TEXARKANA, Texas - When fledgling muralists Molly Kendrick and Rachel Freeman lost their art partners for planned murals at the former Kress site downtown, they turned to each other to realize this dream of making a mural.
Freeman and Kendrick recently braved the chilly, autumn elements to bring butterfly beauty and floral creativity to the mural project going up at what's now called the Kress Gap.
The murals in this Texas-side project at 116 W. Broad St. has added colorful charm to a space that, for many years, was home to an abandoned former Kress department store, which at one time sported a stylish art deco appearance as it served Texarkana shoppers.
Now, butterfly wings adorned with various flowers grace the wall on one side of what's become both a parking lot and an artsy hot spot. The butterfly joins a U.F.O., a forest scene, a woman with the words "Shine Bright" nearby, a geometric-shapes creation and more - all of it rendered by artists with local connections.
The mural space has become a conversation piece and a popular place to snapshots, emblematic of the way downtown is being revitalized. It has even hosted a wedding.
About a year ago, Freeman saw the call for mural artists to get involved in the mural project. She submitted her idea, but her original partner had to back out. Kendrick did the same, and her partner also had to bail.
"We both had girls that backed out," Freeman explained. In need of partners, they were friends who found each other, deciding to merge the ideas each had for the mural. Freeman wanted to do flowers, while Kendrick planned to do a butterfly that represented Texas and Arkansas. Naturally, these ideas could work together.
"So I chose a bunch of Texas flowers and a bunch of Arkansas flowers and stuff that has to do with the sides," Freeman said. She chose the Arkansas and Texas state flowers. Butterfly wings are filled with flowers like apple blossoms, bluebonnets and even a cactus.
Freeman, a photographer who has also painted in the past, drew it up and projected it up onto the wall. She and Kendrick, also a photographer and a digital artist, then chose their paint colors, selecting them on a whim.
"We just chose them as we went, but it turned out," Freeman said. Starting the weekend of Oct. 25, they worked about a week or so, off and on. She estimates they devoted 40 to 50 hours on the project, something fun to do for the community. In the making, several passers-by offered their support and interest as these butterfly wings took shape.
In the design of it, they left an empty place open between the wings where people can stand, as if mural visitors themselves were the butterfly. They mulled putting in the hashtag #twiceasfly on it, but decided against it.
"It's kind of interactive. People can stand in front of it and take their picture by themselves or with a group. That was the point, I think, was to see people actually use it and make their own photo out of it," Kendrick said.
They've seen plenty of foot traffic amble through the parking lot, they said. And friends and family visited them as they worked. One mom even brought pizza.
The weather cooperated - well, part of the time.
"I remember one day it was pretty freezing and we were trying to do little details, and it was like, 'Oh no, it's cold,'" Kendrick said. They had to work at night sometimes, too. "It was definitely a long process, ongoing for sure."
She saw the mural project as a cool thing Texarkana was doing for downtown, specifically.
"Just like revamping the whole area, adding art to anywhere I think just improves everything," Kendrick said. "Even when we were working on it, so many people were coming over here, taking their picture, or doing a tour, walking by just to see it. I was like, 'That's cool. That's what it should be to bring more people to the area.' And it has."
Freeman said she enjoys how people become the art when they stand between the butterfly wings.
"People do multiple different poses or whatever, but ultimately that's their wings to fly away. Butterflies change," she said. And Texarkana is changing, they added.
In addition to creating an interactive art space representing Texarkana's bi-state status and bringing more character to town, there's a deeper resonance, too. It's in the butterfly.
Each of them, Kendrick said, lost someone they miss dearly, but here they were coming together and developing a friendship through art that may not have happened without this project.
"The butterfly represents life in a lot of different meanings of that," Kendrick said.