Spray paint cans were once again rattling Friday at the HOPE Outdoor Gallery.<\/p>\n
After years of delay, Austin’s landmark graffiti park reopened on a 17-acre site near the airport. The property is part art park, part cultural events center. It features work from more than 30 artists inside the 6,000-square-foot gallery and on mural walls. <\/p>\n
There’s also a cafe and shop where one could buy, say, spray paint to tag the gallery’s outer walls. <\/p>\n
On opening day, visitors painted robots, band names, eyeballs and Labubus in all colors and sizes. Friends lifted friends up on shoulders to add finishing touches. Children gleefully sprayed purples and reds back and forth with wild abandon.<\/p>\n
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Lorianne Willett<\/p>\n
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KUT News<\/p>\n
Erik Williams tags a wall at the new gallery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that there’s different calibers of artists here,\u201d Antonio Delgado said as he watched his family attack the walls. \u201c[There are] some new artists, some younger artists and then more formally trained artists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delgado used to live on Baylor Street, three blocks away from the original graffiti park in the Clarksville neighborhood. He said he would often go and watch people make art.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’d sit and song write there all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a lot of fond memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he was sad when the site closed in 2019, but he was excited to bring his family to the new location. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to see inside that we have this … formal space that’s championing mural art,\u201d he said, \u201cand then outside we’ve got space where we can just play and have fun and practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Lorianne Willett<\/p>\n
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KUT News<\/p>\n
Visitors to the HOPE Outdoor Gallery can buy spray paint to create pieces and practice on the outer walls of the new site. <\/p>\n
Some visitors, including local artist Eddie Martinez, brought their own paint. With his dog Bonnie at his side, he finished up a mural that said \u201cTe amo para siempre\u201d in big block red letters with bubbly blue clouds behind them.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have been taking pictures with it, posing with it, so it’s pretty cool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A temporary exhibit turned long term<\/p>\n
Andi Scull, founder and creative director of the gallery, said people were already waiting to get in an hour before opening Friday. <\/p>\n
“We’re back,” she said. <\/p>\n
She’s eager to bring back the old vibe, too \u2014 one that’s all about creating safe places for the creative community to come together. <\/p>\n
The original HOPE Outdoor Gallery was supposed to be temporary when it opened in 2010. <\/p>\n
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