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| Big Medium | |
|---|---|
| Name | Big Medium |
| Established | 1995 |
| Location | Austin, Texas, United States |
| Type | Artist-run nonprofit gallery |
| Founder | Alicia London |
Big Medium is an artist-run nonprofit gallery founded in 1995 in Austin, Texas, that operated as an alternative contemporary art space through the early 2000s. The organization functioned as a focal point for contemporary visual artists, curators, critics, collectors, and cultural organizations, hosting exhibitions, residencies, and public programs. Big Medium played a notable role in the cultural landscape of Austin, intersecting with local institutions, national artist networks, and municipal development debates.
Big Medium was established in the mid-1990s amid a period of expansion for contemporary art venues in Austin and the broader Texas scene, interacting with entities such as the Blanton Museum of Art, The Contemporary Austin, Texas Commission on the Arts, South by Southwest, and the Austin Chronicle. Its founding aligned with initiatives by artists and curators associated with institutions like the University of Texas at Austin and efforts influenced by national models including The Kitchen, Artists Space, Art in General, and Protestant Cultural Center. Early exhibitions and programs featured collaborations with artists who had ties to residencies and graduate programs at New York University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, California Institute of the Arts, and regional MFA programs. As Austin's real estate and cultural profile grew alongside companies such as Dell Technologies, Whole Foods Market, Google, and Apple Inc., Big Medium navigated shifting neighborhood dynamics and conversations connected to urban policy debates involving the Austin City Council.
Big Medium occupied repurposed commercial and industrial spaces typical of artist-run initiatives, drawing comparisons to venues such as Dia Art Foundation projects and small-scale nonprofit galleries in Brooklyn, SoHo, and Chelsea. Its facilities prioritized flexible gallery spaces for installation, video, and performance, accommodating equipment and production needs similar to resources used at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago satellite projects and experimental spaces affiliated with CalArts and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The spatial configuration supported artist talks, panels with participants from organizations like National Endowment for the Arts, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and partnerships with local arts organizations including Austin Museum of Art and community centers.
As an exhibition-focused nonprofit rather than a collecting institution, Big Medium curated rotating solo and group shows featuring artists emerging from programs associated with Rhode Island School of Design, Pratt Institute, Yale School of Art, and regional art schools. Exhibitions addressed contemporary practices connected to painting, sculpture, installation, video, performance, and socially engaged projects, often engaging critics and writers affiliated with publications such as Artforum, Art in America, Frieze, The New York Times, and The Austin Chronicle. The program highlighted artists who later exhibited at institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and regional biennials and triennials. Big Medium also hosted curated thematic shows referencing movements and histories present in collections at museums like Menil Collection and Nasher Sculpture Center.
Big Medium ran public programs including artist talks, workshops, and panel discussions that connected practitioners to educators and administrators from University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University, Rice University, Southern Methodist University, and arts service organizations such as Creative Capital and Americans for the Arts. Educational activities catered to students, emerging curators, and community members, facilitating exchanges with visiting critics and curators from Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Hammer Museum, and university art history departments. The organization also engaged with festival contexts, aligning events with calendars of South by Southwest, regional film festivals, and artist residency networks linked to Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and MacDowell.
Big Medium operated as a nonprofit governed by an artist-driven board and volunteer collective, following governance patterns observed at peer organizations like Apexart, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation affiliates, and small arts nonprofits across the United States. Funding sources included grants and project support from funders such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, private foundations, membership contributions, benefit events, and occasional underwriting from corporations and philanthropists active in Austin's civic philanthropy sphere, including foundations associated with figures in the Campbell Foundation and local family foundations. The organization navigated typical nonprofit issues: fiscal oversight, grant compliance, space leases, and strategic planning amid changing philanthropic landscapes influenced by national tax policy and municipal cultural strategies.
Local and regional press coverage in outlets like the Austin American-Statesman, Austin Chronicle, and arts journals documented Big Medium's influence on Austin's contemporary art ecology, citing its role in artist development and exhibition experimentation. Critics and curators from institutions such as the Blanton Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, and out-of-state museums noted Big Medium as part of a constellation of artist-run spaces that helped decentralize contemporary art production beyond major metropolitan centers like New York City and Los Angeles. Its legacy is discussed in the context of Austin's cultural growth alongside events and institutions including South by Southwest, Austin City Limits, and the expansion of university arts programs, contributing to ongoing debates about arts infrastructure, urban development, and cultural policy in Texas.
Category:Art museums and galleries in Austin, Texas