Like a phoenix… as we continue our quest for a permanent home, we have found a temporary solution to serve our own art making and the Austin performing and visual arts communities, as we always have, the best we can.

Welcome to CRASHBOX. We will only be here a few years.

THE SPACE

5305 Bolm Rd. #12, Austin, TX 78721

CRASHBOX is a 1500 square foot climate-controlled studio outfitted for rehearsals and small casual performances with a house size of approximately 40 seats and limited electrics capacity. The space features one restroom and an enclosed lobby. The lobby has a rolling garage door, but no climate control. CRASHBOX is fully accessible.

SPACE-USE

To make a space-use inquiry, please fill out the Venue Booking Inquiry form on this page. If you have trouble with the embedded form, you can access it here.

NONPROFIT / ARTIST RATES

If you are an artist / nonprofit organization and you cannot afford these rates, we will try to work with you.
If you are a private individual or a commercial renter, please contact us for rates.

RENTAL INVENTORY

Rude Mechs runs a lending library of scenic, properties and costume elements for community use. Contact us for an idea of what’s available.

The entire inventory listed below is free to use in the space. Rental rates apply when anything is taken off site.

• 6 5′ conference room tables (on wheels, hinged for storage) (good shape)
• 9 conference chairs (decent)
• 32 stackable plastic chairs (like new)
• 60 brown restaurant chairs (very used)
• 30 metal folding chairs (shabby chic)

Light Gear inventory and rental rates upon request.

Sound Gear inventory and rental rates upon request.

Dance floor inventory and rental rates upon request.

Projection Gear inventory and rental rates upon request.

HISTORY OF RUDE STUDIOS AND THE OFF CENTER BEFORE THAT

Rude Mechs had an 18-month lease on five rooms in The Austin American-Statesman warehouse that ended December 31, 2018.

On June 14th, 2017, we held an open-house in that space to find out from the artists that attended what kind of space they need most and how much they can afford to pay for it. And because it is part of our mission to create community space that is affordable, we honored their needs. Folks mostly indicated cheap rehearsal space was their biggest priority, so the rates below were based on those conversations

On May 31, 2017, we closed the doors on The Off Center – a 10,000 sf warehouse we operated for seventeen years. The Off Center was home to over 150 performing and visual artists and roughly 15,000 arts patrons walked through our doors each year. The Off Center featured a 100-seat performance space, a rehearsal studio / classroom, our administrative offices, a scene shop and scenic lending library, and five visual and performing artist studios.

In 2012, the property was acquired by The University of Texas at Austin from Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority via land-swap. We traded 10 years of options on the lease to slow the 400% increase in rent from an immediate increase to an incremental increase over that last 5-year rental term. We were told the neighboring charter school would expand onto that property. We were denied the option to remain month-to-month until that occurred. The building was razed almost immediately upon our exit, and the land remains in that state. Hook ’em.