Graffiti Scavenger Hunt

This past Saturday started out slow and relaxing.  We weren't sure quite what we were going to do for the day, until my brilliant and creative husband came up with a plan.  We've loved getting to know Austin, but were running out of ways to get to know the city beyond walking around and eating at new restaurants.   So, David came across a list of the "most photographed places in Austin", and noticed that many of them were pictures of graffiti!  It turns out that among the many attractions that help 'keep Austin weird', as they say, is the wide variety of graffiti and murals found all around the city.  

So we spent Saturday afternoon going on a graffiti scavenger hunt, finding these works of art and photographing them.  Some of them are well marked and easy to find, and some are on random corners and run down buildings.  Many of these works (the first 13 that we've documented) are now part of the Austin Official Heritage Art Collection, and some of them we just found as we went along, and thought they were cool enough to make the list too!  We took plenty of pictures (about 200!), so hopefully these ones do the works justice.  Whether you're interested in the background of the paintings, or if you just want to skim through and see some cool pictures, we've had a lot of fun putting this together and it will be a fun memory for us to look back on.  

Sidenote:  I did most of the photography, but David has worked hard to put together the collages and write most of the descriptions.  He's awesome! 

EAST AUSTIN

Sesquicentennial 

John Fisher, 1986 (Restored in 1999)

(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)

Location: Angelina Street & Rosewood Avenue

The George Washington Carver Library was opened in 1926 and is the first public library building in Austin.  It is now, also, a museum containing cultural artwork of African-Americans.  The mural on the outside was painted to depict the hardships of slaves during the middle passages.  It is a very vibrant and beautiful piece of work that can be seen by the many east siders that live or pass by here. 

Botanical Wall Lyons Mural
Angel Quesada and Lannea Brooks, October 2009
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location: Lyons Road, just East of Pleasant Valley Road

Some of these pieces of work you might be thinking: "Wow, they're just paid for artwork, not really graffiti."  If you thought that, then you are right... on just a small handful of them.  This piece of bridge artwork, while it doesn't look like your typical minds view of illegal tagging, it is just that.  Two artists created this mural in efforts to brighten up the surrounding area and were arrested on October 24, 2009, for vandalism.  Quesada posted bail, but Brooks had to spend four days in county jail.  With help from an Austin Chronicle article written by, Abe Louise Young, they were able to rally support.  The mural has since been dedicated in 2009 and is now a part of Austin's Official Heritage Collection.

'Til Death Do Us Part
Federico Archuleta, 2010
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location: 7th Street and Waller / 5th Street and Congress / 10th Street and Lamar Blvd.


This next piece of graffiti is a popular engagement picture spot.  With a male and female skull facing each other in the middle of a heart, surrounded by smaller hearts and roses, it pretty much represents the literal meaning of the marriage phrase 'til death do us part'.  The green piece was the first one to be done on a grocery store on the east side of Austin, but was recreated in red and with more detail in November 2010, right in the middle of downtown and on the same block David works on.  We thought these were the only two pieces, but stumbled across the blue one on the west side of Austin on the side of Cheapo Records and Discs store along side many other pieces of work done by the same artist, Federico (who we will talk about again a few more times in this blog).  Since we hope to be longer then 'til death do us part, we decided against taking a picture here! 

OTHER EAST AUSTIN ART

East Side Austin Wall

Artists Unknown

Location:  1704 East 5th Street

Welcome to the East Side Austin Wall of graffiti.  This is a popular place for your regular all around graffiti and tag artists.  The wall is enjoyed by many as the metro train rides right past it and there are a couple small cafe's directly across the street.

Rhapsody in East Austin Mosaic

John Yancey

Location: 11th Street and Waller

"Before there was a Sixth Street there was an Eleventh Street", says Yancey as he described the history 70 years back of East Austin being the mecca for Jazz music.  He made it clear that East Austin isn't a racial controversy, and pointed out that even the city has dedicated this area as the "negro section of town" since the 1920s.  Hence, Yancey used his artistic talent to create something that would "resonate most strongly with the community."

East Sixth Ibiz District

Justin Prince

Location: 6th Street & Waller

Just a couple blocks past the highway as you just enter the East side of Austin you'll run into this cute little mural on the side of Beunos Aires Cafe, welcoming everyone to East Austin. 

6th St. Cool Store

Location: 6th Street and Chicon Street

It was definitely cool on the East side of Austin - they even have a 6th St. Cool Store with Bob Marley and Elvis Presley gracing it's presence.

WEST AUSTIN

Hi, How Are You
Daniel Johnston, 1993
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location:  21st and Guadalupe


Meet Jeremiah the Innocent!  The artist, Daniel Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician and artist.  It was in Austin that he began to take off with his career and this frog is the same image that can be found on his 1983 album cover titled 'Hi, How Are You'.  The frog gained real notoriety when Nirvana's, Kurt Cobain, wore a shirt with the same image that is painted here.  This outline of a frog was done in 1993 when Craig Koon, the owner of the former Sound Exchange record store, commissioned Daniel Johnston to paint it on the store's wall for $100 and all the records he could carry.  Given a ladder and black paint, we now have Jeremiah the Innocent, a friendly fellow that contributes greatly to the "Keep Austin Weird" slogan and is a very loved piece of work by the local citizens of Austin.  In 2004 the building was taken over by a Baja Fresh restaurant (now Crave Thai & Sushi Bar) that began to remove the mural.  Luckily, Dan Solomon, a local resident decided to spontaneously protest, making headlines in the news which in turn convinced the owners to keep the mural intact.  Jeremiah the Innocent is now a popular places for photographs, appears on many shirts, and was the inspiration for a Frogger-like game for the iPhone.

Austintatious Mural
Kerry Awn, Rick Turner, and Tommy Bee, 1974
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location: 23rd Street & Guadalupe

One of the older pieces of Austin city art we came across, this mural depicts Texas, Austin and pop-culture in an especially creative way.  The artist actually grew up and went to school in the area, and they decided to do the mural to liven up the area.  They finished it in a month, and the finished product included things that represented the community and culture.  You can see in the center is Stephen F. Austin, after whom Austin was named, the Capitol Building, and other famous Austin buildings.  In 1982 they added some images to represent pop-culture at the time, such as Pac-man.
The artists intended for it to be living art, adding new Texas icons as they came along. According to an Austin Chronicle article in 1998, Awn says, "Everything on there, in that whole mural, every little person and thing represents something. We didn't just go in and throw stuff on there. We always thought of it as a living thing we could update every few years. Kind of like a living mural. That's still what we think, and the mural needs a touch-up as it is. We could touch up the colors, brighten it up, add a few things like a cell phone. Put a sport utility vehicle in the hills. There's probably not even a salamander in there. To me, though, the Drag is still the same as it was back then. You can still go down and find some weirdos."

This was on the other side of the street from the Austintatious mural.  It's a shame there's a tree running through it, but it's a great depiction of all of Texas.  It highlights the big cities and some of their landmarks, the rivers and general layout of the land.  Pretty impressive, right?

The Drag Murals: Varsity Theater Mural (Tower Records) / Former Intellectual Property Stencils / Wells Fargo Building Mural
Carlos Lowry, Federico Archuleta, Jesse Treviño
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location: 24th & Guadalupe


We said we'd refer to Federico (the guy who did the skulls) again, and here is some more of his work.  Guadalupe Street is lined with fun, eclectic little shops and restaurants, and these images only add to the atmosphere.  We've put together a collage of the many different images found on the corner of 24th and Guadalupe.  Federico stenciled the images of many famous artists on each of the pillars along Guadalupe, including Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash, ZZ Top, Bob Dylan and lots more!

On the South side of this corner (and the top left of our collage) is the Varsity Theater Mural done by Carlos Lowry.  This mural has been threatened with destruction several times, the most remarkable of which was in 1990 when Tower Records took over the building and planned to tear the mural down.  Once again, Austinites fought for its preservation, and even rallied for a boycott against Tower Records!  Their voice was heard and the mural remained.  When paint began to peel and chain restaurants took over the corner, the mural had to be restored.  Unfortunately Lowry was too ill to do the work himself at the time, but he did provide sketches for the original work to be restored.

Just opposite the street, the Wells Fargo building contains Jesse Treviño's beautiful mural to help make Austin a pretty place.

Genesis
Seymour Fogel, 1950
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location:  402 W. & 22nd Street

This piece of art is on the doorway of the University Baptist Church.  It is a beautiful 'fresco-style' painting with hands in prayer below a dove and depicting a "swirling display of melding orbs and concentric circles that represents a marriage of the earth, the ocean, and the heavens".  The quote on the side of mural is the scripture verse: "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth" Genesis 1:1

OTHER WEST AUSTIN ART

The Foundation at Castle Hill

Artists Unknown

Location:  Baylor Street & 11th Street

Welcome to the West Side of Austin where they have their own wall for graffiti artists to do work on.  It is the sight of an unfinished building foundation (hence it's name) which makes for a great unique place to show off ones artistic talents.  The west side seems to be more artistic with their murals then the east side that seemed to be a little more traditional graffiti.  This place has now officially become Global Hope Outdoor Gallery with information on how to reserve a spot for you to do your own masterpiece.

Co-op Texas Longhorns National Champions
Nate Nordstrom and Jason Schmidt, 2006
Location: 2210 Nueces Street

David's obvious favorite piece of work was spotted on our way home from our great graffiti scavenger hunt.  It is a giant graffiti style mural in honor of the 2005 Rose Bowl National Champions, yours truly, the Texas Longhorns.  It is colored in burnt orange with the longhorn, cheerleaders, Vince Young, and even a burnt orange Hulk.  It is painted on the back of the parking garage for the University Co-op, the University of Texas version of the Bookstore, where a giant statue of a longhorn graces the back doors into the shop.  It was pretty sweet to say the least.

Federico Archuleta

Cheapo Records and Discs
Location: 10th Street and Lamar Blvd.

As you have already seen thus far, Federico Archuleta is a big name artist in Austin where his art work has been given the title of "Tex-Mex-Sexy".  Our third surprise finding of the blue 'til death do us part' piece of work, found on the Cheapo Records and Discs store as stated previously, was surrounded by many other Federico originals (many of which can be found throughout the city).  Works include quotes by Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr., depictions of Louis Armstrong, music notes, and many other pieces that fit nicely with the music theme of the store.

Dylan and Louis
Location: 2538 Guadalupe Street

Just down the street from the famous stencil works on the restaurant, The Hole In the Wall, Federico made a full life-size version of Bob Dylan with the a quote from Dylan's famous song Subterranean Homesick Blues: "Don't need a weather-man to know which way the wind blows".  He stands on the corner with Louis Armstrong right next to him and music notes wrapping around the remainder of the restaurant.

SOUTH AUSTIN

Chevron Food Mart Mural
Russell W. Reid, 2005
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location: Riverside and South Congress


This impressive mural is made up of iconic images of Austin.  On the left side is a depiction of Stevie Ray Vaughn, a famous Texas musician, whose statue is found along the side of Town Lake.  Behind him is found the South Congress Bridge, along with its usual inhabitants, a flock of bats.  Also in the background is an image of the Capitol Building.  Running through the painting is the Colorado River, and on the far right is the University of Texas Tower, which is lit up in orange after UT victories.  And of course, these the Chevron Food Mart is beautifully framed by this depiction of Austin.

i love you so much
Amy Cook, January 2011
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location: West James Street and South Congress, on the side of Jo's Coffee

This graffiti is a love note from a local musician, Amy Cook, to her friend Liz Lambert.  The note is spray painted on the side of Jo's Coffee shop that Liz is a majority owner of.  The reason for the note is just as simple as the piece of work, Liz was having a bad day.  So, in the middle of the night in July 2010, Amy went to Jo's Coffee and spray painted this message to make her friend feel better.  Unfortunately, on January 24, 2011, the message was vandalized with X's painted over the 'ove'.  Two days later the owners painted over the message with green paint.  This stirred a huge public response of pictures of the art on Jo's Coffee's Facebook page which in turn prompted Cook to redo her work in January 2011.  The message is obviously cute and has thus become a popular place for couples and engagement pictures.  We even felt we should get a nice family picture ourselves!

Austin Postcard
Billy Brakhage & Rory Skagen, 1997
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location:  South First and West Annie Street


Not only is Austin THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD, but it is also very welcoming too.  There is obviously a lot of great places to see and things to do, so how else do you tell or show your far away friends and family about them all?  You send them a postcard of perfectly Photoshopped sights and scenes of the city of course!  This 10'X20' mural is of a vintage postcard of Austin with iconic pictures of local landmarks within the letters of 'AUSTIN', such as: the Lake, University of Texas, the Capitol building, downtown and the Texas Flag.  It can also be found in the video Texas, released by and featuring Russell Crowe's band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (2001).  Obviously, this is a very popular place to get pictures at for both those that are from Austin and those visiting, which includes us!

Austin Cartoon Tribute
Kerry Awn (Assistants: Jim Franklin, Tommy Bee, Rick Turner), March 2011
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location: 1516 B South Lamar Blvd.


On the back wall of the outdoor stage at the South Austin Popular Culture Center stands a fun painting of popular cartoon characters.  Some of the more notable characters are: Jeremiah the Innocent (who will be talked about later), Yosemite Sam from Looney Toons, as well as some sights and buildings from around Austin (i.e. the Capitol, The University of Texas Tower, and the Austinatious Mural which will be talked about later as well).

South Austin Music Mural
Aaron Sacco, 2007
(AUSTIN OFFICIAL HERITAGE ART COLLECTION)
Location: 1402 South Lamar Blvd.


The owner of the South Austin Music store asked Aaron Sacco to complete a mural for the 20th Anniversary of the store, and this was the result.  30 different local musicians decorate this 40-foot wall, including Alejandro Escovado, Guy Forsyth, and Kevin Fowler.  The mural made us wish we knew who those people were!  There's one more excuse to listen to some good music!

OTHER SOUTH AUSTIN ART

Virgin Mary
Federico Archuleta
Location: Elizabeth Street and South Congress Ave.

You might be getting sick of Federico, or you might not.  If not, you definitely won't mind Austin, where his art can be found pretty much everywhere.  One last famous piece that is popular and gets attention is his works of the Virgin's de Guadalupe, el Milagro and Mary.  Each can be found in separate parts of town and each look pretty similar to exact if you ask us.

Mujer Fatale Mural

Shepard Fairey, March 2009

Locations: 1415 South Congress Ave. / 4th Street & Neuces Street

Shepard Fairey is probably most famous for his Barrack Obama "Hope" posters, but he has some notable works here in Austin as well.  For instance he has a piece of work down on the The Foundation at Castle Hill that was talked about earlier.  He also put up a couple of Mujer Fatale Mural's throughout the city for the South By South West (SXSW) Concert.  The two most visited are at the famous Home Slice Pizza restaurant in South Austin and on the side of the bike shop owned by Lance Armstrong: Mellow Johnny's.

OTHER CENTRAL AUSTIN ART

O. Henry
Location: 5th and Brazos

David strongly believes we should go out to eat at restaurants, and would everyday if we were rich.  He loves homemade meals, but thinks that restaurants have a magical feeling to them when you eat there.  Wherever we go he thinks the most important part of the trip is to try the food.  If you don't know by now, you should be aware that he made a "Austin Eats' list as soon as we got here.  It is labeled from Green (must try ASAP) to Yellow (must try after the green ones) to Red (must try if at all possible); all are MUST TRY.   I had to take a picture of this, because it describes David PERFECTLY: "By nature and doctrines I am addicted to the habit of discovering choice place wherein to feed" - O. Henry  

Live Music Capital of the World
Location: 6th Street, just East of San Jacinto Blvd.

As you may have heard Austin, Texas is the Live Music Capital of the World!  This is a popular photo area right on the famous downtown strip called 6th Street that is lined with nothing but bars and clubs (It has the most bars per capita, even more then Bourbon Street, New Orleans.).  This street shuts down for pedestrians only on the weekends and is a hot spot for night life... so we've heard.

Dang!  We... Doin Thangs
Josh Row
Location: 6th Street & Frontage Road (I-35)

This was just a cool graffiti wall at the major public parking lot at the edge of the city near the I-35 highway.