'Black Artists Matter' mural painted in the heart of historic East Austin neighborhood
East Austin:
In many ways, development has displaced the cultural arts traditions of East Austin, long the home of the city’s Black community. Now, its champions — Black artists, creatives and community leaders — are working to restore that soul.
Capitol View Arts and the Austin Justice Coalition, with support from local artists and dozens of volunteers from the Austin area, painted a ‘Black Artists Matter’ mural on East 11th Street the morning of Thursday, June 18 2021.
“For over nine years, Capitol View Arts has worked with urban artists, particularly in East Austin neighborhoods. In a city where the black population is overlooked, our purpose through this mural is to show continued support and acknowledgment of black artists and their contribution to Austin's legacy and character,” notes Clifford Gillard, Founder and President of Capitol View Arts.
Design of Black Artists Matter street mural on East 11th Street
The mural is part of a string of recent gestures - both concrete and symbolic - by the City of Austin to prove its commitment to righting the social wrongs of the City’s past, which include reinforcing racist deed covenants specifically in East Austin.
In the months following the, “Black Artists Matter” mural, the City voted unanimously to approve an expansion in funding for the Carver Museum, a Cultural and Genealogy Center focusing on the histories of People of Color in East Austin.
The City of Austin has also contracted with Capitol View Arts in the amount of $55,000 as a part of the Economic Development Department’s Art in Public Places program. And in July 2021, the Live Music Fund Event Program was announced, prioritizing grant opportunities for musicians and culture bearers in historically underserved communities.
Resolutions focusing on racial reconciliation continue to move through City Counsel halls - with proposals in discussion for historical significance markers, new street names and murals, low-income live-work artist housing, along with the development and creation of a cultural arts center in the 1100 block of East 11th Street, where jazz artist and music historian Harold McMillan has operated Kenny Dorham’s Backyard for 14 years.
Beck-Reit has worked in East Austin for over 20 years now, and although it’s great to see these symbols of social change coming from the powers that be, we know real change requires hard work and determination. We only hope the City can make good on its promises to our East Austin community and enact the real change this new mural seeks to precipitate.
Read up on the full story about Austin’s historic African American population, how the City helped enact it's decline, and what change advocates and community leaders are seeking in this recent Austin American Statesman article by Deborah Sengupta Stith.