Texas Border Business
Keep McAllen Beautiful has embarked on a program to give public art a stronger presence in the city and to give experienced artists a chance to get exposure on their work. Located throughout McAllen are over 200 irrigation pipes, which come in all shapes and sizes, and are part of the city’s rich agricultural history. To this day, some of those concrete pillars continue to regulate flow of irrigation-water to help maintain farmlands. A few of those pipes stand vigilantly along the City of McAllen’s Hike and Bike Trails and have long been eyed as a promising place for public murals, and thanks to local artists, some have now been transformed into beautiful works of art.
Take a walk or run along McAllen’s trails on 2nd Street or Bicentennial Blvd and ones’ eyes and heart will be delighted. In 2019, a Call For Artists was placed and after a thorough application process, several artists submitted design concepts to use these pipes as their canvas. Keep McAllen Beautiful’s Public Art Committee then met to review applications and selected artists based on their work and submissions depicting local history, culture, and/or native habitat. Students, teachers, and retirees were amongst the artists selected.
This year’s class of artists to have their artwork permanently displayed on these irrigation pipes include:
- Esmeralda Benitez, a retired art teacher, who presented and painted beautiful renditions of McAllen’s green parrots and sunflowers;
- Brittany Luna, an area art teacher who showcased citrus with her beautiful – orange orchard renditions on two columns;
- Cristina Pechero, Manuel Robledo, and Conchita Flores of the Monarch Group, chose an abstract work of art depicting local flowers native to the region on their three pipes;
- Jenifer Torres a local student, painted hummingbirds, butterflies, and watermelons on her two pipes;
- Lisa Saldivar, McAllen Independent School District Art Director opted for a more intricate pointillism design depicting local hummingbirds, green parrots, cactus and citrus; and
- Cecilia Sierra a college student from Brownsville, offered up a great visual of the local wildlife to include a turtle, kiskadee, green parrot, and a whimsical armadillo.
“These experienced artists have creatively transformed a huge chunk of concrete into gorgeous works of art that the whole community can enjoy,” said Chris Lash, Keep McAllen Beautiful Program Coordinator.
Keep McAllen Beautiful would like to thank all the artists who have made this project possible. Plans are underway to have more pipes painted throughout McAllen. Special thanks to the City of McAllen and the Hidalgo County Irrigation Districts for making all of this possible. A portion of funding for the project was obtained through a grant for Keep Texas Beautiful and the HEB Green Bag Program.
Keep McAllen Beautiful Inc. is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization whose mission is to expand awareness of proper waste reduction practices, litter prevention and the beautification and environmental preservation of McAllen’s natural beauty. For inquiries, contact KMB at 956-681-4562 or kmb@mcallen.net. Visit the website at www.keepmcallenbeautiful.org.
