Visit your city - Stickwork

Pease Park, Austin, TX

I've noticed something. People who live in a city rarely visit the tourist attractions in that city. I know New Yorkers who have never visited the Statue of Liberty and people from San Francisco that wouldn't dream of going to Fisherman's Wharf.

Stickwork, Pease Park, Austin, TX

 Before we moved to Austin, we visited the famous Cathedral of Junk. In the five plus years we've been here, we haven't been back. In fact, I've never heard a single Austinite talk about this tourist attraction.

Stickwork, Pease Park, Austin, TX

 We've also never seen the bats fly out from under the Congress Bridge and we only seem to go to South Congress when friends or family visit from out of town.
 But this year I'm making a concerted effort to be more of a tourist in the city where I live. And while I won't be getting fall-down drunk on "Dirty Sixth" with the college students and bachelor and bachelorette parties, there's plenty of other things to do.

Stickwork, Pease Park, Austin, TX

 At Custer Meadow in Pease Park in Austin is a new piece of artwork, a series of sculptures called Stickwork. Artist Patrick Dougherty created the structures using branches and saplings from local trees, tying them together and making them into the shapes you see in these pictures.

Stickwork, Pease Park, Austin, TX

 While the official unveiling of Stickwork isn't for a couple of weeks, the exhibition is open and available for you to see in Pease Park. If you take Rainbow Bend and turn left on Kingsbury Street, you can't miss it. There's plenty of parking on the street.

Stickwork, Pease Park, Austin, TX

 Another cool thing about Stickwork is that it has no set end date. This exhibit will not be taken down or dismantled. It will be allowed to deteriorate in the elements over the course of years.

Stickwork, Pease Park, Austin, TX

As a final note, I saw several people at Stickwork while we were there, talked to a few, and they were all from out of town. While I expect lots of Austinites to visit Stickwork, I didn't meet any of them today.

I hate the term "staycation." It implies stasis, lounging on the couch watching TV. Let's call this being a tourist at home or visiting your city. But whatever it's called, I plan to do more of it this year.

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