Typically, when we think about yards and gardens, we envision a pretty sight of colorful flower, verdant grass and lush shrubs and trees. But knowing how weird and unique some Austinites can be, you can only expect that their yard can boast of something odd and extraordinary. If you happen to visit Austin, make it a point to stop by in some of its amazingly weird art yards.
The most famous representative of all art yards in Austin is perhaps the Cathedral of Junk. The yard is owned by Vince Hanneman and he started developing his backyard since 1988. It eventually became an iconic place of oddity in Austin. What he had is a collection of trash from discarded bikes to compact discs to aluminum pipes and had all of these wired so that they stood proudly to become a 30-foot and 80-ton assemblage. However, due to some complaints and zoning problems, the structure was toned down to comply with city engineering standards.
Other places worth looking into include the El Paso Bridge where Stefanie Distefano had been making gorgeous mosaic around it. Not far from her place, you’ll find a white gorilla in the West Lynn Street. This gorilla is a classic Austin art yard and it is being dolled up every time to honor the holiday du jour. You should also make it a point to stop by Scott Steven’s Smut Putt Heaven, which feature a backyard of filled bottle cap snakes, mannequin heads and doll heads. Another interesting art yard is known as the Alleycat. This is a yard by LuCretia Sisk who beautifully lined-up several hundred bowling balls out on her front yard.
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