By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The city’s newest park is officially open and showcases Del Rio’s latest piece of public art.
The Del Rio Main Street Program, city elected leaders and administrators hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the park Aug. 1.
The park, located in the middle of the 600 block of South Main Street, features a large mural designed and created by Del Rio artist Krystal Acevedo and titled “Mi Casa Es su Casa.”
Acevedo, a native Del Rioan, has been an artist for more than a decade.
She spoke to the 830 Times before the ceremony about how she became involved in the mural project.
“The city reached out to me and asked me to put in a bid. It was a bidding process. A few artists put in their designs for it, and it just so happened that I was chosen for this one,” Acevedo said.
She has created another mural in south Del Rio, a large painting featuring loteria near the Dr. Alfredo Gutierrez Memorial Amphitheatre along the San Felipe Creek.
Acevedo said she began working on the pocket park mural in April.
“I started by priming the wall, prepping the wall and laying out the design, but the bad weather we had in May pushed the work back by about two weeks, so the whole project took about three months total,” Acevedo said.
Acevedo said her inspiration for the mural’s design came from the city’s desire to feature “something Del Rio.”
“I wanted something bold, something that was going to catch people’s eyes as they came down Main Street, and I wanted something inviting and welcoming,” she said.
Acevedo said the colorful talavera tile used in many local homes was the final piece of inspiration.
“The emblem with the mural’s title comes from the signs you see outside people’s houses, ‘Familia So-and-So.’ And those feel very welcoming to me, and the phrase ‘mi casa es su casa,’ is the ultimate way to welcome people,” she said.
The size of the wall on which the mural is painted, Acevedo said, was a perfect canvas to celebrate both the colors and designs of the talavera tiles and the “mi casa es su casa” phrase.
“It sort of looks like a big backsplash in somebody’s kitchen,” she said.
Acevedo said seeing her completed murals makes her happy.
“I never thought I was going to end up doing art like this. I never took art classes in high school, even though I wanted to. Art really wasn’t ever in my plans, so having the opportunity to do this, for me, it’s kind of overwhelming, and it makes me excited when people stop by and enjoy it and take pictures, and driving by and seeing it makes me happy. I want people to enjoy it,” she said.
Acevedo said she will be working on another mural downtown in the near future and is considering several others.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
