New art is bursting into life on the trails.
Isaac Tapia and Rodrigo Alvarez of IT-RA Icons have been hard at work this week on their mural “Serene Flight,” which was selected as part of an online competition.
The contest was sponsored by Thrive Allen County, who successfully obtained a grant to fund the project.
On Wednesday, Tapia and Alvarez took a break from working to answer questions from the community during a featured artist talk.
The duo spoke about meeting in Kansas City, where they still do the majority of their projects, along with how they got started in the mural business.
Things were slow at first, with going door to door, along with doing tons of outreach; and COVID-19 also complicated matters.
The hard work paid off, though, for as Tapia noted, “fortunately, this year, there were so many people calling us that we had to quit our jobs. This year we’re going full-time, doing what we love.”
Tapia and Alvarez also discussed the content of the mural itself, which will prominently feature a historic bridge, meadowlark and butterflies.
“We wanted to convey the same mission as [Thrive] has, as far as health goes,” said Alvarez, “and I’m a big fan of bridges.”
“As you can see, the bridge takes a lot of space,” he added, laughing.
“I think symbolically, a bridge is very important as it connects two realms, two planes,” Alvarez continued. “I thought that it was very inviting.”
“Come on in, get to the other side,” the mural seems to say.
“The meadowlark and dragonfly are about that accelerated feeling you get once you have a good run or a good walk,” Alvarez added.
“And there are also butterflies because both of us are traveling all the time, doing our work, migrating.”
All told, Alvarez said he’d spent about 16 hours on the design before ever putting paint to any surface.
