Visit Your City - Graffiti Park, Austin, TX

The Hope Outdoor Gallery, Austin, TX

Austin's unofficial motto is "Keep Austin Weird." Today, it seems more a desperate plea than a slogan as one oddity after another in the city is demolished to make room for condos to house tech workers.

The Hope Outdoor Gallery, Austin, TX

So, when I heard that Graffiti Park (aka The Hope Outdoor Gallery) was going to be replaced with a multi-unit housing development, I was saddened, but not surprised. This landmark is a great symbol of Austin's free spirit. Artists and taggers alike display their works on the many concrete walls at the abandoned site in the Castle Hill neighborhood.

The Hope Outdoor Gallery, Austin, TX

It turns out that while this location will no longer house The Hope Outdoor Gallery, the entire installation will not be lost. All of the walls at the park will be thoroughly documented for preservation at the Austin History Center. 

The Hope Outdoor Gallery, Austin, TX

Only one of the walls at the park will be moved to the new, permanent location near the airport at Carson Ranch. This new location will be much bigger at six acres and have almost 50,000 square feet of additional wall space for exhibits. So, in the end, most of the current exhibit at The Hope Outdoor Gallery will be lost forever. But, on the other hand, the exhibit was always changing anyway, with artists adding new paintings over old ones all the time.

The Hope Outdoor Gallery, Austin, TX

If you go: The current location at 1012 Baylor Street, just off North Lamar, will only be open until June, so go soon if you want to see the original space. There is parking on the street at the site, but watch for signs, in some places parking is restricted. Also, be respectful of the artists and don't paint over other's works. And, please clean up after yourself. One of the depressing things about the site is all the discarded spray paint cans that have been discarded on the ground.  

The Hope Outdoor Gallery, Austin, TX

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