Austin’s Iconic Street Art Park Returns
Words Janine Stankus | Photos Baptiste Despois
After a six-year journey, Austin’s dynamic graffiti park draws the creative community to its new, permanent home.
When HOPE Outdoor Gallery opened in 2010, in the shell of a defunct condo development downtown, it was a safe space for muralists and street artists to showcase their skills and build careers. This colorful public canvas quickly became part of the fabric of Austin. So when the art park closed in 2015 due to planned redevelopment, founder Andi Scull went to work finding a home where HOPE could not just reopen but also flourish.
The original gallery on Baylor Street was meant to last three to five years. Those years taught Andi about the value of her vision. “The platform proved it was useful and beneficial to outdoor artists, but it also, more importantly, proved that people would show up for all kinds of reasons,” she says. In a single day, she recalls a family filming a music video for a grandmother, another doing a photoshoot for their Easter card, a group of tap dancers, a carload of break dancers—all utilizing the walls alongside artists and art lovers. It occurred to Andi that there was no other place like this in the country (especially after the demolition of Long Island City, New York’s famous 5 Pointz graffiti park, in 2014).
“It gives artists time and opportunity, and what came with that was community.”
That’s why after years of research, public polls, vetting 72 underutilized city parks, and fielding numerous offers from developers, she settled on a 17.7-acre swath of land across from the Austin airport. “The only way this works is making [the space] a home to support future development, so the creative community has a future,” Andi explains. She bought the property in 2019, and after navigating complex approvals, funding changes, and COVID-induced delays, the new HOPE Outdoor Gallery finally opened November 2025. “Maybe it really did open at the right time,” Andi muses. “The need for HOPE right now has been really welcomed.”
The structures literally spell out HOPE from an aerial view, with the purpose-built brick walls of the “H” and “O” capturing the industrial feel of the original Baylor Street space. Already awash in bright layers of aerosol artwork, the exterior walls are open for the public to paint: a space that Andi calls a “visual open mic.” The interior walls house more permanent, large-scale murals from local and visiting artists. Sprawling green courtyards invite visitors to observe, play, and picnic among the art. Attractive amenities include parking, restrooms, an air-conditioned indoor building with a cafe/bar, merch store, and plenty of space to expand. The “P” and “E” portions of the property remain curated park space with potential to serve the creative community.
According to Andi, talks about hosting a summer camp for kids are underway, as well as plans to use the shipping containers on the property as studio spaces to support creative entrepreneurs.
By centering the creative process and inviting the community to participate, HOPE flips the idea of a traditional gallery on its head. “It gives artists time and opportunity, and what comes with that is community,” says Andi. And now that community has even more room to flourish.
Helping Other People Everywhere
HOPE Outdoor Gallery is a project of Helping Other People Everywhere (HOPE) Campaign, a non-profit Andi founded in 2006 with the mission of collaborating with creatives to support global humanitarian and social issues. The new location gives the org a permanent headquarters and artists a solid platform to use their talent as their voice. For example, HOPE recently dedicated a wall to a group who supports Women Life Freedom Movement.
