While any city loves tourism, there can come a time of excess: enter SXSW. Many Austinites remember when this small music festival was exactly that–small–and a handful of venues put on small performances for comfortable crowds. As with any small venture, all of the traits that made the festival comfortable for the surrounding populace disappeared with the addition of money. Things that were distinctly “Austin” were considered expendable in the name of being commercial. One such mural was on East 12th Street; the other was on Cesar Chavez.
Unlike some of the other Chicano artistic ventures, like Chicano Rock, citizens were heard when they demanded the return of this mural. Not only did the business owner issue an apology, but local artists created a revised mural in partnership.
