Art Begets More Art at Price Center

Local muralist Michelle Wilson’s recently completed Hummingbird Mural on the Comanche St. side of the Price Center and Garden in downtown San Marcos is the latest work of public art the Center commissioned for all to enjoy. The large, detailed hummingbird mural is visible from Hopkins and San Antonio Streets at any time of day and provides a colorful entrance to the downtown corridor.

This beautiful new mural, which welcomes visitors to the downtown corridor from the west face of the Price Center, is visible from Comanche, Hopkins, and San Antonio Streets.

“I am truly honored to contribute this piece to the Center,” said muralist Michelle Wilson.

A dedication ceremony for the Mural will take place at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 1, including brief remarks and photographs just before the Public Reception for the current galley show, A Symphony of Colors, at the Center.

“We knew the mural was going to be nice,” said Clay DeStefano, executive director. “We were familiar with Michelle’s talent, but still, we weren’t fully prepared for how gorgeous this giant little bird would be,” he added. “We’re kind of blown away.”

This latest mural marks more than a dozen permanent works of art on the Center’s campus, and the 11^th Wilson has painted on San Antoinio St., including the Feltner Alley mural across from the Center’s parking lot, Blooming Day Spa, private homes, and the six street murals, which are functional crosswalks and bump-outs, completed last spring in partnership with Texas State University and the City.

The artist paused for a celebratory selfie upon completing the work.

“This mural is extra special to me because exactly one year ago I left my job at the Price Center to pursue mural art fulltime,” said Wilson. “The whole experience brought me full circle and made me incredibly happy. From working with Clay and the rest of the Arts Committee, to all the people who stopped, waved, honked, and shouted at me while I was painting, it’s the most fun I’ve had painting a mural – despite my crazy fear of heights,” she added.

In recent years, the Price Center has increasingly engaged in creating and displaying art. This latest mural is a byproduct of it. About two-thirds of the project's funding came from the Price Center Arts Committee, with the other third provided by a local private arts foundation.

The Arts Committee generates its funding from art show application fees and commissions earned from sales during shows at the Center. In the past six years, the Committee has acquired or commissioned various works of art for the garden, such as a mosaic torso, two custom painted picnic tables, and a large painted peacock. The garden also hosts one of the ten painted mermaids featured in the Downtown Mermaid March.

Rotating art shows, creative classes, musical performances, films, spoken word, and dance performances are all ways the Price Center celebrates the arts on an ongoing basis.

For more information, stop by the Center at 222 W. San Antonio St., call 512-392-2900, visit price-center.org, or smtxpricecenter

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