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<\/p>\nUnder a state directive, the city has to get rid of the road display or risk losing state funding.<\/p>\n
AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 City leaders and advocates gathered Friday to celebrate a display honoring the work of artists of color in Austin before it disappears.<\/p>\n
The mural on East 11th Street is among six works of street art the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has ordered the city remove. The other works include the Pride crosswalks downtown and the burnt orange “TEXAS” on Guadalupe Street in front of the University of Texas at Austin campus.<\/p>\n
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The gathering to celebrate what this mural stands for took place as Americans celebrate Juneteenth. It marks the day in 1865 when Union troops announced freedom for enslaved people in Galveston.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s a day that all Americans ought to celebrate and ought to use as an opportunity to remind ourselves that we’re all in this together,\u201d Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said. \u201cWe need to recognize that our country still has a sustained history when it comes to the way African Americans have been and are treated, even today.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in October, TxDOT told cities and counties<\/a> to remove decorative crosswalks, murals, or messages that don\u2019t serve a traffic or safety purpose. TxDOT said several of the city’s painted crosswalks and street murals are “not acceptable” under state and federal rules on road markings.<\/p>\n It’s a special day for us because we can use it as an opportunity to remind ourselves that actions that are used to celebrate our diversity and to lift up the creative talents of the African American community some people would put under attack,\u201d Watson said. \u201cThe edict to take up markings on the street was done, I think, to create sadness and some division.\u201d<\/p>\n Local artists painted a “Black Artists Matter” mural in large, yellow letters down East 11th Street between Waller and Lydia streets in 2020<\/a>, amid a nationwide movement for social justice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s unfortunate that here we are in 2026, and we’re still being reminded about the kind of sadness that some people want to bring to people,\u201d Watson said. \u201cWe’re still reminded of our stained history in this country that you pray, and you wish we were past, but actions like requiring this to be pulled up showed that we’re not past it.\u201d<\/p>\n The message was painted on the road to support and acknowledge local artists of color and their contributions to Austin’s character.<\/p>\n \u201cThe African-American community has contributed so much to our city and to then come in and say you got to take that up when it’s really only a positive, there’s nothing negative about this,\u201d Watson said. \u201cI think it was done to try to demean people and to cater to people that discriminate.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n Austin celebrates display that honors the work of artists of color ahead of removal
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