Story by Samantha Corpus Photos by Leesie Blaha, Infiniti Photo of College Station
Hours, days, months. That’s how long Sarah Norman and her daughter Katie Neason, co-founders of Renovation Wranglers, stared at the blank wall on West 31st Street in Downtown Bryan.
When Norman and Neason, both Bryanites born and raised, bought land in Downtown Bryan about two and a half years ago, they noticed the blank wall. They thought about painting a mural on the wall for months, but neither could agree what the mural would look like.
Neason started researching other cities with murals to see how they found artists and contracted them. When Neason came across a call for artists online that invited artists to submit what they wanted to paint, it clicked. That was how they were going to do it.
“It would be a way to get the community involved and local painters involved and to bring something to Downtown Bryan that we didn’t have … murals,” says Neason. “And when you go to other cities, it just provides a warmth and a comfort.”
Norman and Neason are not artists. Further, they didn’t know any artists, they didn’t know how to get it done, and they didn’t own the building. They started with the wall’s owner, Phillip Garrett of Conlee and Garrett Moving & Storage, for permission to paint on their building.
Soon after, the mother and daughter duo teamed up with the Downtown Bryan Association, part of whose mission it is to showcase the arts and culture of Bryan, and the Brazos Valley Art Council, which helped to spread the word to artists. They received 15 artist submissions, both local area and from around Texas.
“Downtown Bryan is a Texas Cultural District,” says Sandy Farris, executive director of the Downtown Bryan Association. “We’re one of about 30 cities in the state that have that designation, and that comes from the Texas Commission on the Arts. So, it is a pretty competitive process to go through and to get selected as a Cultural District.”
Cultural Districts are recognized parts of a city that have programs and a high concentration of cultural facilities, which serve as an attraction. They also help strengthen the local economy and expand on the cultural aspect of the city. Adding a mural that represents a city’s past and present would highlight the culture of the area.
Norman and Neason were able to recruit University Title Company, City Bank & Mortgage Company, Surplus Warehouse, Woodson Lumber & Hardware, Paint Warehouse, We Rent It, American Momentum Bank, and ExtraCo Bank as sponsors. Their company, Renovation Wranglers, matched the monies donated by the sponsors.
On May 30, five artists were chosen to each paint one 25-foot-by-18-foot mural across the wall on West 31st Street. Each artist received a stipend, but provided their own paint and art supplies. The mural theme is celebrating the city’s past or present, showcasing commerce, culture, and community. Each mural is 25 feet wide and 18 feet tall and are the first public art that has gone up in Downtown Bryan in four years.
“Whether they drive by it or walk down or whatever it may be, it doesn’t really matter as long as they see it, know it, and seek it,” says Norman. “Our goal is to make sure that they know it’s there to seek it out.”
Calina “Cal” Mishay Calina “Cal” Mishay, 30, grew up in Rule, a small town north of Abilene and attended Texas Tech for a few years before moving and graduating from Midwestern University. Cal has been painting murals for a little over a year. Before that, she had mainly painted commissioned artworks for about six years. She would sit down with people to hear their story and try to connect it to things in her own life to paint a one-of-a-kind picture just for them. Working with individuals helped Cal learn how to work with cities and committees to create work that has a little piece of her, but that is ultimately about them.
See more of Cal’s work on Instagram @cal_calinamishayart or contact her at streetartbycal@gmail.com.
Cliff Collard Cliff Collard, 43, grew up in Madisonville and would frequently visit Bryan College Station to go to the movies and go shopping. Today, he owns Arsenal Tattoo in Downtown Bryan and is a member of the Downtown Bryan Association. For as long as Collard can remember he has always enjoyed drawing and painting. While other kids eventually stopped doodling, he continued, his love for art growing.
View Cliff artwork on Instagram @cliff_collard or at www.arsenaltattoo.com.
Tyler Kay Tyler Kay, 24, grew up moving around Texas and spent time in both the city and the countryside. She is currently attending the University of Houston working on a master’s degree in art leadership and studying financial management of nonprofit organizations and art law.
View Tyler Kay’s artwork and previous murals on Instagram @TylerKay or www.Tyler-Kay.com.
Mick Burson Mick Burson, 27, lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but is originally from Waco. He took part in the Navasota Artists in Residence program two years ago. In seven years, Burson has painted about 100 murals. Growing up, Burson started as a graffiti artist and even painted freight trains for few years. After that, he decided to move into the public realm to paint walls for people.
View Burson’s work on Instagram @mickburson.
To view Blackmon’s work, visit www.BlackmonArt.blogspot.com or www.SarahBlackmonArt.com.
About the Photographer Leesie Blaha, owner of Infiniti Photo of College Station and a Bryan native, is providing volunteer photography services to publish weekly progress pictures on Facebook in order to update the community throughout the completion of the West 31st Street Murals Project.
