Holly area lauds mural’s restoration
After two decades, mural’s original artists redo the artwork.
When he first painted on the sprawling exterior wall of the now-decommissioned Holly Power Plant in East Austin more than 25 years ago, Robert “Kane” Hernandez was still a promising young artist blazing a trail in the city’s early wave of graffiti and street art.
As part of the Austin League of Tejano Artists, he began transforming a 107-foot-long portion of the wall near Holly Shores and Festival Beach. The sound wall, built to reduce the power plant’s deafening sounds, did little to quiet the roaring facility that at the time also spewed fumes throughout the neighborhood.
The vibrant mural, featuring Chicano imagery and symbolism, offered hope and inspiration against the backdrop of the looming power plant. But over time, and even as the power plant was silenced, the mural fell into disrepair as it faded, was tagged and
had portions painted over.
After more than two decades, Hernandez, now 48, recently returned to the same East Austin wall with fellow original artist Oscar “Tez” Cortez to restore the iconic “For La Raza” mural as
part of the first phase of the Parks and Recreation Department’s Holly Shores master plan. The project aims to convert the site of the former plant into parkland and revamp other parks on Lady Bird Lake’s north shore. A celebration is planned July 21 at the mural.
“It’s a big victory for the Chicano community, espe- cially for all of the people who fought for the closure of the power plant and the preservation of the barrio,”
said Bertha Delgado, founder and executive director of Arte Texas, an arts group that helps save and create East Austin murals. Arte Texas was commissioned to develop a restoration plan for the mural, which included bringing back its original artists and intro- ducing students to the art of mural painting.
As residents in the area face displacement, possi- ble school closures and the demolition of homes, Delgado said, preserving historic murals goes beyond repair-
ing artwork. It preserves the spirit, culture and identity of longtime Mexican-Amer- ican neighborhoods. “The murals are our last legacy,” she said.
In 2007, the Holly Power Plant shut down after years of pushback from community groups and neighbors. For decades, residents com- plained of noise and health issues related to the facil- ity. After its closure, Delgado said, the neighborhood turned its attention to what was going to happen next to the area.
The City Council allocated $2.5 million for the development of the Edward Rendon Sr. Park at Festival Beach, Fiesta Gardens and the Holly Power Plant Site Park (Holly Shores). Austin’s Art in Pub
lic Places ensured that public art, including historic murals, was considered in the planning for the park through the Holly Shores Public Art Action Plan, which complements the overall master plan for the area.
“What we heard from the community, and from those artists that worked within the area, was that the com- munities that surround the park have a long tradition of the arts being integrated into their everyday life,” according to the public art action plan. “From front yard shrines, to expressive murals, to original music, the surrounding neighborhoods hold their collective identity in large part through creative expression.”
About $46,000 was allo- cated for the first phase of Holly Shores’ public art plan, according to Art in Public Places. Two percent of the budget for eligible capital
improvement projects at Holly Shores helped fund
public art there. No part of the former power plant site is open to
the public yet, though the mural — on an exterior wall of the former facility — is accessible.
Eventually, the former power plant site will include trail connections to other portions of the park. Existing warehouses there are the subject of feasibility studies to determine their future use. Austin Energy is under- going a decommissioning project, and it will turn over
about 9 acres of the former power plant site to the Parks
and Recreation Department when it’s complete.
The first phase of the mas- ter plan is expected to wrap up in 2019, said Reynaldo Hernandez, project man- agement supervisor for the department. Improvements include removing fencing around the Johnny Degollado Pavilion at Fiesta Gardens. Picnic tables and sidewalks have already been added to Festival Beach and a shade structure at Martin pool has been installed.
For Hernandez, the “For La Raza” mural has always been a source of pride and inspira
tion. “Gangs were still a big deal in the early 1980s and 1990s in Austin. One thing that the (Austin League of Tejano Artists) did was bring guys from opposite sides of town together.”
The original Holly Power Plant murals, he said, included work from young artists from Rundberg to Dove Springs. “It was empowering,” Hernandez said. “And it was kind of sad to see it kind of just fall apart.”
The expansive mural features an Aztec man and woman on opposite ends praying to the sun, which represents power and energy, Hernandez said. A series of three fists forming from rock to flesh symbolize the creation of an idea and bringing it to light, he
said. Mexican and American heritage are reflected with the flags of each country on either side of an image of the Earth.
“It adds a connection to the neighborhood,” Hernandez said. “When things change, you feel alone. You’re left out. But art re-enforces a sense of community.”