WCW Artist Guild Organizational Meeting
An organizational meeting to establish the Wood County Walls Artist Guild has been set for 6:30 pm, Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at the Winnsboro Community Arts Center Annex. Anyone interested in learning more about the project, being a contributing artist or a supporter of the project is welcome to come and join the discussion.
Mineola
Mineola is fully committed to the project and have committed 100% of the community funds to the project.
The current plan is to have Luis Valle return to Mineola the week before May Days and the week before the Iron Horse Festival to paint murals. We will be approaching the event organizers to see if we can include the dedication of the murals as a part of each festival’s activities.
We met with the Mineola Landmark Commission to discuss the alignment of WCW with the goals and responsibilities of the commission. It was a productive meeting. First, we are going to look at the possibility of designating specific areas of Mineola as mural districts in the historic area and seek pre-approval from the state for doing murals in those areas. This would streamline the process to shorten the approval time by already having state approval and only needing to clear the art with he Mineola commission. The next step will be to organize a walking tour of the historic district with the Mineola commission to identify those sites. We also had a great discussion on the potential placement of murals in the Iron Horse Square area, including the possibility of a mural walk.
Planning is still underway on several murals. Discussions are ongoing with Craig Musgraves and his family about a mural on the MPrints building. We are looking at doing something that pays tribute to music. Kasey Musgraves is the Grammy award winning daughter of Craig and Karen Musgraves, owners of M-Prints. Karen is an artist and has a gallery in Mineola. One of her most notable works is the Willie Nelson painting and she has done other works of musicians.
The Dairy Queen project is also still progressing in the design and planning phases. There are at least two locations at the DQ site being developed. One is on the front of the building that will be done by local artist Loren Petri (artist that did the Mineola mural). A second concept is being developed that would center on a comic book inspired mural running the length of the drive thru.
If you haven’t been to Winnsboro lately, you need to check it out. They are really doing great things with the arts. They have a wonderful Winnsboro Community Arts Center and are raising funds for a performing arts center. They also have a great start on muraling and other public arts.
Winnsboro has organized for the project through the Arts Center and will be supporting the project expenses through their “Artist in Residence” funds. They have established a WCW committee and we had the opportunity to present the project at the annual meeting of the center. They are VERY excited and have put together some really great folks. A wall has been identified and they are now working with Luis to identify a muralist and begin the designing process.
Hawkins
The Mayor of Hawkins is leading the effort in that community. She had me present to their EDC this month and the presentation was well received. The project will go on the agenda for the next meeting for a vote on providing the community funds. As they wait for the funding to get locked down, efforts are already underway to identify a wall for the festival. We were also sent a picture of an old firetruck that they are considering using as public art or possibly incorporating into a 3D mural concept. Hawkins is already getting creative!
Yantis
We presented to the Yantis City Council in February and the project was well received. They will take the project to their EDC for funding consideration and will have the project on their agenda in the next council meeting for a vote.
Quitman
While we have not personally presented to a Quitman contingency yet, we have forwarded the proposal and information to representatives from the Quitman Development Board. It has been communicated to us through a Quitman Development board representative that they are interested, and we will be following up with them shortly.
Alba
We are still working to develop a contact in Alba.