Summer Solstice at Laguna Gloria

Celebrating the Life of Plants, Featuring a Performance of Estafiate by Pamela Martinez

The sun is at its highest point in the sky, and we are celebrating all that has blossomed this spring with a night of themed vendors, artmaking, and more! Close out the longest day of the year while steeped in nature by joining us at Laguna Gloria for the summer solstice, where we’ll have many opportunities to honor this seasonal transition.

Headlining the evening is multimedia artist Pamela Martinez, who will be presenting her two-act musical performance Estafiate: Music for Plants beginning at 8:15pm. Martinez’s site specific and ongoing performance work is an homage to the traditions of her grandmother and the plant Estafiate, a medicinal herb related to white sage.

Enjoy a complimentary, herbaceous summertime refreshment with mocktail options by Mama Mangos. Get a palm reading by Sister Palm. Sift through Austin Public Library’s seed library pop-up collection. Scoop up a plant friend for sale from Tillery Street Plant Co. If you’re already a plant parent, bring a propagation from home for a one-to-one trade with a Austin Plant Swappers pop-up. And harness the power of the sun to create one-of-a-kind cyanotype patches.

Our onsite café, Spread & Co., will be operating with happy hour specials, and in addition, they will have their cheese cart serving charcuterie cones, crudités, plant-themed frozen treats, & refreshing beverages along with their normal cafe menu. Catch Spread & Co. located next to the museum shop or outside at the Spread & Co. Cart.

A DJ set by Purple Matter will bring sonic light to the oval atmosphere – surrounding the vendors and activities – all gathered for their shared love of plants!

Estafiate has been financed in whole or part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Collide Arts.

For accommodations, please send advance requests to [email protected].

Share and connect! @contemporaryatx

ABOUT PAMELA MARTINEZ

Photo by Chris Castillo

Pamela Martinez is a reiki master, educator, multi-instrumentalist and composer who creates music and immersive experiences under the moniker Teletextile. Martinez’s work focuses on growth and healing through nature, sound, sonic sculpture and performance. Martinez brings to life music-centered rituals that explore our connections with our inner voices and to each other. Her “Bjork-like” sound (The Boston Globe) moves from vocal layering and “electronic wizardry” (Metronome Magazine) to “dense, stormy guitar, piano and electronics” (Time Out New York). Martinez has toured extensively in the US, Europe, the UK and Asia. As a genre-hopping performer and musician, Martinez has performed violin at Carnegie Hall with a Carnatic Indian music ensemble, sang in San Francisco’s historic Fillmore Theater and takes part in performance art happenings in New York City. Her recent directing and performing credits include Whisperlodge. The New York Times dubbed Whisperlodge “an unusual mix of theater and therapy” and has been featured in BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, Netflix, Vice and more with acclaim. Martinez is a San Antonio, Texas native who has spent the 11 years performing and creating in Brooklyn, NY, but she began calling the River City home again in 2018. Martinez creates new work with the Teletextile, a group of rotating collaborators that weave together a tapestry of music, movement, reiki and other healing rituals to create a mixture of performance and mindful awareness practices. Martinez holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Berklee College of Music in Boston and is currently seeking an MFA in Music Composition from Vermont College of Fine Arts. They specialize in creating works of deep listening, sound baths and sonic expressions and pass on the craft of music and wellbeing by teaching and leading workshops at Southtown Music Studio (SATX) located in Mercury Project Contemporary Art Space.

About Purple Matter

Purple Matter is a genre hopping DJ from Louisiana that regularly casts their spell over the Austin club scene. They live by the Parliament-Funkadelic motto “Everything is on the one” and employ this philosophy in all of their selections.

About Tillery Street Plant Co.

Tillery Street Plant Company is a family-owned Retail Nursery in Austin Texas specializing in Tropicals, Cacti, and outdoor perennials. They are open 9-6 every day and are located in the East Austin Area. They offer repotting services, plant diagnosis, and recommendations for treatment.

About Sister Palm

Sister Palm is a professional palm reader and astrologer living and working in Austin, TX. With fifteen years of experience in the field, she assesses the typography of the hands for information about character disposition as well as important dates in one’s life. For more information on her work, visit sisterpalm.com.

About Austin Plant Swappers

Austin Plant Swappers is a group for plant enthusiasts that enjoy sharing their love of plants and gardening tips with others.

Special thanks to all our partners:

LALO Tequila, Tito’s Vodka, Topo Chico, and Austin East Ciders for providing the key ingredients