What was an Arch Manning mural doing on Austin's east side?
Just down the street from the Scoot Inn and a block or two south of some of the newfangled eateries and drinkeries that now litter the area due east of Interstate 35 in Austin is a non-descript garage at the corner of 4th and Attayac Streets. For local artist Koby Hyde, that garage became a canvas.
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Hyde, originally from Knoxville, Tenn., a self-proclaimed huge Vols fan, and an artist who has a number of murals around the city of Austin, had already put two paintings under the name ‘Art By Koby‘ on the side of Easy Rider Pedicabs. One was of Willie Nelson, the other was of the Undertaker. On June 23, 2022, he found his newest inspiration in Arch Manning.
“I was going to do Ricky Williams, then I saw that he committed,” Hyde told Inside Texas last week. “So I was like ‘you know, I should do that and let it simmer,’ because now it’s starting to get traction.”
Hyde spoke with the owner of Easy Rider and got the green light to add another mural.
For the most part, that mural went unnoticed for two years. There were a few tweets about it in early April, likely emanating from a Reddit post made on r/CFB. Hyde said nobody had contacted him until IT reached out about the mural.
As Hyde admitted, there aren’t a lot of people in the art scene that make sports a regular subject. Hyde sees an avenue where he can bridge both together.
“I’ve been into sports my whole life, and you really don’t see a lot of sports art or sports murals in Austin,” Hyde said. “Most artists, they couldn’t give a damn about sports. Sports art, I can bridge the gap between sports and art and bring it into one.”
But like in sports, when artists step into the arena, they open themselves up to comments and criticism. Not many of the comments on social media were particularly kind to Hyde. The internet can be brutal, and while there were some comments that liked how Hyde’s work fit into the ideal of ‘Keep Austin Weird,’ many dumped criticism on the painting put on the corrugated metal canvas.
So Hyde went back to 4th and Attayac last week and went with his original idea. Right next to Willie Nelson and the Undertaker is a strong depiction of the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner.
There are a few more garage doors on the side of Easy Rider that could be the site of Hyde’s next project. Many of those garage doors had been tagged, and some of Hyde’s work — where his subjects have necklaces featuring ‘The World is Yours’ blimp from Scarface — had other fellow artists put their mark on the paintings.
What’s next for Hyde on the side of Easy Rider as far as post-Manning and post-Williams isn’t quite clear. His idea for the garage centered on what he called Austin legends. Nelson, ‘Taker, and Williams certainly fit into that category.
Manning hasn’t reached that status yet, but it doesn’t sound like a re-do is of the question down the road.
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“I saw where he did really well in the Orange and White game,” Hyde said. “We’ll have to see what happens this year.”
