From the sublime to the silly, from the intellectually challenging to just a big ol’ “Howdy,” Fort Worth has embraced public art in a big way. There are numerous blog posts devoted to our city’s murals, and they grace countless Instagram posts.

But some murals have a deeper meaning. Westbend’s “Y’all Means All” mural encourages us to love our neighbors. Vanessa Guillén, who was murdered at Fort Hood, is remembered in a mural at 3604 Hemphill. Atatiana Jefferson’s beautiful eyes gaze out from her mural at 1701 Evans. And earlier this year, a mural celebrating historic Black businesses was unveiled at 2800 Yeager.

Commissioned by CommUnity Frontline, the mural celebrates Fort Worth Black businesses and business owners. Amanda Davis, mother of Stop Six, is featured, as is Fort Worth ISD administrator and educator Dennis Dunkins. Black-owned businesses Hotel Dryce, Black Coffee, and The Dock Bookshop are represented.

CommUnity Frontline commissioned Texas artist Armando Castelan to create this mural, and it was completed just in time for Black History Month 2023. I reached out to the artist to talk about his background and his mural.

[Editor’s Note: In October, CommUnity Frontline announced a new mural collaboration with Armando. Stay tuned!]

Born in Puebla, Mexico, Armando grew up in Houston. When he was in high school, he knew that he wanted to be an artist, but he didn’t pursue a formal art education. “I had no additional schooling once I graduated,” Armando said, “So I began practicing with various mediums and taking commissions. After doing this for a while, I was presented with the opportunity to work for a mural company. I did well and enjoyed it… and later worked with another muralist before I decided to go on my own.”

After establishing himself as a muralist, a digital artist, and a painter in Houston, Armando recently settled in Fort Worth. And then he heard about a mural that CommUnity Frontline was hoping to commission.

“I happened to see that CommUnity Frontline was raising money for a mural,” said Armando. “I had already met Frank Moss, one of the founders of CommUnity Frontline. I approached him and asked if they needed assistance with the mural project, and he introduced me to the rest of the CommUnity Frontline team… After seeing my portfolio and having some discussions, they agreed to have me be the muralist for the project.”

Photo courtesy of Armando CastelanMa

While CommUnity Frontline had decided that the mural would depict Black entrepreneurs both past and present, they didn’t have a design. “They provided me with photos that they had collected, and I did my own research while working toward the design,” Armando said. “After some renditions and revisions, they settled on a design.”

I talked with Quinton “Q” Phillips, Fort Worth ISD trustee and one of CommUnity Frontline’s founders, about Armando and the mural. When I asked why CommUnity Frontline wanted to commission a piece of public art, he said, “Community Development and Beautification is a core pillar of CommUnity Frontline’s efforts. We believe it’s important to show pride in our historically neglected neighborhoods and to showcase their rich heritage as well as to take care of our neighbor’s surroundings.

“We decided to commission a mural on the Eastside to showcase the often forgotten history of the impact that Black owned businesses have had and continue to have on greater Fort Worth… [Armando] began to truly understand the purpose and essence of what we wanted to capture. He had a wonderful vision of the direction it should go and how to encompass all that we wanted to convey. His talent took over, and the rest is actual history. He saw our care for the community, he shares that care, and it comes through brilliantly in his art.”

Mia Moss, whose Black Coffee is featured in the mural, said, “It is an honor for my business to be mentioned, let alone forever painted in a mural next to legends and trailblazers like Amanda Davis and Dr. Marie Holliday… Watching Armando bring all these generations of black businesses together was emotional and beautiful. I am forever grateful for the gift he gave by creating this mural…”

Apart from the mural at 2800 Yeager, you can see more of Armando’s art around town. “I have one mural at 2^nd and Grove Street and a concrete pillar of a bridge over Trinity Trail Park as part of a mural project organized by local artists… I hope to do more outdoors and to continue to represent Fort Worth as an artist.”

The post Celebrating Fort Worth’s Forgotten Heritage first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

After a year-long campaign that celebrated Horned Frog leaders in key markets across the country, the Fort Worth mural now celebrates distinguishing characteristics and aspects of TCU that are shared by Horned Frogs across the globe. It is designed by 2023 TCU graduate and former TCU ArtOrg President Natalie Neale.

Photo courtesy of TCU

The previous mural installations, painted on buildings in New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville and Chicago, highlighted notable leaders who found their inspiration and sharpened their leadership abilities at TCU. The Fort Worth mural moves from a focus on individual alumni leaders to a collective leadership narrative, one that invites all Horned Frogs and visitors to participate by posing in front of the physical mural or using a digital filter to “muralize” themselves, wherever they may live.

“There are so many amazing leadership stories in our community, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to choose one person to highlight for this particular mural,” said Tracy Syler-Jones, vice chancellor for marketing and communication. “Inviting community participation will uncover stories that illustrate how we are leading on together for the greater good.”

As TCU turns its focus to the next 150 years, the mural features monarch butterflies, symbols of transformation, and mockingbirds representing freedom and infinite possibilities. Central to the design is the motif of a “ripple effect,” where the impact of one person can spread out in all directions like water ripples, impacting others and ultimately the whole world, Neale explained. This concept is near and dear to Horned Frogs, as the flow of the water of Frog Fountain similarly represents how TCU faculty and students impact each other, spreading knowledge from one class to the next.

Photo courtesy of TCU

In addition to Frog Fountain, the mural features other iconic TCU details, such as tulips, the Brown-Lupton University Union, ivy from Moudy Hall and the horned frog. It also incorporates TCU collegiate cheers like “Fear the Frog,” “Riff Ram,” and the headline, “Dream Big. Be Bold. Lead On.”

Neale, who graduated with a degree in painting in May 2023, exemplifies the next generation of TCU alumni poised to make a global impact. Her unique perspective and artistic talent have played a pivotal role in bringing this mural design to life.

“In celebration of TCU’s 150^th year, I wanted to create a design that conveyed what it means to be a part of something larger than yourself. I reflected on my own experience and what this place has meant to me,” Neale said. “I graduated from TCU feeling a strong desire to make a difference in the world, as a way to honor how all the people I connected with at TCU had left a mark on me forever.”

The mural series is part of TCU’s national awareness campaign supporting its 150th anniversary “Lead On: Celebrating 150 Years of TCU.” The first four murals in the series were unveiled in New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville and Chicago, and spotlighted John Devereaux ’12 of Hamilton; Katherine Beattie ’08, a producer/writer for NCIS and wheelchair athlete; Desmond Bane ’20, an NBA player for the Memphis Grizzlies and youth advocate; and four health care professionals, including Dr. McKenna Chalman ’19, ’23; Emma Joy ’21; Dr. Courtney Sullivan ’17; and Dr. Brandon Zsigray ’14.

The post TCU Unveils Mural, Bringing Campaign Home first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Born and raised in Mexico City, UNO moved to Brooklyn, NY. After time in Chicago and Los Angeles, he found himself back in Mexico City. In 1991, he ran into some friends who offered him a place to stay in Fort Worth if he was interested. He took them up on their offer and the rest, as they say, is history.

Well, there’s history, of course, but there’s future, too. UNO loved making art as a kid. He had a talent for it, but living in Mexico City and in New York, art was not a priority. Making a living was. There are few places in the world for art like New York City, though, and UNO soaked it all in. From the famous museums to the infamous subway stations, UNO was fascinated. “The graffiti was a big inspiration for me. Riding the train from Brooklyn to the Bronx, the walls were all covered with it. I loved the lines and all the colors.”

In Fort Worth, UNO began making and then designing furniture. He took up sculpting. After a successful showing at the Main Street Arts Festival, UNO began sculpting full-time. “I thought, why all of this effort making furniture when I have the talent to make better things?”

As a sculptor, UNO built a solid reputation, but when he changed to painting, he lost his sculpture clients and his following. He said, “In a way, I was starting from zero again, but in painting I found my own language.”

Unfortunately, UNO’s painting career was slow to build, and he was struggling. At a talk at the Kimbell, a panelist said artists need to be as creative marketing their art as they are in creating it. At the time, UNO was working on a small mural on Hemphill Street. Then he was approached by the Fort Worth Graffiti Abatement Program (GAP).

GAP works to remove graffiti throughout the city and educates citizens to its negative effects. Additionally, GAP works with local artists to create murals to cover graffiti. GAP offered UNO the commission to paint the Lancaster Bridge murals. He jumped at the chance to market himself while giving back to his adoptive city. “I am very grateful to Fort Worth. It is my home. My kids were born here. Fort Worth has given me the opportunity to pursue my career as an artist… This is a gift I could give to the city.”

While painting the Lancaster bridge murals, UNO was approached by a man who wanted to work with and learn from UNO as he worked. UNO spent over 400 hours creating the murals. His patron bought materials and lent an occasional hand. Around the same time, UNO was a vendor in a craft show at Will Rogers Coliseum. “I felt like an extra-terrestrial at that show. It was weird, and I didn’t feel like I belonged there.” He only sold two small paintings; barely enough to cover his expenses, but…

One of the people who bought a work at the show was a Californian with deep pockets and a real appreciation for UNO’s work; a few months later, UNO sold 15 more pieces to the collector.

In June of 2023, a commission for a mural on South Main Street was announced. While UNO was ultimately not chosen, Megan Henderson, Director of Events and Communications for Near Southside, remembered him from the talk at the Kimbell. Megan had been keeping an eye on UNO and offered him the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

On Gallery Night 2023, UNO’s first solo show, Together, will open at The Pool, a Near Southside Art Space located at 1801 8^th Avenue, and will run until September 30^th.

“It’s kind of weird. I am very happy about the show but also nervous,” UNO said. He is also quick to point out that the labor isn’t his alone. “I am only able to paint full-time because of the support of my wife. She also works very hard and works two jobs. I could not do this without her.”

UNO painted murals under a bridge as a gift to Fort Worth. However, the real gift to our city is the artist himself, and we cannot wait to see what he has in store for us in the future.

The post Together, At Last first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

These are just a few of the hats Katie Murray wears as she contributes her many talents to the art and culture of Fort Worth.

Currently, Katie is the Chief Creative Officer at M2G Ventures, a commercial real estate group. Katie is the artist responsible for making Cowtown more beautiful one mural at a time. As a guest on The FoundHers Club Podcast, Katie opened up and shared how “career fear” nearly held her back from making the career move of her dreams.

At her kindergarten graduation, a shy Katie leaned into the microphone and announced she wanted to be an artist when she grew up. During her first art class in high school, she became enthralled with the act of creating, and her teachers supported this newfound passion. Outside of school, she frequented art museums with her parents and engaged in cultural activities offered in the area.

“As a kid, I was extremely shy… a total introvert. I tell my friends that I used to let my parents talk for me. They liked to talk, so it kind of worked out. I would literally hide behind them, and people would ask me questions, and they’d answer for me. As I got older, I remember my dad telling my mom that she had to let me answer questions for myself. Now that I’m older, I draw energy from friends, family, and parties. It’s not that I necessarily want to talk during these things, but I like to be around a lot of people to observe and explore.”

Photo courtesy of Katie Murray; photo by Reverie Photo Co.

Katie started out in college majoring in fashion design but finished with a degree in graphic design. She found herself gainfully employed and sitting in front of a computer all day, where she spent time daydreaming about her true love – painting. She went Texas Women’s University and earned a Master’s of Arts with a focus on painting. “After graduating with a degree in painting, I had my first child and took some time off. I wanted to get back into art, but I didn’t know how.”

In one of those serendipitous turns that life sometimes takes, Tarrant County College was looking for an adjunct professor of design. Katie got the job and after teaching her first design class, she was hooked.

It was while she was teaching that Katie was offered an incredible opportunity which jumpstarted her career as an artist. Sisters Susan Gruppi and Jessica Miller had formed M2G Ventures and offered Katie a new role in which she could combine her knowledge of graphic design, architecture, and art by creating a series of inspirational murals on commercial buildings.

“[Susan and Jessica] hired me to paint murals… to inject life into old buildings. This added a new medium into my repertoire, and I am forever grateful to them for giving me a public platform to express myself through art… When this opportunity approached itself to me, I was really nervous about it because I had never painted at that skill before.”

We women are our own harshest critics. As soon as an opportunity presents itself, our first response is that we aren’t good enough to take it, or we don’t want to let anyone down. Imposter syndrome is real, and sadly, it is far more prevalent among women.

“My greatest challenge was overcoming an insecure mind,” said Katie. “It took a lot of self-encouraging… I realized I had to stop the self-doubt and recognize the amazing opportunity I’ve been given. At one point, I actually typed an email to Susan telling her I can’t do this and thank you for the opportunity, and even recommended a couple of artists who I thought would do a great job. I typed it out and it was ready to be sent. I deleted it and decided I was going to make it happen. I’d figure it out.”

Katie took a leap of faith, and now her murals are helping to turn Fort Worth into one of the most colorful cities in Texas.

So, what’s next for Katie? Be on the lookout for ‘unicorn cycles’ which integrate Katie’s design and art in a new partnership between M2G and Fort Worth Bike Sharing, which has bike share stations across the city.

These days, Katie finds inspiration all around her. Katie loves traveling, visiting other museums and galleries, and especially curating. She can find inspiration absolutely anywhere.

“You’ll find inspiration everywhere, as long as you’re open to it.”

Cortney Gumbleton is the creative genius behind the new podcast, The FoundHers Club, which focuses on the incredible stories of the unapologetically ambitious women founders who are redefining the wild world of entrepreneurship.

The post Finding Inspiration All Around You first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Across Fort Worth and around the world, artists are responding to a year of massive upheaval with mural making. In a time of social distancing, murals have become medium and megaphone for critical conversations, community activism and public art. From downtown Fort Worth and the Near Southside to the Stockyards and beyond, murals with a message can be found on street corners and alleyways—and sometimes in unexpected places. Local artists and experts will discuss how murals intersect with power, protest and representation.

“Fort Worth’s vibrant arts scene has responded in remarkable ways to this turbulent year of pandemics, politics and protests,” said William Gibbons, associate dean of TCU’s College of Fine Arts. “Public art helps each of us process the fundamental challenges of our times, and it also has the power to bring us together as a community in a uniquely isolating moment.”

Letitia Huckaby, local photographer, artist and co-founder of Huckaby Studios; local artist Juan Velazquez of Velazquez Art; and Jan Ballard, instructor of graphic design at TCU’s College of Fine Arts, will join moderator Jerome Weeks, senior arts reporter and producer for Art&Seek, in this discussion.

“Since the program’s inception, State of the Arts has been an occasion to connect with our arts community,” said Eric M. Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum. “In this year of social distancing, that purpose seems more poignant than ever.”

This free one-hour event begins at noon. To register, go to www.artandseek.org/fortworthmurals. For more information, visit kimbellart.org.

Letitia Huckaby has a degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from the Art Institute of Boston and her master’s degree from the University of North Texas in Denton. Huckaby has exhibited as an emerging artist at Phillips New York, the Tyler Museum of Art, The Studio School of Harlem, the Camden Palace Hotel in Cork City, Ireland and the Texas Biennial at Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum. Her work is included in several prestigious collections: the Library of Congress, the McNay Art Museum, the Art Museum of Southeast Texas and the Samella Lewis Contemporary Art Collection at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Huckaby was a featured artist in “MAP2020: The Further We Roll, The More We Gain” at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and “State of the Art 2020” at The Momentary and Crystal Bridges Museum; both opened in the spring of 2020. She is currently a Fall 2020 Artist-in-Residence at ArtPace.

Juan Velazquez is a Fort Worth artist once known for practicing only traditional, fundamental oil methods. He adapted to the COVID pandemic by evolving into a muralist who uses spray paint as his medium. Velazquez has brought the community of Fort Worth together by creating murals that shed light on social issues and injustices.

Jan Ballard holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-­Champaign. Since joining the Texas Christian University faculty, she has taught and assisted in the development of courses, including Communication Graphics, Typography 1, 2, and 3, Corporate Identity, Publication Design, Professional Recognition, Portfolio and Marketing, and Senior Thesis. In 2019, she was honored to receive the TCU Deans’ Teaching Award. In the same year, she was honored by the Tenth District of the American Advertising Federation as Educator of the Year and was the first TCU female faculty member to be so honored. She is a core affiliate of Women and Gender Studies and an IdeaFactory Fellow. In 2018, she was featured in “Teaching Graphic Design History,” by Steven Heller, and in 2018, she was one of 60 international teachers featured in Heller’s “Teaching Graphic Design: Course Offerings and Class Projects from the Leading Graduate and Undergraduate Programs.”

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