After a six-year absence, the HOPE Outdoor Gallery is set to reopen on a 17-acre site just across from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The new location will offer more than just walls to paint—it’s being built as a full creative campus for artists, educators, and the public.

Unlike the spontaneous concrete tiers of the former Baylor Street location, the new space has been intentionally designed from the ground up. The layout includes a 360° viewing platform, an on-site art supply shop, food trucks, a coffee bar, and even a permanent stage for live music and events. There will also be classroom spaces for workshops and youth art education, plus a dedicated retail section where artists can sell prints, merch, and other work.

It’s a massive upgrade, both in scale and vision. And it still stays true to its name—HOPE stands for Helping Other People Everywhere, a mission that will now extend into mentorship, sustainability, and ongoing community programming.

The story of HOPE began in 2010 as a pop-up art installation during South by Southwest. Founder Andi Scull, along with artists like Shepard Fairey, helped transform the abandoned foundation of an old condo project on Baylor Street into what quickly became one of the most Instagrammed spots in Texas.

Over the years, more than 500 artists contributed to the space—muralists, street artists, kids with cans, visitors leaving their mark. It became a living, breathing monument to creativity, and a reflection of Austin’s DIY art scene. But in 2019, the land was sold, and the gallery was shut down, leaving a hole in the local arts community.

The past few years have been spent raising funds, navigating red tape, and reimagining what the gallery could become. Now, the wait is almost over.

HOPE’s return is bigger than a new location—it’s a cultural statement.

Austin has changed dramatically in the last decade. As development speeds up and land becomes more expensive, spaces that allow for raw, public creativity are harder to come by. The new HOPE Outdoor Gallery addresses that gap by creating a sustainable, curated, and open-access space where the next generation of Austin artists can create and connect.

Not all walls will be open for random tagging—some sections will be curated for commissioned artists and community-driven projects. But the spirit remains: this is still a place for expression, not gatekeeping.

The campus will also serve as a hub for workshops, youth education, and events. Kids will be able to attend summer camps focused on mural work, street art, and creative entrepreneurship. Visitors flying into Austin will literally land next to one of the city’s most iconic destinations.
The new HOPE Outdoor Gallery isn’t just a reboot. It’s a reinvestment in the soul of Austin—one mural at a time.