Council approves donated Route 66 centennial mural and partnership with youth‑led Blank Space Murals

The Amarillo City Council voted to accept a donated, privately funded mural marking the centennial of Route 66, a project presented by Blank Space Murals and partners including National Geographic, the nonprofit’s executive director, Sean Kennedy, told council.

The project — titled "66 Stories from Route 66" — pairs youth fellows with professional mentors to collect oral histories, create digital story maps, and produce a preliminary mural concept to be installed along the Sixth Street underpass adjacent to the new multimodal station. Project partners cited youth workforce training, National Geographic’s story‑map platform, and archival partnerships with local institutions.

Blank Space Murals’ presenters showed conceptual themes and said the combined mural panels would total slightly more than 400 feet, which they described as making it the largest mural in the Texas Panhandle. The donation would be privately funded and installed at no cost to the city; the applicant submitted the artwork donation application on March 13, 2026, staff said. The project team said the display will include a QR code linking to longer digital stories hosted by National Geographic.

Councilmembers asked about location, renderings, lighting and timeline. Project leads said a line‑art rendering could be provided before the council’s next meeting and emphasized the importance of completing the work before the centennial event. Council adopted Resolution 032426‑1 to accept the donation and directed staff to return with the line‑art concept at a subsequent meeting.

The mural proponents described the project as a tourism and economic development opportunity intended to link downtown and historic Sixth Street and to broaden visitors’ impressions of Amarillo beyond familiar landmarks.

No public opposition was recorded in the hearing.