Local Video
A Pop-Up Video Store & Art Experience
Remember picking a movie just because the cover looked cool? We’re bringing that back—with a creative twist. Austin Arts Foundation is staging a one-day pop-up video shop + art installation where local artists both paint their favorite films (poster-style works) and reimagine vintage VHS boxes, alongside short films from Texas makers.
Get Involved
Submissions, workshop, and entry are all free; space is limited.
What is Local Video?
LOCAL VIDEO is a one-day pop-up video store and art show in Austin. Local artists make work inspired by their favorite films—poster-style pieces, paintings, illustrations, photography, mixed media—and some will also transform old VHS boxes into sculptural or painted objects. Texas filmmakers screen short films (5–10 minutes) that are fun, strange, nostalgic, heartfelt, or totally experimental.
There’s also a VHS Box Transformations workshop with 25 spots, open to all ages. Participants get a VHS box, materials, and simple guidance to turn it into their own movie object. You can come just to watch, or you can leave with something you made.
Why It Matters
LOCAL VIDEO creates a night where film people and art people share the same space, and the work that usually lives on screens or in sketchbooks is treated like something worth gathering around. Movie-inspired art, VHS pieces, and shorts are presented as part of Austin’s culture, not as throwaway content.
The event also keeps a specific kind of movie love alive: choosing something because the cover grabs you, finding a strange title you’ve never heard of, talking about it with whoever’s next to you.
People who remember that world get to see it honored; people who never had that experience get to try it for the first time, surrounded by art, tapes, and other humans instead of an algorithm. The workshop makes that even more concrete—film turns into something you can literally touch, change, and carry home.
VHS Box Transformations Workshop (25 spots)
Turn an old VHS case into your own “movie” cover using paint, markers, and collage. Think of it as bringing back the feeling of picking a film by the box, but this time you design the cover. Open to all ages (kids with an adult), no experience needed. You can take your box home or choose to have it displayed as part of LOCAL VIDEO for the event.
This project is supported in part by the Austin Economic Development Department.