Holmes has more than 20 completed murals and art installations downtown, but this mural, titled "Wings of McKinney," is her first “passion project” in the area, she said. The project was funded in part by the McKinney Arts Commission.
The details
The mural, located on the CrossCountry Mortgage building at 500 S. Tennessee St., features a house finch, a bird Holmes said she has seen often in the McKinney area. The mural is also located near Finch Park, she said.
“I chose that house finch because I've seen the little house finches down here, and they have this really pretty song,” she said. “They're usually hanging out on the wires, and they're just singing their heart out.”
Holmes said this project is the first she has completed downtown featuring a subject of her choice, noting that the other murals and paintings she has completed in the area were commissioned.
“I want it to be a source of pride because it is the first one of a project, and I want it to be a source of joy and beauty and wonder for our city,” she said.
The 100-mural series, called “Wings of the World,” will add murals featuring birds to 10 cities in Texas, each state in the U.S. and in 41 other locations worldwide, a news release states.
“It's really just a way for me to connect with people all over the world, to get to travel, to get to make art and that is like my goal in life,” Holmes said.
The context
Holmes, a McKinney-based artist and owner of A. Holmes Art Studio, has been painting within the community for 10 years and has been creating murals for the past four years.
Her work can be seen at Tupps Brewery, Mendocino Farms, the Trend Design District and around Historic Downtown McKinney.
Holmes began featuring birds in her work during an assignment she completed while taking art classes at Collin College in 2013. She continued focusing on birds as a subject matter, going on to complete a 100-piece series focused on birds and later created Birdtober, an annual art challenge during the month of October featuring various bird species as prompts.
Holmes said birds are an “endless subject matter,” noting that she has painted more than 1,000 birds in her lifetime.
“People really connect with birds,” she said. “People tell me their stories, and they love to talk about their own personal relationship with birds. Surprisingly, they creep into people's lives quite easily.“
Diving deeper
The primary mural is 12 feet tall by over 40 feet long, and also features an additional space below the primary mural.
The mural cost about $15,000, Holmes said, of which $7,500 was funded through a grant from the arts commission. The board unanimously approved the grant request, according to city documents.
Holmes said this is the first time she has received grant funding from the city of McKinney for her local public art installations. The mural also received funding from CrossCountry Mortgage and private funding sources, the release states.
The project took about 40 hours over the course of four weeks to complete, Holmes said, noting that the high summer temperatures slowed down the process.
Quote of note
"I am so excited to have started this project that will take over 20 years to complete," Holmes said in the release. "It only seemed natural to start in McKinney where I first got started as a professional artist and now the place I call home."
Looking ahead
Holmes plans to host a reception and kickoff party for the project at the mural site on Sept. 11, she said. The event is open to the public and will include an artist talk and light appetizers.
The next mural in the series will adorn a wall on the east side of the McKinney Cotton Mill and will feature a barn owl, Holmes said. As she continues with the remaining 99 murals in the series, Holmes said she is looking for partners, either individuals or cities, that have a wall that she could add a mural to.
“Once it gets going, I like the idea of people maybe traveling to see them because there's a big birding community, especially in Texas,” she said.
For more information on collaborating with Holmes on a future mural, contact [email protected].
To learn more about Holmes and her work, visit www.aholmesartstudio.com.
