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About 100 art lovers and relatives of artist Joe Lopez showed up at Pearl for the dedication of five new tile murals on Thursday morning.
They are on walls just off Grayson Street, along the walkway into 1100 Springs Plaza.
The City of San Antonio’s Krystal Jones cited the city’s long tradition with murals as she celebrated Lopez's artistic achievement.
“These murals are more than just public art," she said. "They are storytellers, cultural bridges and community anchors. Murals in San Antonio have long been a reflection of the city's diverse heritage and shared experiences.”
There are tile murals all over downtown, along the River Walk and on some of the city’s older buildings.
The five fired tile murals dedicated on Thursday had a running theme: water. 80-year-old Joe Lopez appreciated the praise he received from city and Pearl officials.
“I’ve come a long way,” he said. “And you know, so many people ... helped. Most of all, I want to thank my wife, Mary Frances Lopez.”
The murals depict scenes around Pearl and illustrate the waters around it. Water is what brought people to this region, and that's why the Pearl Brewery was built in the area in 1883.
For this particular project, Lopez explained, he had to stretch in new directions for this project. Each one of these fired tile murals started with oil paintings.
“I paint people. And I was famous for my ‘gallo’ paintings, my rooster paintings, and also the "Día de los Muertos." So this was completely different from what I normally paint,” Lopez said. “It was very challenging. Usually, [I] don't paint straight lines!”
Lopez said he felt a little apprehensive about the large-scale project at first, despite his long and successful career.
“I kept telling myself, 'you can do it, you can do it.' A lot of other artists here in San Antonio, there's a lot of great ones, and I'm just honored that they asked me. I'm just a humble guy from the barrio with talent [who] did something with his talent.”
Lopez's paintings will be featured at Pearl's weekend farmer's market too.
