The Austinist turned us on to the sad news that two cheerful message-murals painted on the railroad bridge between Lamar and South 1st Street have been painted over, redacted in rust red.
We don't condone illegal behavior of course (!), but the murals reading LET'S PRETEND WE ARE ROBOTS and FOCUS ONE POINT AND BREATHE seemed to become an accepted part of our local iconography, messages of comfort and hope to the drivers, paddlers, walkers and cyclists who are legion on the Lamar auto and pedestrian bridges.
Take a last look for old time's sake:
(Photo courtesy Swanksalot on Flickr.)
(Photo courtesy Dingatx on Flickr.)
The only good news is that, just as Keith Haring got his start chalking the black paper coverings of defunct New York subway advertisements, the bridge has again reverted to a blank canvas. We will watch, and wait.
The bridge pre-ROBOTS and pre-BREATHE, in 2010. (Photo courtesy jfre81 on Flickr.)