Bieke Campos had never worked on a canvas larger than 36 by 48 inches. That is, until a wall on 5th Street and Congress Avenue became his canvas.
Campos is a Mexic-Arte Museum’s El Mero Muro muralist for 2025. El Mero Muro is a mural program on the exterior wall of the Mexic-Arte building.
“The first day we went out there, we did a projection to get the drawing up on the wall and after that day, I was pretty comfortable putting paint on the wall,” Campos said.
Campos is a native Austinite working on his first mural while also studying studio art painting as a major at Texas State University. Campos is used to his oil paints, and not the house paint and rollers needed for the mural making.
“To be honest, it was kind of like a 180 in how I work,” Campos said. “The paints that I use (are) oil paints, and it takes an extended period of time to work with layers. When it came to working on the wall, it was more like one layer, pretty different, honestly, so it took some adjusting.”
The program tasks artists with creating impactful pieces with bilingual messaging. The pieces welcome visitors to the museum and address public issues that are of local interest.
The Mexic-Arte Museum has done a Viva La Vida Festival, co-sponsored by the City of Austin, every Dia De Los Muertos. Campos’ piece follows this year’s Viva La Vida theme, “Flores de la ofrenda,” and highlights marigolds, cockscombs, chrysanthemums, carnations and baby’s breath.
