PART OF OUR FREE SUMMER SERIES: SUMMER CAMP FOR ADULTS
Four August Saturdays in East Austin! To view full series, click here.
What does it actually take to keep making work? Four independent media artists break down the real income stack (teaching, grants, freelance, day jobs), how they protect time to create, how shows and residencies actually happen, and the mental game of rejection, longevity, and staying motivated without external validation. No highlight reel, just the honest math of an artist's life. Panel conversation plus audience Q&A.
Featuring:
Abinadi Meza (MX/US) is an Austin-based artist, filmmaker, and composer. His practice centers on cameraless 16mm film processes and electronic sound composition, in what he calls Elemental Cinema. Through hand-layered processes and chromatic interactions, sound and moving image converge into resonant, synesthetic space. His work has been presented at the Walker Art Center, MAXXI, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Public Art Fund, and Vorspiel / CTM x Transmediale, among many other venues. · @abinadi_meza · meza.work
Virginia L. Montgomery is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist working across video, sound, and sculpture. Based in Houston and Austin, Texas, she creates surreal, sensory-rich artworks that merge mysticism, science, ecology, and her own neurodivergent perspective. Her practice explores transformation, perception, and embodied experience through recurring imagery including moths, moons, telescopes, and cosmic forms. Known for material experimentation, Montgomery often hand-raises the moths and butterflies featured in her work. She received her MFA from Yale University and her BFA from The University of Texas at Austin. Her work has been presented by institutions including the New Museum, Times Square Arts, Museum Folkwang, SculptureCenter, Ballroom Marfa, Tate Modern, and the Blanton Museum of Art. She has participated in residencies at MacDowell, Headlands Center for the Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, and others. · @virginia.l.montgomery · helloVLM.com
Lisa B. Woods is an Austin-based media artist and creative organizer. As a designer-turned-artist, her practice uses code, custom electronics, and kinetic sculpture to explore the intersections of technology, ecology, and hidden systems. Lisa brings firsthand expertise in balancing technical creative production with sustainable community leadership. As the founder and operator of And&And Studios, she directly addresses the challenges of creative longevity by providing affordable, community-oriented studio space in Austin. Her commitment to alternative arts ecosystems extends globally through her work as a Steering Committee member for UNESCO Austin City of Media Arts, and as a member of ICOSA Collective, Ecoartspace, and The Alternative Art School. · @lisa.b.woods · lisabwoods.com
Jinni J. is a Texas-born and raised photographer, director, and DP working across portraiture, fashion, nature, and music genres. Known for a raw, intimate, deeply relational and playful approach, she is drawn to the essence of women and flora. Her work carries a soft editorial sensibility with a distinct emphasis on warmth, atmosphere, and emotional presence. She has a studio on the town square in Lockhart, Texas. · @heyjinnij · heyjinnij.com/portfolio
Free workshops don't happen on their own. Our community keeps them that way. Consider adding a small donation below helps us keep the doors open to everyone in East Austin.
This event take place Cinemaker’s Black Box Studio on August 22, 2026 in East Austin at The Canopy Art Complex from 12-3pm.
FREE WITH RSVP ONLY — SPACES LIMITED
PART OF OUR FREE SUMMER SERIES: SUMMER CAMP FOR ADULTS
Four August Saturdays in East Austin! To view full series, click here.
What does it actually take to keep making work? Four independent media artists break down the real income stack (teaching, grants, freelance, day jobs), how they protect time to create, how shows and residencies actually happen, and the mental game of rejection, longevity, and staying motivated without external validation. No highlight reel, just the honest math of an artist's life. Panel conversation plus audience Q&A.
Featuring:
Abinadi Meza (MX/US) is an Austin-based artist, filmmaker, and composer. His practice centers on cameraless 16mm film processes and electronic sound composition, in what he calls Elemental Cinema. Through hand-layered processes and chromatic interactions, sound and moving image converge into resonant, synesthetic space. His work has been presented at the Walker Art Center, MAXXI, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Public Art Fund, and Vorspiel / CTM x Transmediale, among many other venues. · @abinadi_meza · meza.work
Virginia L. Montgomery is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist working across video, sound, and sculpture. Based in Houston and Austin, Texas, she creates surreal, sensory-rich artworks that merge mysticism, science, ecology, and her own neurodivergent perspective. Her practice explores transformation, perception, and embodied experience through recurring imagery including moths, moons, telescopes, and cosmic forms. Known for material experimentation, Montgomery often hand-raises the moths and butterflies featured in her work. She received her MFA from Yale University and her BFA from The University of Texas at Austin. Her work has been presented by institutions including the New Museum, Times Square Arts, Museum Folkwang, SculptureCenter, Ballroom Marfa, Tate Modern, and the Blanton Museum of Art. She has participated in residencies at MacDowell, Headlands Center for the Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, and others. · @virginia.l.montgomery · helloVLM.com
Lisa B. Woods is an Austin-based media artist and creative organizer. As a designer-turned-artist, her practice uses code, custom electronics, and kinetic sculpture to explore the intersections of technology, ecology, and hidden systems. Lisa brings firsthand expertise in balancing technical creative production with sustainable community leadership. As the founder and operator of And&And Studios, she directly addresses the challenges of creative longevity by providing affordable, community-oriented studio space in Austin. Her commitment to alternative arts ecosystems extends globally through her work as a Steering Committee member for UNESCO Austin City of Media Arts, and as a member of ICOSA Collective, Ecoartspace, and The Alternative Art School. · @lisa.b.woods · lisabwoods.com
Jinni J. is a Texas-born and raised photographer, director, and DP working across portraiture, fashion, nature, and music genres. Known for a raw, intimate, deeply relational and playful approach, she is drawn to the essence of women and flora. Her work carries a soft editorial sensibility with a distinct emphasis on warmth, atmosphere, and emotional presence. She has a studio on the town square in Lockhart, Texas. · @heyjinnij · heyjinnij.com/portfolio
Free workshops don't happen on their own. Our community keeps them that way. Consider adding a small donation below helps us keep the doors open to everyone in East Austin.
This event take place Cinemaker’s Black Box Studio on August 22, 2026 in East Austin at The Canopy Art Complex from 12-3pm.
FREE WITH RSVP ONLY — SPACES LIMITED
