With South by Southwest canceled and virtually all businesses closed due to COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders, Downtown Austin had never looked so desolate. Boarded up buildings along Dirty Sixth made the normally bustling corridor feel particularly haunting. True to their moniker, the HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) Campaign rallied local street artists to paint inspirational murals – touting messages of unity, perseverance, and public safety – over the plywood, transforming a grim scene into a gallery of (what else?) hope when we needed it most.
