In summer 2024, UT Austin installed a large burnt-orange mural of the word “TEXAS” on Guadalupe Street. But on Oct. 8, 2025, Gov. Greg Abbott released an order to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to crack down on murals and other art on Texas roadways in the name of public safety, targeting “political ideologies” that included rainbow crosswalks. Other murals that have seemingly no political affiliation have also been caught in the crossfire.
Austin has until June 22 to submit a plan to bring the locations into compliance with the Oct. 8 directive. Failure to comply could result in the city losing state or federal funding. Chron has reached out to the university for comment.
UT Austin, in collaboration with the city, installed the mural of 40-foot-tall burnt orange letters to celebrate the university’s 2024 entrance into the Southeastern Conference. Located on a strip commonly known as “the Drag,” the “TEXAS” mural also covers a rainbow crosswalk that has since been allowed to fade.
“Guadalupe Street, or the Drag as we affectionately know it, is our symbolic front lawn that tens of thousands of students, faculty, staff and visitors cross every day as they come to class and to work,” then-UT President Jay Hartzell said in 2024. “How they experience our campus contributes to their pride and spirit and is important to their sense of place.”
While Abbott has said his directive is to ensure roadway safety and “to keep Texans moving safely and free from distraction,” he has also not been shy about his intention to limit what he views as art promoting “political ideologies” on Texas streets.
“Texans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, not advance political agendas on Texas roadways,” Abbott said in October.