The Cesar Chavez mural that welcomed people to East Austin is gone.
The mural was painted over this week, leaving the side of a building at the corner of Cesar Chavez Street and Waller Street blank.
Its removal comes a week after a New York Times investigation revealed multiple allegations of sexual assault by Chavez against young women and girls, including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.
Eric Barth, a co-owner of the building who runs his architecture firm from it, said the decision to paint over the mural was a result of the allegations.
“We felt like it was no longer something that we wanted to be associated with the business,” Barth said. “That was a discussion we had with the community leaders and the neighborhood leaders.”
In 2023, Arte Texas, a group that restores neighborhood murals, worked on the Cesar Chavez project with local artist Tanner Martinez. After years of vandalization, the restoration gave the mural an updated look and a new quote associated with the farm worker movement. Bertha Rendon Ortiz, the founder of Arte Texas, said Chavez’s face and legacy have always been there.
“I’ve been here 46 years and we’ve always seen that mural,” she said. “When you enter the East Austin neighborhood you would see Cesar Chavez’s face, you would see a field, you would see farm workers and you would see the message ‘Si Se Puede’. It was iconic.”
Rendon Ortiz said it is heartbreaking to see the mural be painted over.
“He was our hero, he gave us hope,” she said.
Austin organizers and city leaders were also quick to respond to the allegations. The annual Cesar Chavez parade and celebration scheduled for Saturday was canceled. Austin City Council members said they would explore renaming Cesar Chavez Street.
Gov. Greg Abbott also directed all Texas state agencies to not observe Cesar Chavez Day on March 31. The Texas Education Agency followed suit and directed schools to “cancel or otherwise redirect events and activities tied to Chavez.”
Cities across Texas and the nation have responded in similar ways.
Barth said the wall will remain blank until the building owners and the community can help decide what should replace the image of Chavez, though he doesn’t expect another mural to go up soon.