I'm unclear as to the details, but it sounds like the city in its infinitely finite wisdom is trying to shut down Enchanted Forest. Keep up with the news on their websites:
Enchanted Forest myspace
Enchanted Forest
If you haven't been to the Enchanted Forest, it's a sort of art space on two acres of woods tucked near the corner of Oltorf and Lamar. The events are amazing, made all the moreso because of the location. Enchanted Forest is like other aspects of Austin that make it a singular place. There are these wonderful little spots and enclaves slightly hidden around town, in precisely where you wouldn't and shouldn't expect them, and once you're inside you can easily forget you're in the middle of a metropolitan region of 1.5 million people.
It's a strange space, and I feel richer for having attended events there with good friends. In fact last night I was thinking of seeing if they have season passes. As soon as I heard they're talking about shutting it down, I was filled with near-blinding rage. I thought it might be worth sharing why.
Smashing a semi-formal art space seems to pale in comparison to any number of horrors wreaked upon the world. It isn't as murderous as war or racism or environmental devastation. But in a way, that's why it's so significant in its own right. It seems so difficult to create spaces and institutions that are genuinely open and life-affirming and creative, in the face of a world guided by bureaucracy, brutality and indifference. So when folks actually try and succeed in creating something with a little peace and a little community and a little beauty, we should fight to defend it.
Fighting the barbarity of power is a necessary and unending duty in life. But free spaces let us encounter that basic humanity with our neighbors that reminds us why the world is worth fighting for.