An art-loving Creek Monster lurks in the dark waters of Austin’s Waller Creek, according to Creek Show lore. I’m on the lookout for it each November when I attend Waterloo Greenway’s annual Creek Show, and every now and then I catch a glimpse. But really it’s an evening to explore environmental-themed light installations by local designers and artists. The 9-evening exhibition encourages people to learn about and support the park-building going on at Waterloo Greenway in downtown Austin.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Creek Show. I think I’ve attended every year, but I don’t have the blog posts to prove it. I have, however, written about many of them. You can find those Creek Show posts here. This year, Creek Show reprised favorite installations from years past and redirected the trail to run north-south, instead of the usual south-north. A lounge stop at Swim Club bar/restaurant near the end provided a fun diversion along the way. Here’s what we saw!

Dream Pants

First up is Dream Pants by Jodi Bade and Maura Scaffer. Black light-glowing pants, sans owners, enjoy park activities like bench sitting, playing guitar…

…walking invisible (and pantless) pets…

…having a picnic…

…and pushing a stroller with a babyless diaper. It’s an amusing start to the Creek Show experience.

Night Watch

Next we entered a tunnel where a supersized pair of curious eyes — projections with lifelike movement — seem to track you. This is Night Watch by Legge Lewis Legge, Britt Moseley, and Level on the Level.

“Walking between them, the eyes become a threshold, guiding you into the rest of the Creek Show experience,” say the artists.

Eyeball to eyeball

Alluvial

Alluvial by Plume Design Lab, Clay Odom, and Kory Bieg is a perforated, glowing screen, rippled like watery reflections. The artists say, “Alluvial references water flowing over land and registers the impacts generated by a confluence of layers, surfaces, and finishes….”

The Ghost Boat

In another tunnel, a skeleton-like boat of moving oars seems to float above the water, with sound effects of creaking oars and drips adding to the effect. This is The Ghost Boat: Through the Looking Glass by Daniela Valle, Lindsay Abati, and Johanna Spencer.

Wavy mirrored walls reflect the boat’s spectral movement on both sides of the creek, and Daniel Johnston’s beloved graffiti mural, Hi How Are You?, is recreated here as well.

Shadows of a Former Self

Emerging from the tunnel, we came face-to-face with a prehistoric mosasaur, lunging with teeth bared. Shadows of a Former Self by Jules Buck Jones is a tribute to our long-vanished predecessors in Central Texas.

“Millions of years ago, Central Texas was a shallow sea and it’s evident in the fossil-stippled-limestone all around the city,” says the artist.

From here we passed through another tunnel, where a wall map shows the progress of the chain of parks being created along Waller Creek. If you’d like to contribute to that effort, find donation information at the link.

Waller Creek High

The last installation is Waller Creek High, A School for Extraordinary Fish by Polis – Daniel Goodwin and Bruce Wilcoxon. A school of illuminated fish hangs above the rippling creek, changing color from blue…

…to white…

…to red…

…to purple.

As the artist statement explains:

Waller Creek High “plays on the lore started by Ambedo Beta in Creek Show 2018, where Creek Monster scientists found a way to convert human speech to the language of light. The installation is composed of injection molded fish sculptures made of recycled materials that swoop over the creek to mimic the form of a school. Vibrant, touch-activated fish act as interactive nodes that send pulses of color through the school. To avoid waste, the individual luminaries will be available for purchase during and after the Creek Show, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy.”

Swim Club

Near the end of the Creek Show trail, signs directed us to a public lounge at Swim Club, “a historic pool turned social club” that opened this summer. Passing an outdoor pool with retro lounge chairs and pink-striped towels, we entered this surprising space. Decked out in 1980s pink and turquoise and round-edged furniture, Swim Club seats diners at tables in a sunken pool, part of an old indoor gym transformed into a playful hangout — no membership required. I was charmed!

An old wading pool holds only pink floats. Looks like a selfie opportunity if I ever saw one.

Pool towels adorn the walls, and striped floats hang from the ceiling.

On the patio, a round hot-pink pot holds an enormous mangave.

Swimming-themed art on the walls

In one of the lounges, I was intrigued by pink and black boots lined up on wall shelves. It wasn’t until I held up my camera for a photo that the ATX design popped out at me. My friends didn’t see it either until I urged them to look through their phones. A fun optical illusion!

Outside on the lawn, which overlooks Waller Creek, we couldn’t resist a Howdy Y’all (with a disco ball apostrophe) selfie. Howdy, y’all!

Passing under the school of glowing fish, I bid farewell to the Creek Monster, wherever he lurks, until next year.

Creek Show is an event I look forward to every fall. It’s a chance to head downtown, under the illuminated dome of the Texas Capitol, to be surrounded by nature and art and people who appreciate both. As Waterloo Greenway’s website explains:

“Creek Show is more than a celebration of art; it’s also an opportunity to raise awareness and engage the public in the Waterloo Greenway project. By showcasing the potential of this natural space, Waterloo Greenway Conservancy hopes to inspire others to join us in our mission to create a restored Waller Creek and brighter future for Austin’s social, cultural, and ecological landscape. The first phase of the Waterloo Greenway park system, Waterloo Park, opened in August 2021 and is now open daily to the public, featuring year-round cultural, educational, and environmental programs. The second phase of Waterloo Greenway, The Confluence, is now under construction.”

Creek Show 2024 ends November 16th, and you must make a reservation to enter.

To learn more about Waterloo Park, including its native-plant gardens, see my blog post from a visit in 2021. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the Waterloo Greenway parks come together.

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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. Read all about the Season 8 lineup here!

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