The mural would pay tribute to Austin cartoon icons. Characters created by the likes of Gilbert Shelton, Jim Franklin, Tony Bell, Sam Hurt, Mike Judge and Jack Jaxon would be painted on the back wall of the outdoor stage at the Center.

The Board of Directors enthusiastically endorsed the idea and the project proceeded. Kerry worked for three weeks on the painting, and was assisted with contributions by Jim Franklin, Tommy Bee and Rick Turner.

The mural was finished in mid-March- just in time for the opening of a special exhibit at the Center honoring the early punk scene in Austin.

The following photos show the mural from drawing to completion. If you haven’t already visited, come on by the next time you’re on South Lamar in Austin, Texas. Please feel free to take photos with the mural and post them to our Facebook page.

Day One: After Center Facilities Manager (and artist, raspafarian and board member) Henry Gonzalez prepared and installed specialized panels for the mural, Kerry Awn started drawing the images that would become the mural.

Later On Day One: The imagery is starting to take shape. In this panel are images from Eyebeam, Oat Willie, Too Much Coffee Man, Fat Freddie's Cat and Jim Franklin's Tribute to the University of Texas Tower.

The Coloring Begins: First Kerry went through the imagery adding an underpainting, a wash of color blocking, before he started the actual painting.

Hi How Are You? One of Daniel Johnston's most famous images...in progress

Kerry starts to add the top layers of color to the mural.

The completed mural

This show was a special tribute to two clubs in Austin: one that closed 40 years ago and one that opened 40 years ago. The Vulcan Gas Company and the Armadillo World Headquarters had a substantial impact on Austin’s culture, music and effected not only locals, but people statewide – and some say even the nation.

We had a pretty good resource to pull from for this show. I started collecting posters in 1968. I loved the artwork and how when I looked at the poster I remembered the show. When Henry and I got together, he’d also been collecting posters. With the Armadillo posters and ones done for the other clubs being so amazing, we thought they’d become collectible and our other friends and colleagues thought the same way. So we made it a point to pick up the posters when we saw them in record stores and of course at the AWHQ.

When we started putting together this show, people saw what we were putting together and began to generously offer to lend us some of their poster art stash. We were able to borrow some really rare pieces from collectors here in town.

Many of the people who came to the exhibit are of the generation that were attending the shows in these clubs or were going to the school in the area. And considering everything old becomes new again, even the younger generation is really interested in the art.

Click on the video to check out some of the rare finds brought together for this special exhibit.

Click here to read more about the Vulcan Gas Company and the Armadillo World Headquarters.

Clifford Antone loved the blues and he brought it to Texas. The first show at the club featured Louisiana great Clifton Chenier. After that Sunnyland Slim, Chicago blues artist, performed at the club. Once he reported back about what these young kids were doing in Austin, Texas all the Chicago musicians wanted to play the club…and they did.

Clifford developed a special relationship with these artists, treating them with respect and admiration. Muddy Waters, Albert King, Albert Collins, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, BB King, Otis Rush, James Cotton are just a few of the greats to perform over and over at the club. Local bands the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the Cobras played there often enough to be considered the “house bands.”

This exhibit featured posters and photographs from those early years of the club and tired to impart a sense of what was happening then.

Many thanks to those who contributed art and photographs: Susan Antone, Nicolas Russell, Ken Hoge, Danny Garrett, Lori Hansel and John & Theresa Fox.

The exhibit ran through August 13. Check out a recap of the photos and poster art in the show in the slideshow below. Contact the Center for more information: samopc@gmail.com samopc.org 512.440.8318

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Henry Gonzalez, the facilities manager, decided to start over and painted the wall white. However, he was concerned about what would appear next. What if someone considered it a large, public blank canvas?

Thankfully, someone did. Local artist Kerry Awn came to us and said he wanted to paint a mural celebrating Austin comic icons like Wonder Wart Hog, Oat WIllie, The Furry Freak Brothers, The Cat, Too Much Coffee Man and others. After seeing the sketches, the same ones seen in this post, the board approved it and our donor funded it.

Kerry began the work about two weeks ago, and it should be completed during the week of March 14. A couple of the guys who worked on the 23rd Street murals will be around that week and they’ll help Kerry put all the fine detailing on it.

The colors look amazing in the natural light, and we love when people come by to watch Kerry paint and take photos. If you have come by, please share your photos with us on the Facebook fan page.

Henry is also getting ready to install the Armadillo World Headquarters beer garden mural (14′ x 30′) just to the left of the new stage mural. Bruce Willenzik had kept the mural panels in a storage unit since January, 1981. He donated the mural to the Center in December 2010.

We have taken photos since day one, so check the site back soon to see the photos of the mural’s progression. Or come by the Center and see the progress.