Tribute to Professor Friendly R. Rice

Tribute to Professor Friendly R. Rice was created by the Chroma Collective in collaboration with e4youth. This mural is located at 12th and Airport, across the street from Evergreen Cemetery where the subject of this mural is laid to rest. It is the first in a series of murals made to honor and document the history of East Airport Boulevard. A ribbon ties around a portrait of him, stating his name and title– from another angle, three words are inscribed on another ribbon. Community Leader, Pioneer. Friendly Rudolph Rice was an educator, administrator, and community leader, born on April 18, 1907. In 1931, Rice began his career with the Austin public school system during the era of segregation as assistant principal of Blackshear Elementary School, located on Austin’s East Side.

His work as assistant principal went further. He established one of the first libraries in an African-American elementary school in the Southwest, launched a program to provide hot lunches for students, and began the school's first outdoor garden. These are only a few of the ways he had positively impacted his community, and today, we won’t let his efforts be forgotten. This mural is meant to memorialize a brilliant community member and other leaders and pioneers like him.