AUSTIN — An Austin artist is raising awareness about the city's affordability issue through his work.
Nick Schnitzer, 37, is a public artist who created the Ghost House, a temporary installation at Givens Park in East Austin.
It is a bright-yellow, steel-frame home that is see-through or a "ghost" of a house. It's a work that was inspired by personal experience.
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"I've been displaced, I've lived and worked in this neighborhood for 10 years ever since I came to Austin. I've been on the run from development one way or another," said Schnitzer.
Schnitzer said he was displaced three times during his time living and working in East Austin. All three times he was driven out by new development.
"And so I just got sick of dealing with this and I knew the only way I could immediately address this issue was to use my opportunity as an artist," said Schnitzer.
He now wants others to talk about the affordability crisis in Austin when they see his interactive Ghost House.
"This is definitely an entree into the conversation on cultural equity and access to fair housing, and on a more meta level, it's talking about capitalism and access to resources," said Schnitzer.
The Ghost House is part of the city's temporary Art in Public Places Project. This year, there is one art installation that represents each city council district.
Once the installations come down, Schnitzer hopes to upcycle his display to someone who will want it to build something else.
Schnitzer said the city's TEMPO 2018 project provided him $10,000 to fund his work -- money that came from the hotel occupancy tax.