Holly Street Power Plant Murals

In 1991 a group of Artists got together and painted a mural on a perimeter wall of the Holly Street Power Station. In all there are seven (7) murals at the Holly Street Power Plant in East Austin. According to Austin Chronicle article,

It was the largest mural project the city had ever seen, planning over a two-year period 10 murals in all, including a continuously changing graffiti mural done by neighborhood kids. For his part, Duran depicted local personalities at a dance and picnic in the traditional Latin American celebration of a young woman's rite of passage into adulthood. In a further nod to the neighborhood's historical roots, Carlos Renteria's triptych pays a muralist's homage to Diego Rivera and his wife, painter Frida Kahlo. In essence, the Holly Street Power Plant murals not only succeeded in beautifying the loud, steel-laden electric plant, but they brought the heretofore intrusive monstrosity into the folds of the surrounding homes by turning it into an ongoing community project celebrating local heritage.
- Austin Chronicle

In 2007 the plant was decommissioned and in 2012 crews began dismantling it. As I worked on the 2TourAustin project, I had concerns we would lose this mural forever. So I asked Austin Energy which seemed to indicate that here were no plans. Actually they never really answered the question.  They just said, in their email  that the murals are on the outside of the cinder block fence that surrounds the north and west side of the power plant.  They are exposed to the public and visible from the hike and bike trail that is adjacent to this fence.

photo by Austin Energy

Artisit(s):
Fidencio Duran, Robert Herrera, Alfredo Martinez, Carlos Renteria, Armando Martinez, Felipe Garza, as well as some area junior high students

photo by Kevin Surbaugh

Painted:
1991

someone added this painting more recently -- photo by Kevin Surbaugh

Location:
2419 Holly Street  (near Holly Street & Lady Bird Lake) 78702  

View Larger Map