Two decades ago, Wardell Whitley modeled for artist Paula Louise Blincoe. She used him as a reference point for a mural depicting Fort Worth’s Black history.
They recently reunited at the anniversary of the Historic Wall at Fort Worth Central Station. They laughed as they reminisced about the time they spent over three weeks capturing every angle of Whitley needed for the art piece.
The Historic Wall is a set of five murals that honor the history of Fort Worth’s Black community. Each mural captures a period of the commercial and warehouse district that neighbored Fort Worth Central Station from 1865 to 1940. Each piece shows community members and their contributions to Fort Worth.
“These murals represent the people who helped us shape our city with innovations, strength, as well as joy,” Brenda Sanders-Wise, executive director at Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical Society Inc., told a crowd during a ceremony at Fort Worth Central Station.
Camilo Diaz is a multimedia fellow at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at camilo.diaz@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.