Moody alum turned senior project into one of Austin’s most inclusive festivals

Each year as summer comes to a close, community arts organization Future Front showcases Austin’s up-and-coming women and queer artists in a multi-day festival called Front Festival. Now, 10 years since its inaugural iteration, the Front Festival has helped launch the careers of many artists who typically experience marginalization within the greater local scene. The idea started in a UT classroom.

In spring of 2014, Jane Hervey needed a research topic for her Moody College honors project. The journalism major, who developed an intimate knowledge of Austin’s arts scene after founding student culture publication Orange Magazine, found that festival lineups overwhelmingly represented straight white men, a feature she said was part of a national issue at the time.

“It’s really important that in art and in culture, especially in public spaces, public festivals, public art fairs and markets, that we actually represent who lives here in Texas, who lives here in Austin,” Hervey said. “I don’t think that’s just nice to have. I think it’s a must-have because if we don’t do that, our culture doesn’t reflect our communities.”

She interviewed 50 artists, many female and queer, asking about their representation and opportunities within the Austin scene. After graduating, she invited all 50 to a meetup and ended up with a crowd of about 200. More meetups followed, and Boss Babes ATX was born. After COVID-19 caused a temporary shutdown, the organization reopened in 2021, changing its name to Future Front.

“I didn’t set out to create this thing,” Hervey said. “I set out to ask questions like, ‘does this already exist?”

Since the first Front Festival in 2016, Future Front has shifted their festival’s focus each year, a risk for any organization looking to establish a consistent reputation. This year’s tenth-anniversary edition, which runs Thursday through Sunday, will dedicate Friday’s music night at Swan Dive to hip-hop, experimental R&B and electronic artists from Texas after last year’s contemporary cumbia and electro showcase. Film night takes a more analog approach than years past, with a symphonic rock orchestra set to precede a series of short film showings at The Contemporary Austin – Laguna Gloria.

Sofia Alejandro Barrios is slated to show her short film “Pequeno Rebelde,” which celebrates the music and dance traditions of her home country, Mexico. Barrios made her Front Festival debut last year as an RTF junior. Starting as her senior thesis, “Pequeno Rebelde” features a cast consisting largely of current and former UT students. Alejandro Barrios includes herself among alums showing films Saturday.

“Future Front very much cultivates and empowers women and BIPOC creatives, even when it comes (to) outside of film,” Alejandro Barrios said. “I’ve always felt very connected and inspired by them to keep going in my creative journey.”

Meghan Ross, whose traumedy docuseries “How We Grieve” also screens its pilot Friday, started going to Future Front events during its Boss Babes infancy. She said the organization has given her opportunities to make her work visible and let her connect with a vital network of artists for the duration of her time in Austin.

“They’re constantly trying to find ways to serve the needs of local artists in a way that sometimes local government is dropping the ball on,” Ross said.

Most community arts organizations, Hervey said, don’t make it past five years. As Austin continues to price out creatives and funding streams remain constantly in flux, Future Front is looking to remain a steady presence for underrepresented artists, and Front Festival plays a key role in that presence.

“It’s a moment of discovery, a moment of connection and a moment to listen to really beautiful stories and incredible music and good art,” Hervey said.

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