On Wednesday morning, local Texas art group Scribewerks completed the finishing touches on its newest public art piece, The Crayon Gallery, underneath Highway I-37.
Intersecting with Austin Street and Brooklyn Avenue, Scribewerks painted over the upright concrete posts supporting the highway with what resembles crayons. Printed on the columns are words of inspiration, including “courage," "power" and "hope.”
“When you think back to a crayon, you think [of] kids drawing or coloring, so it's just a playful nod to inspiration and imagination,” said Scribewerks member Nicholas Monroe.
Monroe and Jonah LaMonica hail from Midland, Texas. They have brought color to San Antonio in traditional murals, including their previous painting on the outside wall of Alamo Biscuit Co. With their latest art piece, Monroe wanted to capture memories of when they were children with little crayon boxes.
“An older gentleman stopped and just felt nostalgia. You know, it took him back to when he was a kid,” Monroe explained.
Scribewerks didn’t paint this gallery alone though. On their first day of work, artists invited volunteers to help.
“We had 20 people from the community come out with rollers, brushes, spray cans, just putting up color, " Monroe added.
Although he has no control over how long the crayons will stay upright and bright, he plans on expanding on this project.
“I hope to build upon this concept,” Monroe said. “Whether it's the words or color ... I'm hoping that that's here for a long, long time.”
Monroe is planning around late August or September to have a grand opening ceremony for the East Side community.
“I know that this street runs right in between two different districts for city council. So I get to enroll city council members to be a part of a celebration of this project at a future day and time,” he said.
