Austin, TX

‘An extension of who we are.’ Texas lowriders cruise with pride in family, Latino culture

Published

1 year ago

July 13, 2024

‘An extension of who we are.’ Texas lowriders cruise with pride in family, Latino culture

Austin lowrider Steve Guzman bought his first rig, a candy-apple red Chevy pickup, when he was 22. He’d just come home from serving in Vietnam. Back then, Guzman said, Austin’s lowriders fought bitterly.

His friend, Manuel Medina, lived in Montopolis, across the river from Guzman’s East Austin neighborhood. Neither would drive across the bridge.

“We had different parts of town,” said Austin rider James Sanchez, and the attitude was, “Don’t come to my side.”

But as Guzman, Medina and Sanchez grew older, Austin’s lowriding scene began to change. The bridge’s boundary grew porous. Families married across the river. As pride in their cars had once kept the neighborhoods apart, the art of lowriding brought them together.

“Time has healed,” Guzman said.

The gray in his beard reflected colors from lowriders parked nearby. Today, Guzman, Medina and Sanchez are members of the old guard. Their pride lies as much in their cars as in the next generation of lowriders who, they hope, will inherit them.

Lowrider clubs proliferated in Texas in the 1960s

On a recent Sunday, lowriders from across Austin and throughout Texas cruised through the capital to celebrate the uniquely Latino tradition. Their rally point was a new exhibit at the Bullock Texas State History Museum.

More: Five reasons to visit the Bullock Museum’s lowriding ‘Carros y Cultura’ exhibit

The exhibit, called “Carros y Cultura,” celebrates Texas lowriders: the art, culture and people.

Lowriding’s origins lie in 1940s California, where the elaborately decorated cars arose as an expression of Latino pride. The culture came to Texas about 20 years later.

That’s when Austinites, like Steve Guzman’s grandfather, first started putting bags of cement in the trunks of their cars to get closer to the pavement.

Now, there are close to 100 lowrider clubs in Austin alone, Guzman estimated.

‘Never did we dream that we would be at the Bob Bullock museum’

About 70 riders from as many as 30 clubs came to show their cars on Sunday, cruising past the Bullock museum, around the Capitol, down South Congress Avenue and across the bridge. Then they posted at Fiesta Gardens’ Chicano Park, in Austin’s Holly neighborhood, to party.

Lowriders of every shape and size cruised the streets: some richly ornamented, some glowing. Others rolled down South Congress with one wheel cocked high in the air: a maneuver known as “three wheel motion.”

The celebration grew as a way to take “Carros y Cultura” back to the streets, said an adviser for the show, Monica Maldonado.

Maldonado is the founder of MAS Cultura, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting Austin’s Latino community through art. Lowriding, she said, was one of her first inspirations.

“But never did we dream that we would be at the Bob Bullock museum,” she said just before the cruise. A bubble-gum pink lowrider slipped past. Maybe it was the bright sun, reflecting off its paint, but tears began to well in Maldonado’s eyes.

“I’m here. I’m an Austin native, and to see our culture celebrated and bringing everyone together — there’s really no words for it,” she said, blotting her eyes.

Portraits of families rendered in paint and chrome

Each lowrider tells a story with their car. Many are passed down through generations as family heirlooms: symbols of dedication and reminders of the beauty in perseverance.

“West Texas” Eddie Velarde, a member of the Majestix Car Club’s San Antonio chapter, has been restoring his 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme for 18 years.

When he bought the car, his daughter, Selena, was just 6 months old. This year, she graduated from high school. Velarde hopes she’ll inherit the lowrider when he dies, he said, as a memory of his hard work.

“I look at this car, and it’s a symbol of times when bills went unpaid, when money was short. Life was hard, but we made it.” Velarde said, running his hand over a portrait of his daughter painted on the Oldsmobile’s trunk.

Paintings of Velarde’s mother, father and wife adorn other panels. He’s dedicated the car to his family, he said: “It’s an extension of who we are.”

Like Velarde, longtime Austin rider Trampia Guzman grew up “in the life,” he said: “I was born to it.”

When Trampia Guzman’s father followed work to fields in the Northeast, he’d call home, asking his young son to rotate the tires on his car. Lowriding was a way of life for them.

‘This is an art, and it’s miraculous’

The art gave rise to other creations.

Trampia Guzman’s grandmother taught him to sew when he was 5. He started making zoot suits, a uniquely baggy and square cut style that began among Chicanos from El Paso in the ‘40s.

Now two of Trampia Guzman’s suits are on display in the Bullock museum’s lowrider exhibit. One of them, cut from shining gold cloth, he made as a memorial to his grandmother. The material came from a set of drapes that had hung in her home all of his life.

He admired the cloth as a boy, he said: His memory of his grandmother had always been sitting in a chair in front of the golden drapes. Now, he wears the suit each year on the anniversary of her death.

Stories of love and dedication spring from the lowriders.

Trampia Guzman’s wife bought him one to restore on their 20th wedding anniversary. He said he cried when he saw the car taken apart for painting; he was so overwhelmed. His friend, who goes simply by “Gizmo,” helped him paint the car.

“This is an art, and it’s miraculous,” Gizmo said, turning his head with a grin. “You see that red car over there?”

He pointed to a pearlescent cherry cruiser, sitting low to the ground.

“That one got struck by lightning. It almost burnt all the way down, but we saved it.”

Carros y Cultura

When: On display through Sept. 2

Where: The Bullock Texas State History Museum at 1800 Congress Ave.

Info: An exhibit showcasing Texas’ unique lowriding culture, featuring ornately decorated cars, motorcycles and artworks from the Latino community

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Austin, TX

“Hogs vs. Horns” in Austin, Arkansas renews rivalry with Texas

Published

8 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

“Hogs vs. Horns” in Austin, Arkansas renews rivalry with Texas

Posted: Nov 22, 2025 / 02:29 PM CST

Updated: Nov 22, 2025 / 06:29 PM CST

AUSTIN, Texas — The Arkansas Razorbacks head into the penultimate game of their 2025 season against the Texas Longhorns, the 81st meeting in the history of the “Hogs vs. Horns” rivalry.

The old Southwest Conference foes are now members of the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992, Texas three decades later in 2024. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 57-23. The two schools are scheduled to meet on an annual basis as “permanent rivals” in the SEC.

Follow along for live updates!

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Austin, TX

Austin real estate broker, supplier arrested for alleged role in drug network

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Austin real estate broker, supplier arrested for alleged role in drug network

AUSTIN, Texas — Court documents have revealed that a commercial real estate broker in Austin was arrested on Thursday on charges related to a narcotics distribution operation.

According to an arrest affidavit, Justin Bayne, 45, who is the president of Baynes Commercial, faces multiple charges, including criminal conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance.

ALSO| Hays County man sentenced to 15 years for 2022 crash that killed woman, injured baby

According to investigators from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Bayne was involved in a concierge-style drug network, regularly purchasing cocaine and introducing associates to an accused dealer. The clientele reportedly included doctors, executives, and individuals in the entertainment industry.

The documents indicate that Bayne maintained a supplier-buyer relationship with Uthman “Tobi” Oluwatobi Salisu, 31, who was arrested in September following an anonymous tip.

Salisu is facing five counts of money laundering of $300,000 or more, and four counts of manufacturing or delivery of a controlled substance.

The affidavit references messages where Bayne arranged cocaine pickups, paid through Venmo, and organized purchases from his office. Investigators estimate that introductions made by Bayne led to more than $45,000 in cocaine sales.

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Austin, TX

Austin ISD approves plan to close 10 schools after hours of public comment

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Austin ISD approves plan to close 10 schools after hours of public comment

The Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted yes to a highly contentious plan to close 10 schools and make several major programming changes before the 2026-27 school year.

The vote came early Friday morning after months of community meetings and school protests.

Superintendent Matias Segura estimates the plan will generate $21.5 million — eliminating the district’s $19.7 million budget deficit — and reduce the number of “empty seats” in the district by 6,319 from more than 20,000.

“This is difficult, and I wish we didn’t have to do it,” Segura said at the meeting. “But the pressures are gargantuan, and without significant change, we will not be the school district that ultimately can protect who we are moving forward.”

The board’s vote gives the district the green light to close eight elementary schools — Barrington, Becker, Dawson, Oak Springs, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley, Widén and Winn Montessori — as well as Bedichek and Martin middle schools.

Austin Independent School District

Austin ISD estimates closing these schools will generate $21.5 million in savings.

Additionally, International High School, which helps ninth and 10th grade students who recently immigrated to Texas transition into the state’s public education system, will close due to low enrollment. International students will be reassigned to a campus near their home and will be offered “newcomer support.”

While the financial savings will be a boon to the district, the plan also aims to improve accountability ratings at seven chronically failing schools. The letter grades are handed down annually by the Texas Education Agency to public schools and are largely based on standardized test scores.

The district’s original plan, released in early October, included 13 school closures and triggered parent and student protests. The district received more than 7,000 pieces of community feedback from concerned parents, teachers and staff. That feedback led to the district scaling back the number of closures to 10.

The board voted on the plan after nearly three hours of public comment from parents, teachers and community members. Nearly every speaker urged the board to reject the plan.

Téo Vigil, a third grader at Ridgetop Elementary, stood on a chair to reach the microphone and deliver his message to the board.

“At school, I learned to listen to my feelings. When I think about this plan, it makes me feel sad, worried and confused. I think you should listen to your feelings, too. Good choices do not feel like this,” he said. “I know you already made a plan, but grown-ups can change their minds when something does not feel right anymore.”

Band director Andria Hyden said she drives an hour from her home in Round Rock to South Austin’s Bedichek Middle School.

Hyden said for many kids, Bedichek is “the only place where they feel safe, accepted and successful.”

“Middle school is already one of the hardest stages of childhood,” she said. “Asking students to start over across three different campuses, to rebuild friendships, to search for trusted adults, to try and find where they fit is not what’s best for their emotional or academic well being.”

Major changes coming to dual language programs

The district’s most comprehensive dual language programming at Becker, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley and Reilly elementary schools will be moved to Sanchez, Pickle, Wooten and Odom elementary schools as part of this plan.

Current dual language students will be given priority transfers to the new campuses.

Sanchez, Pickle and Wooten elementary schools will remain “neighborhood” campuses that serve households in their boundary lines and offer dual language programming to a portion of the student population. The district said it plans on eventually transitioning these schools to campus-wide dual language schools that are non-zoned.

Odom Elementary will become the district’s only school that offers a campus-wide dual language program and is non-zoned. At campus-wide dual language schools, almost all curriculum is taught in both English and Spanish.

The district said it is relocating its dual language programs to serve the emergent bilingual population — students who primarily speak Spanish at home and are learning English — more equitably.

Reilly Elementary will offer a Montessori program, and students from Winn Montessori will be given priority transfers to follow the program as Winn closes.

The plan approved Thursday is far less sweeping than the district’s initial proposal, which also included redrawing the attendance boundaries for 98% of schools and changing feeder patterns so more students stay together through elementary, middle and high school.

The district claims those changes would have balanced out enrollment throughout Austin ISD. District data shows some schools are extremely under-enrolled while others are so full they require portable classrooms.

In a Nov. 4 email to parents, Segura said those aspects of the plan were delayed following “significant concerns” about district officials responsible for handling community feedback related to the plan. Those concerns resulted in two employees being placed on leave while an investigation takes place.

What’s next for the district

The district will send letters to staff at closing schools with a survey asking where they would like to work next school year.

Segura said the district will discuss closing additional schools and redrawing attendance boundaries in the spring and could vote on another plan next fall.

That plan could include closing Maplewood, Palm and Bryker Woods elementary schools. These were originally slated for closure before next school year before the district narrowed its focus. AISD officials have not confirmed all of the schools being considered for future consolidation plans.

Another change that could be settled next fall is a plan that would allow construction to continue at Oak Springs Elementary. The school in East Austin is set to undergo a $47.6 million renovation with money from the voter-approved 2022 bond.

During the construction period, Oak Springs students would attend Blackshear Elementary. Upon the project’s completion, students from Blackshear would return to Oak Springs and Blackshear would likely close.

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