KTSW Loves: The San Marcos Art Fest and Street Murals

By Leina Cantu

Community Relations Member

Art filled the streets of Downtown San Marcos as members of the San Marcos community enjoyed the San Marcos Art Fest on April 12. The fest provided opportunities for everyone of all ages to enjoy local and public art.

The Chalk Walk hosted by the San Marcos Art League allowed children to unleash their creativity on the sidewalks. They were able to fill in numbered off rectangles to show off their art in their own space or choose to share a large space to create their art in the free draw area. The free draw area is a designated area where everyone can contribute and collaborate.

Those who enjoy shopping had the opportunity to shop for art at the Art Squared Art Market. This market featured a variety of art vendors and their unique art. Shoppers were able to shop from items such a stained glass, drawings, paintings and photography.

An eye-catching event was the Mural Jam, hosted by 78666 Walls. Mural Jam allowed watchers to experience art transforming right in front of their eyes in the downtown alleyways. The mural taking place was Scorpion v Mortal Kombat. The group creating the art is known as the Low-Life’s crew, made up of street artists, graffiti artists and other artists.

This group is based out of San Antonio and contains over 30+ members. Members in this crew come from other areas such as New Orleans, West Texas and Saint Louis. No matter the distance, they still consider themselves to be a close family.

Marcos Vargas, a member of the Low-Life’s crew, explained that the wall is considered a “production wall” and is a collaboration between everyone in the crew. A week before Art Fest, the crew had been coming to San Marcos before and after their jobs to work on this mural.

Vargas said these projects can typically take four days to a week. The Low-Life’s crew was able to exhibit their skills in San Marcos and, with those skills, created an intricate mural.

As Art Fest aims to highlight art, on the same day, Texas State students had their own art on display. Paint the Path: Petals + Paws Street Art Project showed off their six murals. The murals are one of the first implementations of street murals in the city. This project is a collaboration between the Stelos Scholars Program at the Texas State Honors College and the City of San Marcos.

Michelle Wilson, a local artist in charge of design, worked with the students to produce the murals.

“I really just want to highlight you know how much hard work everybody put into this and that public art is not just one person,” Wilson said.

This collaborative effort took two years to complete, start to finish. 50+ volunteers over a span of four days dedicated their time to painting the murals.

The design of the murals was based off a theme the Stelos came up with. The theme features endangered species, native flowers, pollinators and the Fountain Darter, a species of fish only found in the San Marcos and Comal River. The murals highlight conservation and protection of wildlife.

The Stelos Scholars wanted to bring life back to the used parts of the urban environment. Peter Tschirhart, associate dean of the Texas State Honors College said, “The city found that installing murals in these, what are called curb extensions and crosswalks will help revitalize the street and bring more pedestrians and safer for pedestrians to use the street.”

Members of the community also had the opportunity to pitch names for the creatures on the murals with sticky notes. The next step will be a website featuring the murals and the winning names of the creatures.

The San Marcos Art Fest shed light on various artists and provided the community with a day filled with art activities and showings.

For more information about the San Marcos Art Fest, click here.