The smell of paint lingered on North Main Street as artists created a mural honoring local baseball players to kick off All-Star Week festivities happening in Tarrant County.
The Texas Rangers and Major League Baseball commissioned the mural, located a few doors down from the historic cultural center Artes de La Rosa in a plaza that serves as a gathering space for residents.
Days before the mural was unveiled July 10, the rattle of the spray paint cans added to the traffic noise from the busy street. Artists Juan Velazquez and Armando Aguirre started the mural two weeks prior, and the clock was ticking to finish it.
Velazquez said the mural features the evolution of one’s path when pursuing a career in baseball. He hopes the mural will inspire kids to pursue their dreams, from playing T-ball, softball, high school and college baseball to going to the pros.
Being in Northside, Velazquez wanted to embrace the neighborhood’s history and highlight the Latino community.
The mural features Latino Texas Rangers players Yovani Gallardo, Adolis García, and Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez. Gallardo grew up in Northside and attended Trimble Tech High School before he was drafted into the MLB.
Velazquez credits his inspiration to the young art students he teaches at Artes de La Rosa.
“A lot of those kids are Hispanic, and, you know, when they come here, they’re going to drive by and see it,” said Velazquez. “Maybe if you just motivate one of them for baseball or art … and it’s like, ‘I want to be an artist like that one day,’ and they see that someone like them did it.”
Velazquez said he didn’t see many people who looked like him do things he wanted to when he was growing up. He hopes he can be that representation for young people — not only through the subjects he paints on the walls but also through his own career as an artist.
Aguirre has been working with Velazquez for about four years. They are part of a collective called Art Life and team up with other artists to paint murals.
Aguirre said their commissions have evolved over the years, but it’s still hard to believe that they’re teaming up with the Texas Rangers and MLB.
“I know that through art, the message can be received,” said Aguirre. “I really do hope that other kids do get inspired, because that motivated me. And I want that to continue.”
Velazquez and Aguirre worked for hours to meet a tight deadline. By July 10, when community members and Rangers officials gathered for the unveiling, the pair said they couldn’t believe the amount of support they got. The amount of love people gave them during the event made them proud.
As residents admired the work and enjoyed breakfast with baseball conchas, a traditional Mexican pastry, Gallardo watched a painting of him throwing a pitch while standing in the same neighborhood he grew up in.
Gallardo, who had an 11-year professional baseball career, said he’s proud to be able to represent Northside as a Texas Ranger.
“Just for the young kids to be able to say, ‘Oh, he grew up on this street’ … or in this neighborhood, ‘I can do it as well,’” said Gallardo.
He said he was caught off guard by the fact that he is on the mural, because he didn’t know about it until shortly before the mural was revealed. To be featured is an honor, he said.
“More importantly, (it will) inspire the kids all around the community,” said Gallardo. “Dreams can definitely come true if you set your mind to it and go for it.”
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.