Stretching across the 60-foot-tall wall of a local apartment building, a vibrant mural greets North Lamar traffic with glimpses of daily life in the surrounding neighborhood, Walnut Creek.
The mural, titled “We Live Here,” depicts paddleboarders on Lady Bird Lake, grackles on power lines, goods displayed at local markets and other Austin-esque delights. The mural served as a finishing touch on the new Juniper Creek location of Foundation Communities, a local non-profit providing affordable housing in Austin since 1990. The massive mural required a week and a half, a 70-foot boom lift and a team of dedicated artists called Chroma Collective to reach completion on June 26.
One of the artists, alumna Kalle Duncan, said this marks the team’s first time working at such an extreme height. While painting 60 feet above ground felt daunting, Duncan said it ultimately made the mural her favorite project that they’ve worked on.
“It was exciting,” Duncan said. “Everyone on Chroma — we are all friends. The fact that we’ve developed a good camaraderie and trust with each other is what makes those things possible.”
Chroma Collective, a program developed by Austin non-profit Creative Action, currently employs a group of seven muralists between the ages of 18 to 24 who collaborate in public art projects across the city. Duncan joined the crew shortly after she graduated from the University in 2024. Although she frequently created large-scale art throughout her time at UT, she said she hadn’t initially planned to specialize in murals upon graduation.
Now, Duncan has completed seven murals in her first year out of college, adding a fresh wave of color to Austin’s ever-evolving public art scene.
“The part of (North Lamar Blvd) near the Whole Foods, where it’s just wall-to-wall mural on each side, is one of my favorite little parts of my drives around Austin,” Duncan said. “Thinking that I could eventually be one of those (artists), or that people could look at me in the same lens as those (artists), is really exciting.”
Cassidy Fritts, the Public Art program manager at Creative Action, serves as a creative mentor for Chroma Collective’s young muralists. Fritts said the team’s top priority when designing a mural is to be “civically-conscious artists” committed to capturing the true spirit of Austin’s communities. When designing “We Live Here” for Juniper Creek, the group welcomed feedback from Walnut Creek residents through online surveys and community engagement, which largely referenced local landmarks, wildlife and recreational activities.
“(The mural) really speaks to all of the feedback we got from our community members,” Fritts said. “We hope it greets the incoming residents of Juniper Creek in a way that makes them feel comfortable in their new home.”
The project marked Chroma Collective’s third mural for Foundation Communities, part of an ongoing initiative led by Housing Finance Manager Michelle Le to incorporate more art into their new properties. Le said she hopes the mural will provide a greater “sense of place” for residents at the Juniper Creek complex, which plans to open next month.
“The main goal is to beautify blank spaces, whether it’s an exterior facade or an indoor wall,” Le said. “We want the residents to feel proud of their homes and communities. … Everyone deserves to live in a beautiful, safe, dignified home that they can afford.”
