Wall of Welcome

The 120-foot-long mosaic Wall of Welcome, located at 7100 Woodrow Avenue in Austin, was first envisioned by artist and Brentwood resident Jean Graham in

1. Fundraising for the wall began in 2003 with the first Violet Crown Festival. Jean and hundreds of neighbors worked together for five years to make the wall a reality, and it was completed and dedicated in March 2008.

For her creativity, commitment, and community building through the Wall of Welcome project, in 2006 Jean was named a Local Hero by the Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative, and in 2007 she received a Kickass Award from Austin writer Spike Gillespie.

In 2004, Jean, along with Brentwood Elementary School students and teachers, completed a smaller mosaic wall on the west side of the school, located at 6700 Arroyo Seco in Austin. On New Year’s Eve in 2005 and 2009, Jean also coordinated the two neighborhoods’ involvement in the First Night Austin Grand Procession.

See how the wall came to be:

• BACKGROUND ON THE WALL (pdf)
• WALL OF WELCOME PROJECT PRESENTATION (pdf)
• WALL OF WELCOME NEIGHBORHOOD TILES (pdf)
• WALL OF WELCOME SLIDE SHOW from Austin 360

See a panorama of the wall at GigaPan.org