Meet Moontower: Christie Zangrilli

Christie has always had a love for design in a variety of forms. Her core inspiration stems from growing up in a very DIY household. Her dad is a restaurant entrepreneur and her mom wears the titles of artist, maker, and builder who was able to make her husband’s restaurant visions come to life. Whatever they needed her mom simply created, from the menus to the art on the walls. Whether it is innate or learned through watching her parents, the instinct to create and seek solutions inside of herself has continued as a driving force.

That instinct carried her into a career in graphic design where she ran her own studio for 12 years before starting Party at the Moontower alongside one of her closest friends, Tenaya Hills.

Where are you from?
State College, PA (Happy Valley!)

What is your creative background?
I am a graphic and web designer by trade. I also studied experience design and architecture in grad school, where I got my MFA in Design.

Tell us about your family?
I have a 3.5-year-old and am amazing, talented filmmaker husband. I am one of 4 kids in my family, which always make for lively holidays!

How did you get to Austin?
Growing up in central Pennsylvania, I didn’t know anything about Austin until my high school best friend went to UT for college (and she still lives here with me today!). Years later, when I was looking at grad schools it turned out that UT had a great MFA program. I knew I loved the city from my visits to see my BFF and I thought it would be refreshing to get out of NYC for a little. I met my husband 3 months after moving here and the rest is history.

What cocktail are you currently ordering?
Ranch Water (Tequila, Topo and lots of limes).

What’s your ultimate party song?
Not too long ago, I would have said anything Michael Jackson, but sadly I just can’t anymore… Another favorite go-to song is Dance Yrself Clean by LCD Soundsystem. A more recent fav from the past year is I Like It by Cardi B 🙂

What is an activity you do to restore creativity?
I love to dive into reading about and looking at artists’ work from my favorite art movements. It always throws me into a rabbit hole of discovering and rediscovering artistic works that inspire me. That inspiration then jumpstarts the creative clockwork in my mind and reminds me of my own creative process.

What is your favorite piece of Moontower furniture?
I suppose it’s our Negroni Chair. My partner and I initially got excited about doing this business because of the lack of options in the market for beautiful dining chairs. They’re a small detail that most people might not notice, but they pay off in the overall vibe they bring to an event, which is sort of an intangible thing.

What is your most-used emoji?

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