Become a Graffiti Artist at Austin’s HOPE Outdoor Gallery

The street art scene in Austin, Texas, is vibrant and abundant, with murals, mosaics and artwork sprinkled across the state capital’s landscape. Popular art includes the large-scale replica of a vintage postcard on the side of the Roadhouse Relics building on South First Street, painted by Rory Skagan, and the iconic “i love you so much” mural, spray-painted by a local musician on the Jo’s Coffee shop.

Most notable, and where you can express your creativity personally, is HOPE Outdoor Gallery, a massive three-story educational art project located at 11^th and Baylor Streets. One of the largest outdoor galleries in the United States, the project launched in 2011 by the HOPE Campaign to offer muralists, graffiti artists and community groups the chance to create and display large-scale art pieces driven by inspirational, positive and educational messaging.

Artists can visit any day of the week and spray paint unique creations and messages in broad daylight legally. The maze of brick walls house tags from famed street artists around the world as well as pieces from locals and visitors. In addition to taking Instagram-worthy pictures of the art and filming videos of artists expressing themselves, anyone can bring a can of spray paint and start tagging the walls.

Visitors who want to do more than admire the walls can register with local street art collective SprATX to get a wristband and start creating masterpieces on the site. Vendors are usually on site selling cans of spray paint as well as pieces from local artists.

To leave your mark on the wall, purchase a can or two from an on-site vendor or from a nearby store like Walmart, Home Depot, Staples, Lowes or Ace Hardware. Cans start from about $5 and are available in a variety of colors.

And while you’re becoming an artist, be sure to take some time to appreciate the incredible views of downtown Austin from the upper levels of HOPE Outdoor Gallery.