This March, petting baby goats while admiring modern art sculptures may provide some perfect stress relief. On March 6, a University of Texas at Austin art program will host Paws for Public Art, an annual event pairing animals and art for mental health breaks.
From 11 am to 2 pm, petting zoos will be set up at four iconic Landmarks sculptures across campus. Visitors can connect with mini goats, hedgehogs, bunnies, chicks, and more while learning about the artworks.
Visitors may be familiar with the public art and not the program’s name; Landmarks facilitates engagement with great modern and contemporary art for diverse audiences — or at least whoever is walking around at UT. The beloved campus feature, it has sprinkled more than 50 freely accessible artworks across the grounds.
“We have been very thoughtful in our approach, because we want to be of service to the community through providing ways to interact with our great collection,” says Landmarks deputy director Kathleen Stimpert.
The participating sculptures include Mark di Suvero’s Clock Knot, Nancy Rubins’ Monochrome for Austin, Sol LeWitt’s Circle with Towers, and Joel Perlman’s Square Tilt. An accompanying mobile app will provide info about the animals and art.
Wellness activities like guided breathing and sound healing will also take place inside renowned American artist James Turrell’s “Skyspace,”The Color Inside, at 6 pm. The Skyspace installations, of which only about 80 exist worldwide, provide an immersive, meditative viewing experience using light and acoustics to create an enhanced perception of the sky.
Basically, viewers are just looking at the sky through a hole in the ceiling, but changing colors play with the shades in the changing sky. That’s one method of stress-busting.
“We created a mobile tour that is focused on mindfulness and a self-guided fitness tour where you’re prompted to do different exercises that have some sort of relationship to the work,” Stimpert adds.
The free event is open to all. Representatives from UT’s Longhorn Wellness Center, a partner for the event, will provide self-care tips onsite.
