Glimpses from the work-in-progress concert of Music for Trees at Fusebox Festival this weekend. 🌳
Thank you for joining us for a perfect day at Laguna Gloria. Tree walk with our friends at Odditree Society, music by Graham Reynolds and Jeff Zeigler.
Co-presented by The Contemporary Austin, Collide Arts, and Fusebox Festival.
Commissioned by Golden Hornet, Music for Trees is an immersive fusion of music, film, and science that examines the ancient, mysterious, and wondrous world of trees—the lungs of our planet.
Reflecting on the subtle sonic world of trees and their gradual, imperceptible growth patterns, the quiet and contemplative music by Reynolds and Zeigler punctuates with peaking mezzo piano, held aloft by delicate textures and unhurried tempos that engage deeper listening, reflection, and connection.
The next phase of this project will be the creation of a documentary by Emmy award winning filmmaker Mario Troncoso with plans of a full premiere of the docu-concert in 2027.
This performance is financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
With today being the first day of the spring equinox, I wanted to share a project I recently worked on with @collidearts called Garden Songs, conceived by @jebneylewis featuring performance collaborations with local artists and gardeners from Festival Beach Community Gardens @fbcg_atx
As a green thumb gardner myself, this was such an awesome project to work on and it was great getting to meet all the volunteers and members of the community garden. Looking forward to seeing everything in bloom soon, spring has sprung!
Sound artist @auxauxauxaux activating Funeral for a Tree as part of the exhibition’s weekly concert series at @ivestercontemporary .
Henna is an Austin-based cellist, guitarist, keyboardist, and sound artist. She’s the Artistic Director of @cotfg , co-curator of the New Media Art and Sound Summit, and a longtime collaborator through @collidearts and SoundSpace at @blantonmuseum . She was musician-in-residence at @thecontemporaryaustin for Tarek Atoui’s The Whisperers.
Each week of Funeral for a Tree, a different artist enters the gallery to respond to the installation live — wood cookies spinning birdsong, ventilators breathing through salvaged shēngs — adding their own voice to the elegy.
The performances were financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Thank you to @magicspoonproductions for the beautiful video.
#SoundSculpture #ContemporaryArt #SoundArt #InstallationArt #AustinArt FuneralForATree ExperimentalMusic DeepListening
They sat for the light, then layered gardens around them.
Our Rhizomatic Portrait & Collage workshop brought community together at Austin Central Library to weave portrait and paper into worlds of flora, fauna, and fragment.
Presented by @essentialscreative x @collidearts
Thank you to @acapareda , @parkerstevesounds
& @nicoleparkerstudios at @austinpubliclibrary for welcoming us.
Hope to see you next time!
Introducing a weekly concert series:
Immerse yourself in a series of performances by Steve Parker, presented alongside his upcoming exhibition, Funeral for a Tree, opening November 29th at Ivester Contemporary.
A plant-like, valve-driven instrument, built from salvaged brass, medical breathing bags, and sheng reeds, anchors a weekly concert series, each performance activating the sculptures in new ways. Guest artists from Austin’s experimental music community include Januibe Tejera, Soundmap Ensemble, Henna Chou, Alexa Capareda, Heloise Gold, Sam Pluta, and a special guest (to be announced in December.)
The performances are financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
RSVP Today-
Capacity is limited. Please RSVP for each performance you wish to attend via the links in our bio.
Week one: December 4th, 6-8pm:
Steve Parker ft. Henna Chou(Private performance, not open to the public)
Week two: December 11th, 6-8pm:
Steve Parker ft. Januibe Tejera + SoundMap Ensemble
Week three: December 18th, 6-8pm:
Steve Parker ft. Sam Pluta
Week four: January 8th, 6-8pm:
Steve Parker ft. Alexa Capareda and Heloise Gold
Opening soon:
Funeral for a Tree Ivester Contemporary, Austin Opens November 29
A live oak in our front yard is dying. It’s been here for over 50 years, longer than most of the neighborhood. We’ve watched it decline for three seasons now, and nothing we tried helped.
I’m cutting cross-sections from the trunk and carving them into playable wooden records. The grooves hold bird calls, interpreted by shēng player Jipo Yang. These will play alongside the reanimated shēngs from Taipei and old ventilators that push air through the gallery. Guest performers will add sounds throughout the exhibition, building layers like growth rings.
The tree becomes its own instrument, its own memorial. Still making sound, still marking time.
@parkerstevesounds
Unleash your creativity and learn how to make unique portraits and collages in this interactive workshop!
Exploring Personal Ancestry through Texas Native Plant Knowledge
Presented by Essentials Creative × Collide Arts
Explore the underground connections between Texas native plants and their ancestral stories through photography and mixed-media collage. Inspired by Essentials Creative’s Rhizomatic installation on the library’s rooftop garden, this hands-on workshop guides you in creating visual collages that honor Indigenous knowledge, scientific understanding, and personal memory—using photography, illustration, and paper cutting.
Drop in anytime, leave when you need to, and work at your own pace. Whether you stay for 30 minutes or the full 3 hours, you’ll have materials and guidance to create something meaningful.
• Learn photography and collage history through the lens of BIPOC artists who use these mediums for cultural reclamation
• Photograph Texas native plant specimens in studio portrait and still-life sessions
• Create layered collages using Essentials Creative’s printed photos, botanical illustrations, scanned watercolor, fabric, and patterns
• Explore the connections between the ten featured plants and Indigenous knowledge systems
• Reflect on your own ancestral or personal plant knowledge and relationship to the land
Featured Plants Include: Purple Coneflower • Goldenrod • Prickly Pear • Cattail • Apache Plume • Chile Pequin • Amaranth • Horsetail • Turk’s Cap • Maguey
No art experience necessary, recommended ages 13+, materials included.
Sunday, November 30 - 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM
Austin Central Library
710 W. César Chávez St.
Gallery (2nd Floor Southwest)
Free and open to the public | Gratis y abierto al público
For accessibility accommodations: 512-974-7400
GARDEN SONGS
is this Sunday 🍃
November 9th, 2025
2pm
Festival Beach Community Garden
Guest list is now at capacity — please register for the waitlist through the link in bio or contact us, we will try to make room and release available spots.
A performance of music, dance and theater inspired by community gardening and the global nature of agriculture
Created by artist Jebney Lewis in collaboration with Festival Beach Community Garden, Festival Beach Food Forest, and The Serafina Pantry at the RBJ Center
Note: In this performance, the audience will walk trails in the garden. If you need any special accommodations to attend, please contact [email protected] so we can help.
This project is produced by Collide Arts and has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
B-roll captured from a Festival Beach Community Garden workday 🪴
Join every second Saturday of the month @fbcg_atx
And join us for Jebney Lewis’ GARDEN SONGS, featuring artists and gardeners performing dance, theatre, and music on the grounds, Sunday, November 9th at 2pm.
The performance will culminate in a community meal.
November 9th, 2025, 2pm
Festival Beach Community Garden
FREE - tickets required.
RSVP link waitlist in bio. (limited to 50 people)
Created by artist Jebney Lewis in collaboration with Festival Beach Community Garden, Festival Beach Food Forest, and The Serafina Pantry at the RBJ Center.
Note: In this performance, the audience will walk trails in the garden. If you need any special accommodations to attend, please contact [email protected] so we can help.
This project is produced by Collide Arts and has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
footage captured by @magicspoonproductions
When ancestral wisdom and botanical science share space, both become more complete.
Rhizomatic was ten double-sided tapestries exploring Texas native plants through Indigenous cultural narratives and botanical science, positioned as equal ways of knowing. Each textile held two truths—ancestral wisdom on one side, ecological research on the other— resisting hierarchy between knowledge systems.
From Nopal’s sustenance to Horsetail’s ancient memory, from Amaranth’s resistance to Cattail’s generosity, these plants carried stories that refused singular translation. Gathered on Austin Central Library’s Rooftop Garden, the installation invited visitors to witness how living beings hold multiple truths simultaneously.
Essentials Creative
@misaeatsyourface@fabianvillastudio@snapnsteve@sjzavala
With @cityofaustinarts@unescoaustin@collidearts
Featured plants: Purple Coneflower, Goldenrod, Prickly Pear, Cattail, Apache Plume, Chile Pequin, Amaranth, Horsetail, Turk’s Cap, Maguey
Learn more at essentialscreative.com
Workshop: 11/30/2025 at @austinpubliclibrary 12:30-3:30pm
RSVP: [email protected]
#rhizomatic #installationart #texasnativeplants
#atxart #austintexas
🍃 sound on 🎶 Clips from rehearsals for the upcoming
Garden Songs
November 9th, 2025
2pm
Festival Beach Community Garden
** PLEASE NOTE ** Guest list is now at capacity — please register for the WAITING LIST through the link in bio or contact us
A performance of music, dance and theater inspired by community gardening and the global nature of agriculture
Free, but limited to 50 people
Created by artist Jebney Lewis in collaboration with Festival Beach Community Garden, Festival Beach Food Forest, and The Serafina Pantry at the RBJ Center
Note: In this performance, the audience will walk trails in the garden. If you need any special accommodations to attend, please contact [email protected] so we can help.
This project is produced by Collide Arts and has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
You are invited to GARDEN SONGS: a performance of music, dance and theater inspired by community gardening and the global nature of agriculture.
November 9th, 2025, 2pm
Festival Beach Community Garden
FREE - tickets required.
RSVP link in bio. (limited to 50 people)
Created by artist Jebney Lewis in collaboration with Festival Beach Community Garden, Festival Beach Food Forest, and The Serafina Pantry at the RBJ Center.
Note: In this performance, the audience will walk trails in the garden. If you need any special accommodations to attend, please contact [email protected] so we can help.
This project is produced by Collide Arts and has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
