Future of Hope

Downtown Austin's iconic graffiti park searches for new home

HOPE Outdoor Gallery Castle Hill grafitti park

HOPE Outdoor Gallery needs a new home.

Photo by Nicole Raney

Austin's iconic graffiti park is looking for a new home. HOPE Outdoor Gallery plans to relocate from Castle Hill and has launched an online survey to gain community input.

A combination of high maintenance costs and foot traffic are the catalyst for the move, reports The Austin Chronicle, who notes that the gallery was always meant to be a temporary installation.

"The property was always going to be developed," HOPE founder Andi Scull Cheatham tells the Chronicle. "This project was meant to have a shelf life of a couple years, but once the owner saw how much it had been embraced and loved by the community, he's done everything he can to keep it going."

The HOPE team, thanks to property owner Vic Ayad, thousands of visitors, and countless volunteers, has been able to keep the gallery running for more than five years. But now, the reasons for relocation are simple: money and accessibility.

High property values on Castle Hill make it increasingly expensive to hold onto the space and keep it well-maintained. Ayad, principal of Castle Hill Partners, pays about $100,000 each year in property taxes, insurance, and holding costs for the land, reports the Chronicle. The park's popularity has also swelled, affecting parking for the gallery, as well as traffic in the surrounding neighborhood.

A new location would create opportunities for expansion, as well as additional amenities like bathrooms, lighting, and more parking. Neighborhoods mentioned in the survey include downtown, East Austin, South Austin, and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport area. The HOPE team also asks for public input on making the gallery an official City of Austin park or relocating it next to an existing one.

Once a location is determined, HOPE will launch a fundraising campaign to assist with moving the gallery. For now, artists and Austinites can weigh in on HOPE Outdoor Gallery's future by filling out the survey.

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Historic Austin museum will close for more than a year for restoration

Photo courtesy of the City of Austin

The Elisabet Ney Museum will close at the end of 2024 and reopen in mid-2026.

Every building needs some maintenance here or there, and the historic Elisabet Ney Museum needs some extra-special care. Formerly the art studio and residence of its namesake, it's been standing since 1892. It'll spend 2025 in relative solitude, as it undergoes renovation for a year and a half with no visitors allowed.

The museum will close to the public December 30, 2024, and open again in the summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan, a news release from the City of Austin shares. It'll be a quiet period compared to the 21,000 people visiting from around the world each year.

According to a museum overview on the city's website, Elisabet Ney, a European portrait sculptor, bought the property and called her new studio Formosa. She worked on sculptures depicting important Texans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, and collected works of European contemporaries.

The building at 304 East 44th St. includes 3,700 square feet of museum space, which was converted by Ney's friends after her death in 1907. It retains its unique look that juxtaposes a Neo-Classical main studio from 1892 with a later addition from 1902 including a tower for her husband, Edmund, to write in. It is also on 2.5 acres of land, which has largely been restored to its natural state with native species.

A press release lists these tasks (verbatim) within the scope of the new work, referred to as the Capital Improvement Project (CIP):

Restoration of original exterior wood doors and windows
Upgrades and replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system
Replacement of the exhibit and general lighting systems
Repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing, and interior finishes.

There will also be work to do outside of the building. Workers will replace the pedestrian bridge across Waller Creek, stabilize a 20,000-square-foot portion of the bank, and make the grounds more accessible by adding new pathways.

Funding comes from several sources, according to a release: "the 2012 Bond, Proposition 14, the Parkland Dedication Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, Partners in Preservation through the National Trust, and contributions from the Friends of the Elisabet Ney Museum."

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