Art & Parks Tour

📍 Republic Square, 422 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701

Niz

2022

As part of ongoing efforts to beautify Republic Square, the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation commissioned a mural to cover the electrical box located in the park. As part of the Writing on Walls’ ARTBOX program celebrating art, diversity, and public spaces in our community, the Foundation sought a piece that reflects downtown’s history, culture, and community. Local artist Niz transformed the industrial canvas into a work of art that speaks intergenerational equity and environmental stewardship – leaving the world a better place for the next generation.

📍 The LINE Austin, 111 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701

Sandra Chevrier & Shepard Fairey

2020

Topping out at 12 stories, this iconic mural curated by the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, affectionately called the “Wonder Woman” by Austinites, has already become a new landmark embraced and celebrated by locals and visitors alike. Canadian artist Sandra Chevrier collaborated with American street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey on the design that fuses both of their styles and incorporates a collection of illustrations that evoke the power of women and the history of women’s rights in this country.

📍 Republic Square, 422 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701

Kincannon Studios

2017

Inspired by Oaxacan black pottery, this playful, large-scale sculpture was commissioned by Austin’s Art in Public Places. Designed by local artist Holly Young-Kincannon and sculpted by master carver Joseph Drummond Kincannon of Kincannon Studios, “Blackbird” pays homage to Austin’s Mexican American community. Blackbird exists to bring good cheer, and urges the unrepresented, the broken-winged or darkened spirit to take heart and fly without fear. The sculpture is an icon of Republic Square and was selected for national recognition for public art as part of the Americans for the Arts 2019 Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review.

📍 Brush Square, 409 E 5th St., Austin, TX 78701

One of Austin’s original four squares, Brush Square has been a central public park in Austin since 1839. Brush is home to the O. Henry and Susana Dickinson Museums, both of which are free to the public to peruse.

📍 Curative, 900 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701

Britt Johnson

2023

This mural serves as Britt‘s love letter to Austin, with hands embracing the city’s nature and wildlife. It symbolizes self-love and care amid the downtown hustle, encouraging viewers to pause, breathe and appreciate the city’s offerings. The sunset and lake incorporate Curative brand colors, infusing the mural with a sense of wellness. Showcasing local flora, like purple coneflower, bluebonnets, blanket flower, and prickly pear cactus, alongside fauna, like a monarch and monk parakeet in flight, the mural aims to reveal the beauty both within Austin and within oneself.

📍 Mexic-Arte Museum, 419 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701

Rotating Artists

2023

Mexic-Arte’s El Mero Muro Program helps artists bring eye-catching murals to the Main Street of Texas, better known as Congress Avenue. With messages touching on powerful social issues and carefully created for a bilingual audience, each mural painted urges passersby to think and reflect on contemporary issues. Murals rotate out periodically and contribute to downtown’s ever-evolving landscape. As of March 2023, featured artists include Carmen Rangel, Amado Castillo III and Amado Castillo IV, Victor Meléndez and Tavo Garavato, and Mauro de la Tierra.

📍 Huston-Tilloston University, 900 Chicon Street, Austin, TX 78702

Candy Kuo

2023

Harvesting Hope by Candy Kuo kicked off the Earth Day Austin 2023 celebration at Huston-Tilloston University. Building upon the efforts of artists and activists stewarding environmental justice across the country through the Arts and Environmental Justice Capacity Building Initiative, this partnership brought together conversations, mosaic workshops in collaboration with The Mosaic Workshop ATX, and film screenings that highlighted transformative cultural practices and participatory public art that shift ecological, political, and social experiences of front-line communities.

📍 Pan American Recreation Center, 2100 E. Third St., Austin TX 78702

Raúl Valdez

Restored in 2011

Description from Black History Bike Ride’s website: The 4,000-square-foot Hillside Theater mural at the Oswaldo A.B. Cantu/Pan American Recreation Center is one of many murals Raúl Valdez created in the 1970s. The story told in the mural spans different eras, including the Aztecs, Spanish conquistadors, the Chicano civil rights movement, and contemporary life. In 2011, the city spent $52,000 restoring the mural. At the time, Valdez told the Austin American-Statesman, “It belongs to the people of East Austin. It’s a representation of what the people who lived there wanted to see.”

📍Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River St, Austin, TX 78701

J Muscaz & The Caminos Teen Leadership Program

2019-2022

The La Mujer mosaic mural was created by participants in the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (ESB MACC) Caminos teen leadership program under the guidance of local muralist J Muzacz and Caminos coordinator Frederico Geib. The mural was designed and created tile by tile to depict strong Latina leaders who have inspired our teens to reach their greatest potential. Some iconic role models featured in the mural include Selena Quintanilla, Dolores Huerta, and Emma Barrientos. The mural celebrates their courage and success as trailblazers in art, music, and dance, as well as their roles as activists, mothers, and community leaders.

📍 Veterans Blvd to E 5th St and Shady Austin, TX 78702

The Lance Armstrong Bikeway is a 5.4-mile trail network with additional sections planned for development. The Lance Armstrong Bikeway is included in CapMetro’s larger planned Red Line Trail network, which will be a 32-mile trail network running from Downtown Austin to Leander upon its completion. Cyclists along the trail can expect asphalt and concrete paths, making it easy to travel throughout and from downtown.

📍 The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center, 700 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701

Manik Raj Nakra

2023

In Man Who Fell to Earth, Nakra finds inspiration in the Greek myth of Icarus, whose hubris led him to dismiss warnings that his manmade, wax wings would melt if he flew too close to the sun. The mural’s title also pays homage to the 1976 film “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” in which David Bowie portrays an alien seeking water for his home planet, suffering from severe drought. In this panoramic scene, viewers are positioned amongst a group of animals, including a snake, a rat, and, at the center, a leopard, who watch the events transpire from afar. Nakra often uses exotic animals, particularly jungle cats, as stand-ins for the violence and greed of human history, colonial domination, and the exploitation of natural resources. Whether this scene is read as a commentary on imperialism’s effects on the environment or a hopeful vision of a landscape on the precipice of returning to nature remains up for interpretation.

📍 Old Bakery & Artisan Emporium, 1006 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701

Ruben Esquivel

Future Mural, Estimated 2024

Old Bakery & Artisan Emporium is a beloved historic site in Downtown Austin that is going through an extensive community engagement process to revitalize its park space with a new mural honoring Downtown Austin’s history. Old Bakery is home to a rich past of local entrepreneurship, stories of immigrants and movements for social change, and this future mural will pay homage to those stories. Through an artist selection process, Ruben Esquivel has been selected as the first to paint a mural at this site. After community engagement on proposed mural designs is concluded, he will begin painting in the space.

📍 Republic Square, 422 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701

POP! by Gentilhomme

On view from March 8, 2024 to March 22, 2024

Set up in the heart of Republic Square as part of the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation’s Writing on the Walls program, POP! brings you surprises, music and dance! POPO, POPUP, POPLI, POPETTE and POPOTIN are waiting for you to entice them to leave their mysterious luminous monoliths for an electrifying fiesta. There are five enigmatic monoliths where the POP! creatures live. Set them free by calling out to them, talking to them, or even by singing. As you encourage one to show itself, watch the monolith get brighter and brighter until it opens to release a creature who’s ready to put on a show. Get five people together to free the whole POP! gang at once, and you’ll get a very special surprise!

Photo credit: POP! by Gentilhomme, a production of Quartier des Spectacles Partnership in partnership with Jack World – 2023 © Ulysse Lemerise

📍 Republic Square, 422 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701

Republic Square is an active greenspace right in the heart of Downtown Austin. Featuring fitness classes, markets and much more, Republic Square is the stage for the best of what downtown has to offer. Whether you’re catching a bus, enjoying the sun, grabbing a bite at Rosen’s, or learning about the history of the park, there’s something here for everyone to enjoy.

📍Dr. Charles E. Urdy Plaza, 1021 E 11th St, Austin, TX 78702

John Yancey, Luis Alicea, and Steven B. Jones

2003

The bold colorful mosaic tiles of Rhapsody create a vibrant tribute to East Austin’s musical past. This East Austin 50-foot-long artwork commemorates the roots of blues and jazz music that blossomed in the area. This mural was part of a larger initiative called “Eleven East” which celebrates the African American histories of the area.

📍 610 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701

Ruben Sanchez

2022

Rumble by Ruben Sanchez is a full-building mural that combines the hustle and bustle of city life with the southern hospitality and weirdness of Austin. Abstract images representing the city, like horseshoes, can be seen throughout the playful and bold shapes around the building. View this mural from across the street for maximum impact or get closer for a fun photo backdrop.

📍Shoal Creek Trail, Austin, TX 78701

The Shoal Creek Trail is Austin’s oldest hike and bike trail, featuring 11 miles of pathways for folks to explore. From Shoal Creek Conservancy’s website: The creek meanders through commercial properties and neighborhoods, skirts the campuses of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and Seton Hospital near 38th Street, borders the western edge of the University of Texas, travels through Pease Park and ribbons through downtown Austin. The mouth of Shoal Creek, and the southern terminus of the trail, is located at Lady Bird Lake.

📍E 2nd St &, Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701

Josef Kristofoletti

2018

Looming over the corner of Brazos and 2nd Street and reaching 10- stories tall, you can find Austin’s vibrant tower of color, Tau Ceti. Completed in November 2018 by artist Josef Kristofoletti, this piece transforms a previously blank parking garage corner into a stunning optic experience. Sunlight from surrounding buildings refracts and corresponds with the painted gradient color spectrum throughout the day. Tau Ceti references a single star in the constellation Cetus that is spectrally similar to our own sun and uses a bold color spectrum that represents unity and diversity. This piece was honored in 2018 with national recognition for excellence by the Americans for The Arts Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review.

📍 Pease Park Conservancy, 1100 Kingsbury St, Austin, TX 78703

Mell Lawrence Architects

2021

With Pease Park’s Kingsbury Commons redesign led by Ten Eyck Landscape Architects came the debut of the ”Tree House” by Mell Lawrence Architects. The “Tree House” gives visitors an immersive tree canopy experience in the heart of Texas. On the upper level, visitors can lie down on a suspended net and look up at the flora and fauna surrounding. As the foliage around the “Tree House” matures, the structure will begin to blend in more and more with the area, blurring the line between steel and nature.

📍Pease Park Conservancy, 1100 Kingsbury St, Austin, TX 78703

Thomas Dambo

Future Sculpture Coming Spring 2024

Dambo’s mission is to teach the world to “waste no more.” Around the world, people are drowning in trash, and the planet is running out of resources. Thomas Dambo creates all his sculptures with trash, scraps, and, in other ways, recycled or repurposed materials. Austin’s troll is made mainly from wood from an old Austin water tower, has a story about the dry weather, and teaches us to share the water with the animals we share the land with.

📍301 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701

DAAS

2022

“Where the Wildflowers Grow” touches on themes of resiliency through community in an uplifting and beautiful way. This piece by DAAS inspires people to go outside and be in a space where they can root themselves with others. “Where the Wildflowers Grow” was inspired by the following quote by Micheline Ryckman in her novel, “The Maiden Ship”: “Wildflowers are the loveliest of all because they grow in uncultivated soil, in those hard, rugged places where no one expects them to flourish. They are resilient in ways a garden bloom could never be. People are the same, son – the most exquisite souls are those who survive where others cannot. They root themselves, along with their companions, wherever they are, and they thrive.”

📍900 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701

Nestled between the Austin History Center and Travis County Courthouse is Wooldridge Square, one of Ausitn’s four original public parks. Known for its significance as a popular place for public speaking and historical addresses, Wooldridge Square continues to be a place for free speech and sharing ideas near the Texas Capitol.