Downtown Austin mural unveiled to celebrate new beginning

AUSTIN, Texas - The new community is coming together to celebrate a new beginning in downtown Austin.

The Downtown Austin Alliance and the Old Bakery and Artisan Emporium along with partners came together to unveil its new mural on Wednesday.

The mural dubbed "Generational Ties" was done by local artist Ruben Esquivel.

"This concept illustrates two indigenous women whose braids are tied together. And from there, there's this beautiful bouquet of flowers, birds, and life. The monarchs are a nod to the migratory history of both the Native Americans and the Swedish. And the hummingbirds are believed to be kind of a sign of new beginnings and of healing," said Esquivel.

These aren’t the first people he has memorialized through his artwork.

Back in July 2022, he first created a 900-foot mural, one of the largest in the city, representing an East Austin neighborhood’s past, present and future.

Just a month later, he created an 18-foot portrait of a 10-year-old boy who was killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. To honor his life and legacy.

As for this project, "It was super important for me, you know, to put this out in the community. It was a labor of love. But these stories need to be told. So, I'm super grateful that I was artist chosen to tell these stories," Esquivel said.

The Downtown Austin Alliance says it’s all about enhancing the vitality and value of downtown. It hopes the project three years in the making will bring in more foot traffic to the area and make the area more vibrant.

Mayor Kirk Watson calls it a new Austin icon. He hopes it brings people together.

"The mural itself speaks of generational ties and our ties to the past in Austin. So, I think that as I said in my comments moments ago, I think this will end up being one of those places that people that visit this town and people that are from Austin will come bring their families, talk about this mural and talk about what it means to Austin," said Mayor Watson.

You can find the mural at the corner of 10th and Congress Avenue.