Wherever You'll Go

Art murals in Austin and B-cycles Just Because

I may be biased having grown up here, but Austin is a great city. While known for it’s live music and delicious BBQ, there is always something to do – and oftentimes it’s free! Sometimes it’s hard to find all the hidden gems as a tourist, so I’m here to help.

3700 Guadalupe

A mosaic of shells and wood and stuff at Sparky Park, 3701 Grooms St

One of my favorite things about the city are all the murals, statues, sculptures and art installations. There are a handful of murals that are extremely popular like Daniel Johnston’s Jeremiah The Innocent, or more commonly know as the Hi, How Are You? Frog, and the Greetings from Austin postcard mural (1720 S 1st St.). It’s a common sight, and rightly so, to see people taking their pictures with the Willie Nelson or Stevie Ray Vaughn statues.
A couple of years ago we hosted a foreign exchange student; she was a lovely 15-year-old. And what did this 15-year-old love? Taking selfies. So, we took her cruising around town to a bunch of murals for photo ops, and she loved it. After I finished patting myself on my back for being such an amazing “parent”, I realized I loved it too.

East Sixth somewhere, we just happened upon this one.

The reflective surface is like a carnival mirror. 30°16’32.8″N 97°44’00.8”W

So, when a dear friend of mine decided to move, I knew exactly what we should do. I planned an Austin Art B-cycle tour. We all love riding bikes, and the bike share system is just a fun way to get around. I planned an almost ten mile route with as many stops, including a stop for beer and jumbo pretzels – you know, to carb up for our ride. This actually took a bit of planning. I had to find addresses of the murals, lay over that a map of the B-Cycle stations, then plan a bike friendly route where we could see a bunch of art in a reasonable amount of time. We ended up biking about three hours, and still hadn’t hit all the planned stops, but only because we really enjoyed our beer stop.

United Way 2000 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd

At the end of the ride, not only did we have tons of laughs, a little exercise, an excellent tour of Austin from a friendly local (that’s me), but some amazing photos we could all treasure. Other notable murals stops include the ever-changing Hope Gallery, and if you climb to the top there’s a great view of downtown, the all things Austin mural on the frontage of 1-35 and 6th, and the I love you so much script at Jo’s on Congress, and perhaps the most Austin-ish of all is the Matthew McConaughey Alright Alright Alright mural.

And we were. E. Cesar Chavez & Waller

Tips:

• Spend time pretending your a tourist in your own city, and just do the touristy stuff.
• Selfie sticks would come in handy, I totally get them now.
• Here’s the actual map: https://goo.gl/maps/6ehCrWAdn9S2 There’s a B-Cycle station at the starting point. (Not all murals shown, so you can see them on your own.)

2000 E 12th St

Probably my favorite stop. The glass mosaic at Shipe Park, 4400 Avenue G