As Austin PBS prepares for a farewell salute to Studio 6A, the original home of storied music television program Austin City Limits, a piece of music history is being dismantled and made available for auction. Austin PBS, the public television station that produces the series, will auction panels from the historic Studio 6A Austin skyline backdrop, featured in every episode of the Peabody Award-winning series from Season 7 in 1982 to Season 36 in 2010. Legends from Willie Nelson to the Foo Fighters played to millions of PBS viewers with that skyline beaming light behind them. The iconic original skyline consists of 20 panels that will each be a separate item up for auction. Bidding starts Monday, July 12, at 10 a.m. CT and closes on July 22 at 10 a.m. CT. Proceeds raised from this online auction will support Austin PBS as it relocates operations to a new home in 2022, ushering in a new generation of public media with expanded community engagement. Register to bid at:
https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/browse.action?auctionId=341698246
This unique opportunity offers music fans a chance to own panel sections featuring the familiar images of the infamous skyline, including Austin’s Capitol building and the University of Texas tower. Images and dimensions of each panel will be included in the item description. Country superstar Garth Brooks’ sold-out pair of intimate benefit performances for Austin PBS on July 20 and July 21, 2021, Farewell to Studio 6A, will be the final performances featuring this original skyline backdrop.
The small Studio 6A soundstage on the UT campus was the birthplace of Austin City Limits, hosting the now-infamous 1974 debut taping with Willie Nelson, as well as the setting for history-making performances for its first 36 seasons, spotlighting hundreds of legendary artists and music innovators, including Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Leonard Cohen, Pearl Jam, B.B. King, Foo Fighters and more. Studio 6A was officially designated a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark in 2009. The final Austin City Limits episode in Studio 6A was taped in 2010, when the program moved to its current studio home for the last decade, ACL Live at The Moody Theater, in downtown Austin, where it will continue to be taped and is now in its 47th Season.
Austin PBS
Austin PBS, KLRU-TV is dedicated to telling stories that entertain, inspire and change lives. This community-supported public television station highlights what makes Austin unique — whether music, arts or public issues — by creating and distributing award-winning original content. Austin PBS produces Austin City Limits, Arts In Context, Central Texas Gardener, Overheard with Evan Smith and more for PBS stations across the nation. We also create online-first projects like Decibel, a community journalism initiative that seeks to amplify diverse voices in Central Texas. As a nonprofit educational organization, Austin PBS also prepares children to succeed in school and creates lifelong learning opportunities for all. Find out more at austinpbs.org.
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits (ACL) offers viewers unparalleled access to featured acts in an intimate setting that provides a platform for artists to deliver inspired, memorable, full-length performances. Now in its 47th Season, the program is taped live before a concert audience from The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Austin City Limits is the longest-running music series in television history and remains the only TV series to ever be awarded the National Medal of Arts. Since its inception, the groundbreaking music series has become an institution that’s helped secure Austin’s reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World. The historic Austin PBS Studio 6A, home to 36 years of ACL concerts, has been designated an official Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark. In 2011, ACL moved to the new venue ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. ACL received a rare institutional Peabody Award for excellence and outstanding achievement in 2012.