I met other members of the Art Hikes Meetup at the HOPE (Helping Out People Everywhere) Outdoor Gallery AKA Graffiti Park.
I’d seen pictures of this park and even footage of it in a participatory work at the Austin Short Film Festival a few years ago, but I had no idea it was merely a block west of S. Lamar, near Whole Earth Provisions.
The place oozed a youthful, creative vibe with a range of spray can talent.
If there was anything one considered a masterpiece, the best course of action would have been to take a picture.
Definitely a strong lesson in nothing lasts forever. Enjoy the moment while you have it.
Despite being outside, a hazy spray can paint fog enveloped the park. I kept walking through the fog to find fleeting pockets of fresh air.
Even knowing the resilience of plants, I still felt bad for the grafittied plant, which needed an unpainted surface to photosynthesize.
Among the littered ground, I found a tiny gold ring. We all assumed it must have belonged to a little girl since it barely fit on my pinkie on my non dominant hand. I told the other Meetup members in jest that this was the way to be married–not live with one’s spouse! As it turned out, after several hand washings, the golden paint wore off the metal after two weeks. Pretty symbolic of most of my romantic relationships with the exception that the ring lasted longer.
The park was launched in 2011 with the intention of being a temporary installation where artists of all stripes could express themselves.
My group speculated about the concrete structures that served as the canvas. To me, it looked like a construction site ran out of money.
What I’ve since read online is that it was the remaining foundation of an old building that HOPE, a group dedicated to bringing attention to the turmoil in the Sudan, repurposed.
As much as I enjoyed the views, I was amazed at how many parents allowed their small kids to wander around without holding their hands. The teacher in me became especially nervous when one teenaged girl stood on the ledge while her friend posed like she was pushing her over the edge.
The view from the park revealed the city of Austin as I knew it.
Even the view above the park seemed surreal as if the foundations of a castle lay in the graffitied creative energy of the people.
And no visit to the park would be complete without a classic shot of Castlehill, which serves as everyone’s reference point of how to find the urban stylish park.