Open Calls
Art in Public Places (AIPP) is the City of Austin’s public art program. Administered through Austin Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment (ACME), the AIPP program commissions visual artists to create site-specific artworks that reflect the history, culture, and values of Austin’s communities.
In addition to acquiring and stewarding artworks within the permanent collection, the AIPP program manages the People’s Gallery, Changing Exhibitions at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and our temporary public art program, TEMPO.
We invite you to explore our current open call opportunities and consider applying to be part of Austin’s evolving public art landscape.
Permanent Public Art
The City of Austin’s Art in Public Places (AIPP) program regularly issues open calls for visual artists and artist-led teams. These opportunities invite artists to design, fabricate, and install site-specific public artworks that become part of Austin’s permanent public art collection.
The AIPP program commissions artists working in all media to create thoughtful, place-based installations that reflect the community and enhance the city’s public spaces.
Open Calls for Permanent Public Art
Four New Public Art Opportunities Are Now Open
The City of Austin's Art in Public Places Program (AIPP) is seeking professional artists and artist-led teams to create impactful public artwork for communities across Austin.
These opportunities are open to Austin-based and Texas-based visual artists interested in collaborating on civic projects that reflect Austin's creativity, culture, and identity. Commission budgets range from $90,000 to $300,000, with additional opportunities available through our statewide artist pool.
Application Timeline
Open Calls Launch: June 22, 2026
Application Deadline: August 3, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.
Opportunities
- Asian American Resource Center Pavilion
Austin Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment's (ACME) Art in Public Places (AIPP) program seeks to commission one Austin-based mid-career professional visual artist or artist-led team to design, fabricate and install a two and/or three-dimensional exterior artwork at the Asian American Resource Center, 8401 Cameron Rd, Austin, TX 78754.
Artwork Budget: $90,000
District 4
- Shared Streets Program
Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment’s (ACME) Art in Public Places (AIPP) program in partnership with Austin Transportation and Public Works (ATPW), seeks to commission three (3) Austin-based mid-career professional visual artist or artist-led team to design, fabricate and install one exterior site-specific work of art. Four artwork locations include Avenue G and Avenue H from East 51st Street to East 56th Street (D4 and D9), Neils Thompson Drive and Longhorn Boulevard (D7), Davis Lane and Latta Drive (D8) and Kendra Page Park (D2). Only one artist or artist-led team per location.
Artwork Budget: $170,000 per commission (3 opportunities available)
Districts 2, 4, 7, 8
- Northeast Service Center – Suspended Artwork
Austin Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment’s Art in Public Places (AIPP) program in partnership with Austin Financial Services (AFS), Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) and Austin Fleet Mobility Services Department (AFMS), seeks to commission a Texas-based mid-career artist or artist to team to work with our partners, design team and community stakeholders to design, fabricate, and install one 3D site-specific integrated artwork for the new Northeast Service Center (NESC) administrative building at 8301 Johnny Morris Rd, Austin, TX 78724.
Artwork Budget: $300,000
District 1
- 2026–2028 Texas Pre-Qualified Public Artist Pool
Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment’s (ACME) Art in Public Places (AIPP) program seeks exceptional emerging, mid-career, and established Texas-based public artists working in a variety of visual media and artistic approaches for its 2026-2028 Pre-Qualified Texas Public Artist Pool (Pool). Selected artists or artist teams from the Pool may be contracted to design, fabricate and install potential public artworks for eligible Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) of various scopes, timelines, and budgets throughout the City of Austin.
The Pool may also be used for artist commissions through the Neighborhood Partnering Program, Artbox Program, Planned Unit Developments, Public Private Partnerships, and the Downtown Density Bonus Program.
Future commission opportunities ranging from $10,000 to $250,000+
Districts: City-Wide
How to Apply
Click and scroll down to explore project details, eligibility requirements, and application instructions on publicartist.org.
Need Help With Your Application?
- Virtual Open Office Hours
AIPP staff will host Virtual Open Office Hours (VOOH) every Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. throughout the application period to answer questions about the projects, eligibility requirements, and application process.
Artists may join at any time during the session for one-on-one assistance and guidance.
Please RSVP below to request access to an upcoming session.
- Artist Information Sessions
In addition to Virtual Open Office Hours, AIPP will host in-person and virtual Artist Information Sessions to provide project overviews, application guidance, and opportunities to ask questions.
Explore upcoming sessions and RSVP through Eventbrite to receive event details and access information.
Upcoming Sessions:
Friday, July 3, 2026; 6:00-9:00p.m. – Tabling at Lockhart First Friday
Spellerberg Projects Gallery: 103 S Main St, Lockhart, TX 78644Monday, July 6, 2026; 6:00p.m. – Presentation at AIPP Panel
Thursday, July 9, 2026; 6:00-8:30p.m. – Hybrid Workshop
Asian American Resource Center: 8401 Cameron Rd, Austin, TX 78754Monday, July 20, 2026; 6:00p.m. – Presentation at Arts Commission
Tuesday, July 21, 2026; 6:00p.m.– Presentation at Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission
Saturday, August 1, 2026; 12:00-4:00p.m. – Tabling at Canopy First Saturday
Almost Real Things: 916 Springdale Rd, Bldg 2 #101, Austin, TX 78702
- Language Access
Language interpretation may be requested for all Virtual Open Office Hours and Artist Information Meetings at least two business days before the scheduled event.
Se puede solicitar interpretación de idiomas para todas las reuniones informativas para artistas con al menos dos días hábiles de anticipación a la fecha programada del evento.
所有艺术家信息说明会均可申请口译服务，但须至少在预定活动两个工作日前提出申请。
Yêu cầu về dịch thuật ngôn ngữ cho tất cả các Buổi họp Thông tin dành cho Nghệ sĩ phải được gửi trước lịch trình diễn ra sự kiện ít nhất hai ngày làm việc.
예술가 정보 설명회에 참석하시는 경우, 예정된 행사 최소 이틀 전까지 언어 통역을 요청할 수 있습니다.
يمكن طلب الترجمة الفورية لجميع اجتماعات معلومات الفنانين قبل يومين عمل على الأقل من الموعد المحدد للحدث.
निर्धारित कार्यक्रम से कम-से-कम दो कार्यदिवस पहले सभी कलाकार संबंधी सूचना से जुड़ी मीटिंग्स के लिए भाषा अनुवादक सेवा का अनुरोध किया जा सकता है।
စီစဉ်ကျင်းပမည့်ပွဲရက်မတိုင်မီ အနည်းဆုံးအလုပ်ရက်နှစ်ရက်အလိုတွင် အနုပညာရှင်အချက်အလက်အစည်းအဝေးများအားလုံးအတွက် ဘာသာပြန်ဆိုမှုကို တောင်းခံနိုင်ပါသည်။
Please contact AIPP staff by emailing: AIPP@austintexas.gov
Exhibitions
The City of Austin’s Art in Public Places (AIPP) program accepts exhibition applications for City Hall’s The People’s Gallery exhibit and the Austin International Bergstrom Airport (AUS) terminals.
The People’s Gallery
Located on the first three floors of Austin City Hall, The People’s Gallery is an ongoing exhibition series that showcases the work of local and regional artists for two years. The exhibition is designed to reflect Austin’s artistic excellence and cultural diversity while encouraging public dialogue, understanding, and enjoyment of visual art. Each year, the gallery welcomes over 200,000 visitors, providing a prominent venue for artists and the public to showcase, experience, and celebrate the region’s creativity in the heart of Austin.
As part of the City’s initiatives to support local artists, many of the works on view are available for purchase. Pricing and contact information are included in a gallery guide, available in the first-floor lobby. All sales are conducted directly through the artists or their representing galleries.
The Changing Exhibits Program at AUS
The Changing Exhibits Program at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) showcases the work of regional artists across twelve gallery spaces throughout the airport terminals for one year. Designed to enrich the traveler experience, the program provides a high-visibility platform for artists while engaging a diverse audience of more than 20,000 visitors each day.
Open Calls for Exhibitions
There are no open calls for exhibitions at this time.
Temporary Public Art
TEMPO is AIPP’s temporary public art program, bringing site-specific artworks to public spaces where they spark imagination, inspire creativity, and encourage exploration. Designed as an entry point for local artists interested in public art, TEMPO provides an opportunity to design, fabricate, install, and maintain a temporary artwork through a contract with the City of Austin or program partners. Installations remain on view for one year.
For FY25-26, AIPP is partnering with The Trail Conservancy to present the next round of TEMPO installations. Look for new works debuting along the trail in March 2026.
Open Calls for Temporary Public Art
There are no open calls for temporary public art at this time.