Austin Paints Around the Edges of an “Anti-Woke” Mandate
On Juneteenth, Austin city leaders gathered on East 11th Street to honor the “Black Artists Matter” mural one last time before it disappears under state order. The yellow lettering, painted by local Black artists in 2020 through a partnership between the Austin Justice Coalition and Capitol View Arts, sits in the only state-recognized African-American cultural district in Texas.
By tomorrow, the city must submit its plan to erase it.
The mural’s fate traces back to an October 2025 directive from Gov. Greg Abbott, who ordered the Texas Department of Transportation to strip “political ideologies” from state roadways, framing decorative crosswalks and murals as safety hazards and a misuse of tax dollars. TxDOT followed with letters demanding cities remove any markings that don’t serve traffic control purposes — a policy that dovetailed with a federal “SAFE ROADS” initiative launched by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
Austin requested exemptions for six sites, including the Black Artists Matter mural, the downtown Pride crosswalks at 4th and Colorado, and a river-themed crossing on Lake Austin Boulevard. TxDOT rejected nearly all of them in a May letter, threatening to withhold state and federal transportation money — funds tied to road maintenance, the airport, and Project Connect — if the city refuses to comply.
Austin officials have chosen compliance over confrontation, but not surrender. Mayor Kirk Watson has repeatedly framed the moment as an opportunity rather than a defeat, forming a Public Spaces Task Force to find ways to “celebrate diversity” without violating the order.
The workaround: move the art off the pavement and onto city-owned surfaces the state can’t touch.
On the same weekend the Black Artists Matter mural was mourned, the city unveiled a new LGBTQ+-themed mural on a wall near the soon-to-be-removed rainbow crosswalk at 4th and Colorado, with residents invited to help paint it.
Watson has floated banners and fixtures on city property as further alternatives.
Other Texas cities are navigating the same tension. San Antonio swapped its rainbow crosswalk for rainbow sidewalk treatments nearby, and Laredo and Lubbock have already removed their own murals rather than risk losing road funding.
Critics, including LGBTQ+ advocates and the artists who painted the originals, call the state’s framing a pretext — using “safety” language to target art tied to racial justice and queer visibility. Supporters of the policy maintain that uniform, distraction-free roadways shouldn’t carry any messaging, political or otherwise.
For now, Austin is testing how much identity and history a city can preserve once it’s been ordered off the street.
Sources:
- KVUE, “Austin celebrates display that honors the work of artists of color ahead of removal”
- KUT, “TxDOT denies Austin request to keep ‘Black Artists Matter’ mural, Pride crosswalk”
- KXAN, “City leaders hold farewell ceremonies for road murals ahead of removal plan deadline”
- The Art Newspaper, “Texas’s ‘Black Artists Matter’ mural and rainbow crosswalk in danger of removal”
- FOX 7 Austin, “Mayor Watson: ‘We’re going to comply with the law’ on removing rainbow crosswalk, other street art”
- FOX 7 Austin, “San Antonio will replace rainbow crosswalks with sidewalk treatments”
- KUT, “Here are the 16 painted crosswalks and street murals Austin may have to remove under Abbott order”
The City of Austin has selected Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center as the tentative operator for a upcoming south Austin facility designed to prevent and address homelessness. While the center focuses on providing coordinated housing services, many nearby residents oppose the location. Neighbors cite existing challenges with an influx of homelessness in the area and raise concerns about the site’s close proximity to Travis High School and Travis Heights Elementary. (FOX 7 Austin)
A 28-year-old Austin woman who was reported missing earlier this week has been located, according to the Austin Police Department. (FOX 7 Austin)
BREAKING
11:00 A.M. UPDATE:
Manor authorities report one person died, two others seriously injured, including two young children.
A serious single-vehicle incident Thursday at the intersection of Lohman Ford Road and FM 1431 trapped a woman under her vehicle.
Alphabet, the company reported 11 Austin crashes of its autonomous Waymo vehicles to federal regulators in May, raising its total in the city to 103 since June 2025.
Tesla reported one additional crash in Austin, bringing its citywide total to 18. Avride reported three new crashes, raising its city total to 23. Zoox, owned by Amazon, remained at one reported crash. (Austin American-Statesman)
If you thought a packed South by Southwest would mean a booming season for local hotels, think again. New numbers reveal that Austin actually lagged behind every other major Texas metro during the first three months of this year, with both hotel occupancy and overall revenue on the decline. (Austin American-Statesman)
Volunteers spent Saturday morning helping to keep one of Austin’s Lady Bird Lake clean.
Barton Springs Pool remains closed until further notice after flooding rains earlier this week caused unsafe conditions.
WEATHER
SATURDAY’S HIGH / LOW TEMPERTURES
AUSTIN-BETRGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CAMP MABRY
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
A reported tornado swirled in southeast Texas on Saturday.
Tesla is expanding its footprint in Harris County, preparing to open a new facility in Houston that will begin construction later this year.
Two men were found dead inside a vehicle at an auto body shop in north Harris County on Saturday morning. Detectives said the vehicle arrived at the body shop on Friday afternoon via a tow truck and was purchased at an auction outside of Harris County. They believe the bodies had been in the vehicle for more than 24 hours. (ABC 13 Houston)
A Harris County Precinct 4 deputy was shot during a gunfight with a shotgun-wielding suspect at an apartment complex in Humble. The deputy sustained non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to have a lengthy recovery.
A former Clay County deputy, who had also served as a detention officer, was arrested Thursrday, June 18th, by the Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Rangers Division.
Two candidates, and possibly a third, are running for Lieutenant Governor. Texans are very familiar with incumbent Republican Dan Patrick. Democratic nominee Vikki Goodwin, a state Representative, is looking to build up her profile with voters outside of the Austin area. And then there’s Mike Collier, who’s trying to run as an independent, but a court will have to decide if he makes the ballot at all. In this episode of Y’all-itics all three candidate make their pitches to the Jasons… and Texas voters.
GUESTS:
Dan Patrick, R – Nominee for Lieutenant Governor
Vikki Goodwin, D – Nominee for Lieutenant Governor
Mike Collier, Independent
A KXAN-TV investigation found thousands of unclaimed properties worth more than $40 million in Texas are unsearchable by the public, including financial assets ranging from uncashed checks to abandoned stocks. This week on Inside the Investigation, KXAN’s Senior Investigative Producer David Barer explains how the money has ended up in the multi-billion-dollar fund without an owner’s name.
(Episode from June 20, 2026)
(Episode from June 18, 2026)
SPORTS
MLB: Not a good Saturday for neither the Texas Rangers nor the Houston Astros.
The Padres/Rangers and Guardians/Astros series both conclude today.
COLLEGE BASEBALL: Texas associate head coach Nolan Cain is leaving for a job at Texas A&M. Cain has spent the past two seasons on Jim Schlossnagle’s coaching staff in Austin. (Austin American-Statesman)
British teens get a taste of a whole range of American food, snacks and drinks, but how will they react when they try for the first time the holy grail – Texas BBQ?
