I have lived and worked in Bee Cave, Texas since February 28, 2017. Not far from home is Hill Country Galleria and the Bee Cave Arts Foundation. As you may have noticed from my Instagram account, I enjoy taking photographs with my iPhone, and I frequently use them in my blog posts and on my social media platforms. In the case of Bee Cave specifically, I often share my photos on my Yelp Elite profile.

In summer 2020, I received an invitation to submit photographs to the “Dark Skies Exhibition.” In brief, the City of Bee Cave wished to become an IDA Dark Sky Community, one “that commits and demonstrates dedication to the preservation of the night sky through the implementation and enforcement of a quality outdoor lighting ordinance, dark sky education, and citizen support of dark skies. This exhibition will celebrate dark skies and the benefits they bring to our health, wildlife, and climate.”

To learn more about the International Dark-Sky Association, follow the link.

Two of my iPhone Instagram photos were included in the exhibition. “The jury panel were impressed with the variety and quality of the submissions. Jury selections were made with the goal of promoting dark sky awareness and making the importance of the night sky a focus point for the exhibition. The jury panel selected your following submissions for the 2020 Dark Skies Exhibition: Cielo Moon Rise and Moon Over Bee Cave.” The exhibition has now ended, but I wanted to say how much I enjoyed being a part of it. It was great fun, and this activity also illustrates the importance of community arts organizations like Bee Cave Arts Foundation, which foster and encourage the creation of art by “locals.”

By way of follow-up, in September 2021, Community Impact Newspaper noted:

Across the more remote pockets of Hill Country, several communities are looking to attract tourism dollars and increase the quality of life for residents by utilizing a precious, shrinking natural resource—darkness—or rather, the absence of artificial light.

With the authorization of a recent state bill, Senate Bill 1090, cities across Texas can again apply for a designation of a Dark Sky Community from the International Dark-Sky Association. In order to attain that title, a town must enact certain restrictive lighting regulations on residential, municipal and commercial properties—something cities were unintentionally barred from doing through a 2019 bill.

Update April 2023

Bee Cave has been certified as an International Dark Sky Community. Read more by following the link!

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I moved to Bee Cave in February 2017. Since then, I have been taking iPhone photographs of the area, including stunning sunrises and sunsets. To see my photo album, follow the link to Flickr.