Jacob's Well, Barton Springs and other endangered 'sacred springs' highlight of kite exhibit

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Jacob's Well was once one of the most prestigious water holes in Central Texas. Drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors, the spring-fed pool is a bright spot in the Hill Country. In recent years, droughts and increased population have crippled the spring. In 2023, it stopped flowing for the sixth time since the summer of 2000.

It is just one of the springs featured in a new art exhibit on display at St. Edward's University this month. The Sacred Springs Kite Exhibition was created by The Watershed Association in hopes of shining a light on the local watering holes once held sacred by indigenous people in the region.

Moira Martin, Ph. D., an Associate Professor of Psychology at St. Edwards, brought the exhibit to the school. It has previously been hosted at Austin's Airport, the Central Library and in San Marcos.

In the exhibit, more than 45 kites adorn the walls. Some kites are small, only a few inches in length. Others are over two stories tall. Each represents Central Texas' many springs.

Kites as art

"The works don't just sit on on the wall, I mean, they literally come off the wall, they're hanging from the ceiling. They're hanging from all these different angles, some on the wall, some over the window," said Topher Sipes, one of the artists behind the kites.

Sipes, a former glass bottom boat pilot at The Meadows Center in San Marcos, based his kite design on travel posters from the mid-century.

"(It is) an image of Spring Lake in San Marcos, Texas with a glass bottom boat on it. In the mid-ground in the background, you kind of see the trees on the edge of the Texas Hill Country."

Transforming a library into a cathedral

The "sacred" motif of the exhibit is carried into the library itself. Kites with intricate patterns are draped over windows. "During certain times of day, when the sun comes in, it's almost like stained glass," Sipes said.

Martin said that part of the reason she invited the exhibit to St. Edward's was to help students engage with nature. This month, workshops will be held in the library where students can build their own kites out of sustainable materials.

These workshops all lead towards Earth Week at the end of April.

"We're gonna have activities that whole week culminating with the kites that students have made (being flown). Symbolizing kind of, like I say, sort of love prayers for the earth," Martin said.

Water crisis in Texas

The state has seen many springs dry up in recent years. The Ogallala Aquifer in the Texas Panhandle has seen rapid decline and likely won't refill.

In 2022, experts with the Hill Country Alliance warned that local water supplies were approaching a "tipping point" as a result of rapid development and ongoing droughts. These droughts will likely become more extreme and grow more frequent as a result of climate change.

Thankfully, Jacob's Well is flowing again. In January, the Hays County Parks Department announced on social media that rain that month had brought flow back to the spring.

"It's not a new problem, but this generation feels the weight of it in a really strong way. They didn't create it, but they're inheriting it," Martin said.