Corpus Christi artists installing long-awaited mural at Sound Vibrations

Fresh off completing "Total Eclipse" at La Palmera Mall, muralists Mayra Zamora and Monica Marie Garcia were busy on Thursday applying another panel to the current mural they're installing at Sound Vibrations.

The artistic effort moves them closer toward completing a unique work of art featuring five musicians from Texas that will be in clear view to anyone who rides past or visits the locally-owned music store.

With the design of the mural finally revealed and the 20-foot personas of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddy Fender, 'Dimebag' Darrell and Janis Joplin, along with the additions of Selena and Vinnie Paul Abbott, appearing on the 22-foot by 100-foot wall, people are noticing, Zamora said.

"Throughout the days and evenings that we're out here, people are always stopping by to take pictures," she noted. "I don't think Corpus knows what's going to hit them."

The two artists said they spent about a year painting the mural at the Antonio E. Garcia Arts and Education Center, where hundreds of community painters joined them in completing the underpainting and background in blue and black according to specifications. Eighty panels of translucent parachute fabric measuring five square feet each are primed, painted and glued onto the wall with rollers and a lift. A small sketch provides the image that can be drawn to scale.

Well-recognized images of musicians redesigned

The design for Selena was selected based on three images that were sent to the store by the singer's family, the Quintanillas. Zamora said she was proud to be painting the singer and felt like "a queen putting up a queen."

Garcia said she spent several months adding finite details to each of the musicians depicted.

"Painting is our favorite part," she said. "Once installation begins, that's the hardest."

The muralists, who engage a wide audience through social media, will invite people to community paint days to help finish the mural by adding touch-up paint to the sides and bottom.

The painters said they met Degraaf by chance while they were working on another mural, "Seasons of the Sparkling City," which won them The Bend Magazine's Local's List 2023: Readers' Choice Award for best mural.

The owner had been looking for someone to update the mural on the side of the family's store, which went through about three iterations since it was hand-painted by original artist Merritt S. Finnell. The previous mural was created at a time before murals could be found all over the city, Degraaf said.

She noted that while it angered a lot of people when they say the wall painted white after it was cleaned and primed last July, the new mural had been a long time coming.

Heavy wind and wear, particularly from Hurricane Harvey, pushed water up under the paint and left it faded and chipped.

"We're hoping the artists' new technique will give the mural greater longevity," she said. "Our whole vibe at Sound Vibrations being in this area is to have a mural with a nostalgic theme with an image that reminds you of a song and the people who sang it.

"It takes you back on memory lane to the music you remember from your childhood," she said.

While the muralists suffered a setback in the middle of the week when a vandal took the batteries out of the lift, the police were alerted, and they were able to keep working on the mural.

If all goes according to plan, it will be finished by May 17, with a dedication ceremony and party to follow in June to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fender's breakout album. Fender's niece stopped by the day before to look at the mural, Zamora said, and when she called Freddy's wife, the muralists got to talk to her on the phone.

"It would be very cool to have it the day the album came out," Zamora said.

Street art and murals accentuate many corridors and walls of Corpus Christi's downtown, with the Marina Arts District hosting the monthly First Friday ArtWalk and playing host to a myriad of murals by local artists.

Zamora said she felt like the Six Points neighborhood is an up-and-coming area of town that will follow on the heels of downtown's progress.

"Corpus is a very creative community full of artists, but we're also like Austin--full of musicians, as well--so I know the musicians are going to absolutely love the mural," she said. "We're already seeing a lot of businesses come to Staples Street and revitalize that street, and the Six Points intersection is famous, intersecting a famous road."

Emily Quintanilla, the lead assistant to the two muralists who helped Garcia install a mural downtown, said she looked forward to helping out more with the current and future projects.

"They've taught me everything there is to know about murals," she said. "I didn't even know this was a technique, and they taught me inside and out, and now I will teachers others, too. I love coming out here to help because it's a chance to repay them whenever I can."

Another mural that Garcia and Zamora helped created during K Space Contemporary's mural arts program teen summer camp, "I Saw Diego at the Washeteria," is nominated by The Bend for Local's List 2024: Readers' Choice Award for best mural.

To follow the mural's progress, and to see more work from Zamora and Garcia, follow their respective Instagram accounts @Miramayraart and @Shiningstar2mg.

More: Sound Vibrations building in Corpus Christi to feature new mural soon

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Muralists begin installing mural at Sound Vibrations