AUSTIN, Texas — On the corner of East Fourth Street, where the Native Hostel once sat, is a mural of faces painted across a wall.
Those faces are those of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Mike Ramos, Ahmaud Arbery and others.
The mural is called, “We Can’t Breathe.”
The paintings were created by Austin-based artist Chris Rogers at the time of Floyd’s death, which spurred a series of global protests in 2020 and reignited the Black Lives Matter movement.
“It was a response to everything that was going on,” said Rogers. “I was talking to people passing by and talking about the events that were going on, talking about the pandemic, that’s how I started to create the composition.”
Through his artwork, Rogers found hope and connectivity.
However, Rogers learned on social media that more than a month ago, his creation had been vandalized.
That’s when he turned to the community, whom he said first helped him construct the mural, for help restoring it.
“The whole project was funded by the people of the Austin community,” said Rogers. “I’ve had murals painted over before, but this one in particular, I knew meant a lot to the community and you know, it meant a lot to me.”
Rogers said to tag artwork — especially in a public domain — is not uncommon, but he is willing to repaint it to preserve the faces and stories he crafted on that corner of East Fourth Street.
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“As many times as it gets touched, I’m willing to repaint it again just because I know how much it means,” said Rogers.
Rogers hopes to raise between $2,000 to $3,000 to restore the mural. The artist is taking donations through different cash avenues that can be found on his social media page.
As a person in recovery, Rogers learned he couldn’t do it on his own. Therefore, through the painting “We Can’t Breathe,” he knew similarly change couldn’t happen without an effort from everyone, and it’s a message he hopes to keep sending so long as the mural stands.
“Rather than looking at [the mural] and saying that, ‘Look what’s happening to black people,’ I want people to say, ‘Look what’s happened,’ You know? So that’s what I meant by, we can’t breathe,” said Rogers.
It’s a community effort Rogers says he has seen come together to make the mural happen, and who he believes will band together to preserve it.
