Keep Austin Weird

Keep Austin Weird is a slogan coined by Red Wassenich in 2000 while giving a pledge to "The Lounge Show", a quirky, eclectic radio show on an Austin radio station KOOP Radio.^[1][2] He began printing bumper stickers in July 2000 and operated the website keepaustinweird.com until his death in 2020^[3] and published Keep Austin Weird: A Guide to the Odd Side of Town.^[4]

The slogan was later adopted by the Austin Independent Business Alliance to promote small businesses in Austin, Texas.

Despite a challenge from Wassenich, the slogan was later trademarked by Outhouse Designs and used to market T-shirts, hats, and mugs.^[5][6][7] Other cities have since mimicked the nickname, including Portland in 2003, Louisville in 2005,^[8] and Indianapolis in 2013.^[9]

A 2010 book on the topic, Weird City: Sense of Place and Creative Resistance in Austin, Texas,^[10] discusses the cultural evolution of the "Keep Austin Weird" movement as well as its commercialization and socio-political significance.^[11][12] The origins of Austin's unique culture have been claimed to be the product of unusually cheap housing prices following the end of a housing boom in the 1980s, combined with the location of the University of Texas at Austin in the city.^[13]

Gallery

• 
  Beloved Austin local Leslie Cochran
• 
  Cathedral of Junk
• 
  HOPE Outdoor gallery^[14]
• 
  Maria's Taco Xpress restaurant
• 
  South Austin Museum of Popular Culture
• 
  Daniel Johnston's Hi, How Are You mural

See also

• Keep Portland Weird
• Keep Louisville Weird