, such as a rotary phone. The viewers become intruders into the space, as if they are stumbling into the middle of the ongoing carnage as the vultures pick the office’s carcass clean. The objects in the piece are found objects.”

A plaque describing the artwork

Willie Nelson

It’s not all plants and birds — although there are more of those — among downtown Austin’s public artworks. There’s also Austin’s patron saint, Willie Nelson. His bronze likeness perches with his guitar, Trigger, at the corner of Willie Nelson Boulevard (formerly 2nd Street) and Lavaca outside the Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater. What better place to end my tour of Austin’s downtown sculptures?

Now go find them yourself and let me know about any other cool pieces you discover along the way!

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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!

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