Texas – Austin (Jul 1-5, 2020)

We are continuing to move throughout Texas during the pandemic and still social distancing. This week we returned to Austin, Texas State Capital again. If you want to see what we did last year, check out our page from last year when we visited the Texas State Capitol: https://www.ciminoadventures.com/?p=4859

We stayed at the KOA Austin East RV Resort. The dog park was huge here and Dublyn enjoyed running around it. We have never had a dog park this big before. We wish all the dog parks was this big.

Anyhow, we realized from our last post we didn’t mention what was so great about Austin. “Austin is routinely lauded as one of the best places to live in the U.S., thanks to its warm weather, affordable housing and bustling cultural scene.” We have heard that Austin is trying to become the next Silicon Valley. Austin is emerging as the next leader in tech development. The triggers for this include affordable housing, the burgeoning population of tech professionals and the influx of national and global tech firms. H.E.B. is the largest employer in Austin and of course Dell’s HDQ is nearby in Round Rock.

Notice the 2013 copyright symbol in the corner? Cool

We were social distancing and wearing masks. Texas requires you to wear a mask if you outside your home – several exceptions, including for children who are younger than 10 years old, people who have a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask, people who are eating or drinking, and people who are exercising outdoors. So when others are around we wear our masks. We are healthy!

We came again to Austin to specifically see Lorraine’s niece, Samantha and nephew, Sean. Unfortunately, we could not see Samantha and her family but were able to spend some time with Sean, his wife Sara and their 2 month old son, Sterling. We had a great time catching up with them.

On Saturday, we spent a lot of time looking at murals (street art) that apparently last year we didn’t get to do because we were too busy with the Capitol. Unfortunately, once again, we were not able to see LBJ’s library because it was closed due to the pandemic.

Of course, you probably could spend a week in Austin and still NOT see all the murals. This town is jam packed with them and there are many different types of art here giving it an eclectic feel. So pull up a drink (and a brownie) and browse through all of the ones we did get to.

We hope you enjoy the “few” we found.

Wonder Woman – the massive new mural at the intersection of Congress and Cesar Chavez seems like an ad for a superhero movie. This is to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.The iconic image tears open the mural as if it were a poster, revealing another woman’s face whose eyes could cut right through the rush-hour traffic down below. Strong like Wonder Women, this figure represents every woman.
The 100-foot-tall mural, completed in just five days, is a collaboration between French Canadian artist Sandra Chevrier and Shepard Fairey of “Obey Giant” fame

As mentioned, Austin is artsy and even on the side of a home there is art.

there is always a Yesterday, Today and a Tomorrow

This painting has great color in addition to the great art.

This entire wall is mural. Love the horse and the plants at the top. What imagination

This is a reproduction of your printer color test page.

So is the buffalo standing on a person? or is that a megaphone?

Mountains and buffalo. Pretty cool how it almost looks 3D

Another mural about welcoming you to Texas from the Gueros Taco Bar which has a large menu, salsa bar & hand-shaken margaritas in a landmark building with a patio. Located at 1412 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX

In Austin, they feel everyone is a neighbor.

Lorraine liked this mural. Not to bold and it sure took talent to make it look washed out

This was cute with kids playing leap frog over the fire hydrant

And they even paint the traffic light boxes on the side of the road.

Side of the Threadgill Restuarant . (They love painting everywhere)

Many stories on this wall that was painted by several artists. We could not find out about it even with Google Lens. The lady with the peace sign is Dolores Huerta who is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez, is a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW). This part of the mural was painted by Muralist J. Muzacz aims to teach a fair portrayal of history to Texas youth.

This is more of the picture above. Can’t imagine the thought process to put all these pictures together.

Another alley wall with many different murals. It is interesting that a wall is shared with many artists

Willie seems to a favorite in Austin. May murals with him

Now we are talking about street side walls. This is so cool

Next are several alley portraits. These are not all of them.

Colorful and great mural. Many were stopping to take pictures with this one.

Huge wall with a great picture. Awesome art

This called Graffiti Park (Hope Outdoor Gallery) at Castle Hill at 1101 Baylor Street. The famous graffiti park opened in 2011 and was one of the most photographed places in Austin.
The park is expected to reopen near the Austin airport in the summer of 2019. The new location at Carson Creek Ranch will feature a bigger installation for people to check out.

more of the hillside. They have it fenced off. Austin institution that sadly closed earlier this year, is set to open its new location in 2020.
The gallery, previously located at Baylor Street near Lamar Boulevard, secured a site near the Austin Bergstrom International Airport and Carson Creek. The Statesman reported the graffiti park will open in the fall of 2020.

The 👨‍🚀 Astronaut Pizza 🍕 mural by @mikejohnstonartist at Wood fire brick oven Austin, TX

This mural by Chris Rogers depicting Black history at the corner of 12th and Chicon streets was previously covered by white paint. The neighborhood came together to reclaim this piece of East Austin’s identity. Finally, after countless meetings and an avalanche of input from lifelong residents and newcomers alike, Rogers was recommissioned to complete a second piece at the corner.
Staring at his 20-by-60-foot stone canvas on that brisk, sunny winter day, Rogers felt as if all of Austin were looking over his broad shoulders as he gently dipped his brush for the first time. This wasn’t just about him or his art. It was a chance to restore a sense of wholeness to a beleaguered block that, long before his paint came along, had seen its share of trauma. You can read more about it here: https://www.austinmonthly.com/a-tale-of-two-murals-at-12th-and-chicon/

Last but not least is our Love from Austin to you.

So that is really a short story about the art in Austin. We missed hundreds more. If you got to this part of the posting, congratulations. We hope your brownie was delicious.

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