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State
& Local
Frog mural will survive after
locals protest
Baja Fresh delays opening to
protect Austin icon Jeremiah
By Tessa Moll

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Media Credit: Heather
Hilliard

Ernesto Elfonso cuts a window
into the Baja Fresh building at the corner of
21st Street and Guadalupe. The owners of the
building altered the plans for construction in
order to save the frog
mural.

A
friendly greeting from a frog nicknamed "Jeremiah" has
amused Austin residents for more than a decade with its
cartoonish style and curious "Hi, How are you?" tagline.

Earlier this month, however, Austin nearly lost
the icon painted by local artist and singer-songwriter
Daniel Johnston.

Baja Fresh Mexican Grill planned
to remove the mural before it opened its new franchise
at 2100 Guadalupe.

"It was this chain restaurant
out of California that was coming into Austin and trying
to change the way our city looked without any regard to
what we value," said Dan Solomon, a screenwriter who
lives near the site.

When residents noticed
construction work surrounding the "Jeremiah" mural, many
became concerned over the fate of the likable
frog.

"I think it expresses a lot of the spirit
of Austin," Solomon said. "It's friendly, amusing and a
little subversive."

Solomon decided to
investigate the matter on his own. After learning of
Baja Fresh's intention to tear down the mural, Solomon
rallied Austin protesters via the Internet.

Baja
Fresh franchise owner John Oudt had no idea his new
restaurant was threatening an Austin icon.

"We
went through 10 weeks of planning the renovations and
working with the city of Austin, and no one mentioned
the frog had any significance," Oudt said. "We had
planned to cut out the wall along 21st for windows.
That's when it hit the fan."

Solomon estimated 30
protesters gathered outside the former Sound Exchange
building Jan. 6 in an effort to preserve the mural. Oudt
agreed to meet with the Austinites.

"I simply
explained to him the importance of the frog. He was
completely shocked. He had no idea. He just assumed it
was some graffiti on the side of his wall," Solomon
said.

Daniel Johnston originally created
"Jeremiah" for the cover of his "Hi, How Are You?"
album. Johnston's growing popularity in the underground
music scene led Sound Exchange to ask him to turn the
frog into a mural on the wall facing 21st
Street.

"The minute I opened up [Johnston's] site
and saw a pic of Kurt Cobain with a frog on his chest, I
knew I was making a mistake," Oudt said, referring to
the deceased Nirvana star's MTV appearance in which he
wore a frog T-shirt.

"[Oudt] was just initially
unaware of the cultural significance of that mural, and
once he was aware of that from the community, he was
more than happy to accommodate the request," said Megan
Weiler of the Austin Arts in Public Places program.

After speaking with protesters and executives
from Baja Fresh, Oudt agreed to protect the mural. He
estimated that changes in the renovations and
architectural plans will cost about $50,000 and will
delay the opening of Baja Fresh one month. Oudt now
estimates it will open in late March or
April.

"It's going to be a very weird Baja Fresh,
which I hope will keep the 'Keep Austin Weird' people
happy. We just hope to be part of the UT community,"
Oudt said.

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