Affordable Housing Project Centers Disabled Artists in East Austin

For Patch Hickey, finding a place to live and create in Austin wasn’t a given.

The landscape painter, who has a traumatic brain injury and borderline personality disorder, moved to the city in May. He now lives at Live Make Apartments, a new East Austin housing complex designed for low-income and disabled artists.

"This place offers peer support, nearby people to help me operate and figure things out that my brain just can’t do on its own," Hickey said.

His work now hangs alongside other residents’ paintings and ceramics in the building’s shared gallery space.

Live Make Apartments opened four months ago and has already served nearly 90 residents. The 66-unit development offers income-based housing, art studios, creative programming, and job readiness support. It’s open to individuals earning 30%, 50%, or 60% of Austin’s median income — about $52,000 for a single person — with rent for a one-bedroom capped at $1,050 per month.

The $19 million development, which received $6.5 million in city funding through the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, is managed by Valhalla Management. The ground floor — featuring more than 8,000 square feet of art space — is operated by Imagine Art, a nonprofit that supports artists with disabilities in Austin.

Debbie Kizer, Imagine Art’s founder, said the project "uses art to change the way affordable housing happens."

Imagine Art’s work spans back to 1996, when Kizer first founded the organization. The nonprofit, while taking some donations, partners with city offices and volunteer organizations like Americorps to support its operations.

Over the years, Imagine Art has provided economic support and accessible art studios for disabled artists, and the Live Make project consolidates all those resources into one facility.

Beyond housing, Live Make creates an intentional community for disabled artists, offering a space tailored to their needs and supporting their role in Austin’s art scene. That community extends beyond residents. Edward Arevalo, an artist in residence at Live Make, works with tenants to refine their skills — particularly in drawing.

"We’re always encouraging the artists that we serve to do better, try something new," he said.

While the Live Make complex may be a major milestone for disabled artists in Austin, Kizer believes it also serves as a model for improving accessibility statewide — from long-term care and job readiness to food security and affordable housing.

In Texas, where state-supported living centers for people with disabilities have drawn criticism for neglect and abuse, Kizer sees Live Make as a baseline for how accessibility can be reimagined.

"Instead of having these abusive, segregated settings that are failing people with disabilities, we can pivot and create inclusive environments where people with disabilities are positioned as leaders," Kizer said.