Four new large-scale murals are going up across Fort Worth as part of a citywide public art project aimed at spotlighting the nonprofits serving the cowtown community.
The murals are celebrating the Morris Foundation’s 40th anniversary, a private family foundation that invests in nonprofit organizations working to improve education, healthcare and social services.
“We wanted to commemorate this milestone by bringing positive recognition, joy, and a great spotlight to the nonprofits in the city that are really the fabric of these neighborhoods in our community,” said Elizabeth Brands, president and chief executive officer of the Morris Foundation.
Painted on a building operated by Presbyterian Night Shelter, the newly revealed piece is roughly 3,000 square feet and features vivid colors, layered patterns and illustrated figures inspired by people served by the shelter.
Fort Worth-based artist Katie Murray created the mural. She said the design draws directly from stories of individuals experiencing homelessness and rebuilding their lives. Their figures line the walls along with quotes that they shared in videos that describe how they've been supported by the shelter.
“I just wanted to make that their message really shown through to somebody who may not know anything about the Presbyterian night shelter,” Murray said.
The mural includes the phrase “Thank You Fort Worth,” a requirement for all four anniversary pieces. Besides that, artists were given full creative freedom to collaborate with their assigned nonprofit and interpret the theme of connection to community.
Murray said she leaned into brightness and density and making sure that “every 3,000 square foot was covered with color” to create something visible from nearby highways.
The mural also serves as a visual anchor for a larger redevelopment project underway at the site. Leaders at the Presbyterian Night Shelter are transforming the building into a hub for workforce development focused on women including a thrift store, boutique and coffee shop.
Presbyterian Night Shelter CEO Toby Owen said the organization had long hoped to install a mural, but the foundation’s involvement elevated the vision.
“We wanted it to be as loud and as much color as possible so people could see it,” Owen said. “But really to do more than just see it but really kind of explain what we're trying to do and to feel the energy.”
That work includes emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, and a workforce initiative called Upspire, which employs more than 250 people who are currently or formerly homeless. The new development paired with the mural is designed to draw attention to those services while creating new economic opportunities for women reentering the workforce.
The Presbyterian Night Shelter mural is one of four installed across Fort Worth, each representing one of the foundation’s core funding areas like education, healthcare and social services.
Other partner sites include North Texas Area Community Health Centers, Texas Wesleyan University and Boys and Girls Club of Greater Tarrant County all done by local Fort Worth artists. Brands said the goal wasn’t just beautification, but recognition.
“We wanted to make sure that as individuals were driving by and they saw this,” she said. “It might cause them to stop, put a smile on their face, and maybe even ask, I wonder what goes on in that building.”
For both the foundation and its partners, the project reflects a larger philosophy that lasting impact comes through collaboration.
“They're more than just works of art,” Brands said. “We hope they are a reflection of community, partnership, and shared purpose.”
