About Create Austin

Run by the Long Center’s Community Programs Department, Create Austin’s goal is simple – support, strengthen, and uplift Austin’s creative communities through tools that help sustain their work.

Since its opening in 2008, the Long Center has continued to evolve its approach to fostering a community gathering place for creative expression. In recent years, the global pandemic forced closures of many live performance venues, destabilizing one of Austin’s leading cultural and economic drivers. It also shined a brighter light on the struggles of organizations that underpin the cultural fabric of our city – and like many, the Long Center began a series of community conversations looking for solutions that could contribute to the creative community’s overall success. During this time, the Long Center expanded its core programs to include broader services to the larger community, eventually leading to the formation of Create Austin.

This is an innovation from the campus-based management and curated community programming the Long Center is known for. As an extension of the Long Center’s mission, Create Austin specifically aims to bridge resource gaps for artists and organizations, offering tangible solutions like streamlined grant access, active resource building, and community-based research.

Creativity should be prioritized for all those who live in and visit our vibrant city. Help us shape and enrich the sustainable economies that bring this vision to life.