Among the line items in the city of San Marcos’ initial fiscal year 2015-16 proposed budget is $30,000 for a mural arts program. It will be the third year the city funds the program, which is aimed at beautifying areas of the city.
The program has been used to fund murals at Children’s Park and Crook Park, and a new initiative announced in July will assist private property owners who want to design their own murals on their property.
Under the program artists must submit applications for consideration to the city. The applications are judged based on artistic excellence, intricacy of design, appropriateness of the mural, visibility, “wow” factor and other criteria.
The city’s Mural Arts Committee will pay for up to half the cost of materials and will provide a final clear coat on the mural. Artist honorariums are available in the following amounts:
- Murals 100-150 square feet—up to $1,500
- Murals 151-200 square feet—up to $2,000
- Murals 201-250 square feet—up to $2,500
- Murals larger than 251 square feet—to be determined by the committee
“It’s really there to encourage the private sector to embrace murals and try to get as many murals as we can in town,” said Lisa Morris, parks and recreation program manager.
The first mural to be created under the new grant program will be placed on the north wall of the Root Cellar Bakery at the corner of Hopkins Street and LBJ Drive. The city also plans to add a mural on one of the walls of the former Hays County Justice Center at MLK Drive and Guadalupe Street, which will cover more than 2,000 square feet.
Morris said the community reaps many benefits from murals. Often they can act as deterrents to graffiti because graffiti artists are hesitant to deface someone else’s work, she said. Artists also reap economic rewards because they are being paid for their work.
San Marcos-based artist Mabel Sirup created the mural at Children’s Park and said she was paid about $2,500 to create the piece.
“It was great being paid for it, but the satisfaction that I got seeing kids looking at it … was such a great experience,” Sirup said.
Council Member John Thomaides has championed the program and said one of the best parts of the city’s mural arts program is it is funded exclusively through the hotel occupancy tax, meaning there are no local tax dollars supporting the program.
Thomaides said he believes the city could eventually see a growth in tourism from people coming to town to see the murals.
“[The Root Cellar mural] is going to be one where people come, park and take their picture and put them on Facebook and Instagram," Thomaides said. "We’re never going to have 5,000 murals, but we think it’s just another thing that makes San Marcos unique and interesting and different.”
In FY 2015-16 the city plans to budget an additional $5,000 as a one-time expense for training city staff and local artists on innovative ways of creating murals.
“There are so many homogenous communities up and down I-35 in this corridor; you’ve got to do certain things to set yourself apart,” Thomaides said.
