Meet Stuart Wallace, founder of North Austin Creatives and visual artist in North Austin

Stuart Wallace grew up in Texas to a British mother and a Canadian father whose family emigrated from England and Scotland. Growing up, Stuart felt as though he was living in a British enclave. Feeling out of place drove him to move abroad after university. He studied abroad in Spain, and then moved to rural Nagasaki, urban China, Hong Kong, Okinawa, Tokyo, Panama, and Turkey. His 7 years abroad were transformative and his art expresses foreignness, identity, and place.

After Turkey, Stuart taught bilingual 5th grade in Austin Independent School District (AISD). That experience prompted him to pursue his art full-time at his home studio. Becoming a full-time artist in North Austin frustrated him due to a lack of consolidated information and opportunities. To serve his community and improve these conditions, he worked with Love North Austin to transform that organization into North Austin Creatives.

North Austin Creatives works to strengthen the arts in North Austin. They hold monthly formal and informal meetings which are fiscally sponsored by Austin Creative Alliance for easy tax-free donations, and are planning a pop-up event this year to highlight local talent. They started with 30 members and now count in the hundreds. Sharing information, making connections, partnering with local businesses and organizations, and developing an open-source Google Map of North Austin creative resources are just some of the activities they engage in to make North Austin a destination for the arts.

In November, Stuart became a father of a little girl. He is a stay-at-home dad and wants her to grow up in cool Austin without having to drive to East Austin or Downtown.