You can walk past a house in Travis Heights a hundred times without knowing what someone is creating inside. On November 7 and 8, the Travis Heights Art Trail gives you a reason to stop.
The free 2026 event brings 85 artists to 20 participating homes and studios, with stops open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Meet the makers, browse their work and explore the neighborhood one address at a time.
You don’t need to visit every stop to make an afternoon of it. Here’s how to choose a starting point, find nearby artists and plan your walk using the official trail map.The houses that hold most of the trail
The organizer's Walk the Trail roster lists participants by address. Seven stops each list six or more names.
Stop | Names listed on the 2026 roster |
|---|---|
206 E Annie | 15, including Clara Fonte Boa, Anne Bingham, Eve Chenu, Stephen Murchison, Dorothy Bassett, Harshita Shastri, Maridad Studio and Dale Truitt |
506 Leland | 8, including Monica Ceniceros, Laura Clay Robson, Maggie Lyon, Sandra Boskamp and Autumn Mae |
1403 Kenwood | Charlotte Bell, Wolf Sittler, Ethan Ham, Chris and Debbie Celusniak, Fred Tate and Las Rancheritas |
1511 Alta Vista | Kendra Germenis, Leila Levinson, Mark Gale, Jon Nelson, Priscilla Ramirez, Jean Marie Bertrand and Kim Schaefer |
1810 Alta Vista | Michele Lee White, Sharamy Sandidge, Hector Kriete, Tracy White, Tina Williams, Autumn Scott and Michelle Keahey |
503 Leland | Lauren Hua, Zelda Speight-John, Anna Kamburis, Markus Sebastiano, Ziesook, Ashley Marie Richiez and Sophia Gonzalez |
509 Lockhart | Kana Allcock, Madison Popkess, Siddhika Nevrekar, Lara Popkess, Sonia Dahdah Ksiazek, Art & Sandy DePesa and Robin Gary |
206 E Annie stands out. That address lists 15 participating artists, more artists than any other stop on the map. If you only have one afternoon, start there.
Two more stops just miss the table. 2009 Alameda lists Sam Anderson, Lyndsee Loves, Johanna Spencer, Megan Mowry and Katharina Michalak. 507 Lockhart lists Sally Fraser, Cynthia Bloom, Nancee Moster and Sharon Kelly. The 2001 Kenwood stop lists four as well: Lisa Cushing, Casey Hoskinson, Dana Shultz and Jes Dickson.
The roster names everyone but doesn't give each person's medium. The artist profile pages fill in a few. Charlotte Bell is a photographer, for example, and Ethan Ham works in wood. Expect to find out the rest at the door.
The quieter stops between the big ones
The group houses carry the trail's numbers. The smaller stops are where one artist's whole practice fills the room. The roster includes:
- 1331½ Bonham Terrace: Teri & Mike Hubbling
- 905 Avondale: Nina Jolly
- 2008 Kenwood: Sara Jane Parsons
- 505 Leland: Miss Anne Thropically
- 2105 Brooklyn: Alex and Jeremy Harrison
- 522 Lockhart: March Mattingly and Joyce Stephen
- 1404 Kenwood: Maxwell Nagy, Chetonia Saldana and Bonnie Hall Gerson
- 1910 Travis Heights: Paola Isola, Vicky Tai Wu and July Sosebee
- 707 E Monroe: Cheryl Rae, with Pake Stephens
Then there's 300 E Monroe, the one stop on the list that isn't a person or a studio. It's listed under Adventurers Academy of Lifelong Learning.
Several of these sit on the same streets as the big houses. They are so close, the two Kenwood stops can be paired together. 505 Leland sits between 503 and 506. 522 Lockhart is on the same street as 507 and 509. You can build those pairings into a walk without adding much distance.
Reading the map as a resident
The map is a numbered walk spread across the neighborhood, not a loop. The street names on the 2026 sheet are Monroe, Kenwood, Alta Vista, Lockhart, Leland, Brooklyn and Alameda. Little Stacy Park and a set of public restrooms are marked as landmarks. The listed stops fall into four rough groups by street:
- Kenwood: 1403, 1404, 2001 and 2008, the stop numbered 1 among them
- Alta Vista: 1511 and 1810, with Bonham Terrace and Avondale nearby in the numbering
- Monroe and Annie: 707 E Monroe, 300 Monroe and 206 E Annie, numbered 6 through 8
- Lockhart, Leland, Brooklyn and Alameda: 503, 505 and 506 Leland; 507, 509 and 522 Lockhart; 2105 Brooklyn; and 2009 Alameda
The fourth group is the densest. It has eight addresses, three of them group houses. One reasonable plan is to spend Saturday on Kenwood, Alta Vista and Monroe/Annie, then save Sunday for the Lockhart-Leland end. The tour map is on the organizer's homepage, and it's worth printing before Saturday.
The organizers describe the weekend simply. Visitors stroll historic Travis Heights, meet the artists and buy locally made art and crafts. In its application materials for artists, the trail calls itself family-friendly. In a Fall 2022 newsletter, the South River City Citizens neighborhood association described it as a walk-through show where visitors talk with working artists. The same piece noted that the foot traffic also supports South Congress businesses.
Travis Heights Art Trail vs. Austin Studio Tour
The trail is run by the artists themselves. Visit Austin's event listing calls it "a grassroots art show, created by and for the artists of Travis Heights." The organizers bill it as the longest-running artist and studio tour in Austin. Art From the Streets reported that Charlotte Bell has been the trail's primary organizer since it began in 2002. She also hosts one of the group houses, 1403 Kenwood.
It's growing at street scale. Glasstire's coverage of the 2025 trail counted 19 locations and more than 70 artists. The 2026 map lists 20 houses and 85 artists. That's one more address than last year, and the extra artists fit into existing porches and studios. The group houses absorb most of that growth.
The calendar matters too. The Austin Studio Tour runs Nov. 14–15 and Nov. 21–22, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. In past years, that tour split its weekends into east and west areas. Its 2026 FAQ says both weekends are now citywide. That leaves Nov. 7 and 8 when the studios open are all on a few blocks of one neighborhood.
The rest of the weekend, within walking distance
Some neighborhood favorites have changed since last year's trail. Community Impact reported on Sept. 24 that Perla's, at 1400 S. Congress Ave., had temporarily closed after a Sept. 6 kitchen fire. As of that report, no reopening date had been announced. The same roundup said the Little Nishi trailer at 2118 S. Congress Ave. was set to close Oct. 1. The restaurant plans a brick-and-mortar location elsewhere in South Austin, with no new address or opening date given. If one of those was your usual post-trail stop, have a backup ready before Saturday.
Big Stacy Pool, at 700 E. Live Oak St., is on its Aug. 31, 2026, through Spring 2027 schedule. That includes weekend recreational and lap swim from noon to 7 p.m. Admission is free. With the trail closing at 5 p.m., you'd still have two hours of pool time after the last stop.
Nov. 7 and 8 fall on a Saturday and Sunday. The art trail runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and 206 E Annie, with 15 names on the 2026 roster, is the biggest single stop on the map.
Exploring Travis Heights Before Buying a Home
An art-trail afternoon can also help you explore Travis Heights beyond a listing photo. As you move between participating stops, notice the streets themselves: the slopes, sidewalk connections, traffic and distance to the places you would use regularly.
If you’re considering a home here, return on an ordinary weekday, too. An event weekend shows one side of a neighborhood. Your daily routine will reveal another.
If you're hosting guests that weekend or want to talk through a move within the neighborhood, Scott can help with the plan. Scott Pate knows these streets very well. Schedule a private consultation and let's talk about one of his favorite neighborhoods in South Austin!
