In addition to eating barbecue and enjoying live music, exploring the city’s colorful street art scene was a must-do activity on my itinerary for Austin. The state capital’s landscape is sprinkled with street art, murals and mosaics that are vibrant, bold and even sometimes a bit strange — fitting for the city whose unofficial motto is “Keep Austin Weird.” 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 is the HOPE Outdoor Gallery, an incredible three-story educational art project located at 11th and Baylor streets. The project, one of the largest outdoor galleries in the United States, was introduced 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. It was officially launched in 2011 by the HOPE Campaign with the support of renowned street art names like Shepard Fairey and Obey Giant Art. A group of friends and I visited on a Sunday afternoon right after a rainstorm and were taken aback by the beauty of this colorful outdoor playground. Everywhere I looked — up, down, to the right, to the left — there was more beautiful art recently spray-painted by both locals and visitors on several concrete walls. Visitors could easily spend an afternoon strolling through each level, taking the time to check out each message and painting at this constantly evolving public art display. We were mesmerized by artists carefully spray-painting their scenes, especially the two crafting a unique Pepe le Pew masterpiece feet from where we stood admiring their creativity. As well as views of beautiful art, visitors can also take in incredible views of downtown Austin from Hope Outdoor Gallery and even become artists themselves. The space encourages visitors to bring their own spray paint and add their ideas, messages and thoughts to the wonderful canvas. — Monique Barrett, eFlyer editor/associate editor