Plumbing 
Members of Grammy-award winning Tejano group Los Palominos (left) Jorge Arreola and Julio Arreola look up at their 12-foot likeness on a mural created by California artist John Cerney. The mural stands at the Uvalde Area Chamber of Commerce, 300 E. Main, where it was installed on Nov. 6.
Towering murals go up around town
Artist John Cerney, known for his towering murals, spent several days in Uvalde this week installing depictions of Los Palominos band members, the late star Dale Evans and actor Matthew McConaughey along U.S. Highway 90.
After packing the trailer he pulls behind his truck about half full with art piece sections, he drove for approximately three days, covering 700 miles in the first day, and about 500 miles each additional day, to reach Uvalde.
Cerney meticulously put up the artwork in pieces, with Faglie Construction crew members, including Jaime Aguilar, Gilberto Perez and Ruben Reyes, assisting on a rotating basis.
Cerney started at 7:30 a.m. each day on Nov. 6-8. He said his process began with photos provided by the Uvalde Area Development Foundation, which spearheaded the project.
Cerney sketches on plywood before painting.
“Michelangelo used the same process I did on the Sistine Chapel, grid pattern. Because you can’t, if you’re like him, he’s working on a giant thing, you can’t sit there and know what’s going on that close. It’s got to be all gridded out, that was the old system,” Cerney said.
“I can be off by a half inch, that’s about all. But no one would notice it from the highway.”
Los Palominos
The first project to go up on Nov. 6 was a depiction of Grammy-award winning Tejano band Los Palominos, formed by the Arreola brothers in 1986.
Wearing blue plaid shirts, with some in cowboy hats and holding their instruments, Johnny, Jorge, James and Julio Arreola stand 12 feet high at the Uvalde Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center, 300 E. Main St.
Cerney said this mural took five and a half weeks – the longest a project has taken him in 30 years.
“The faces, I look at them, then go ‘no, not so good.’ Turn it around then come back two days later and go, ‘no. Jorge’s nose is too big,’” Cerney said, to much laughter from the Arreola family and spectators.
Cerney said the detail on instruments was time-consuming; adding the accordion took a week on its own. He also said a highlight of his trip to Uvalde was seeing the band members express appreciation for his work.
“It’s awesome, he did an awesome job,” said Julio Arreola.
Asked who he thought looked the best in the mural, Jorge Arreola quickly replied it was him.
“He’s going to pick himself,” said his wife, Belinda Arreola, while laughing.
Los Palominos won a Latin Grammy for Best Norteño Album for “Piénsalo” in 2017, which featured multiple hit songs such as “Me Muero,” “Cuando te Enamoras,” “Tuyo Quiero Ser” and the title track.
They won a Grammy for Best Tejano Performance with “Por Eso Te Amo” in 1999 and two Latin Grammys in 2000 and 2007, both for Best Tejano Album.
The group also hosts the annual Palomino Fest Celebration, held in Uvalde over Labor Day weekend since 1996. The three-day event which raises college scholarship funds typically features multiple bands, a rodeo, carnival rides and vendor booths.
Gilberto Perez (left) looks up as Jaime Aguilar and artist John Cerney work atop scaffolding set up on the west side of the Uvalde County Fairplex. Two members of Faglie Construction LLC spent several hours there helping Cerney install the 18-foot mural he painted of singer and film star Dale Evans. The figure will greet travelers on U.S. Highway 90. It was installed the morning of Nov. 7, and Uvalde County Fairplex manager Wendy Speer is making plans for lighting and a possible walkway to help spotlight the artwork.
Dale Evans
On Nov. 7, Cerney drove out to the Uvalde County Fairplex, 215 Veterans Lane, to begin installation of an 18-foot depiction of singer and movie star Dale Evans.
Cerney and helpers first installed two large wooden posts about 17 inches apart, cementing them into the soil. Then, using scaffolding, he installed a framework and the mural, working in several
large sections. He placed nails on top of her western hat in hopes of deterring birds from roosting and leaving a subsequent mess.
Cerney said the installation, which took about 2.5 hours, was one of the fastest he had ever done. Once the artwork was set and braced from the back, he installed a decorative sign with information welcoming visitors and letting them know Evans was born in Uvalde.
After installing the murals, Cerney spends hours on finishing touches, painting over screw holes in the sealed plywood and painting portions of support posts to help them blend into the background.
Fairplex manager Wendy Speer said she and her team are making plans for how to best spotlight the mural, and to lay some sort of walking path in future.
Cowboy sweetheart Evans stands as a fitting welcome for rodeo guests coming out to the fairplex arena, and attracts the attention of those passing by on U.S. Highway 90 West towards Del Rio, in her red and gold fringed outfit.
Born in Uvalde on Oct. 31, 1912, Evans was a jazz, swing and big band singer before becoming a queen of the silver screen starring in movies and television shows, often alongside her husband, Roy Rogers. She also wrote more than 20 Christian inspirational books. She is particularly known for the song, “Happy Trails” which she wrote and which closed the duo’s 1950s television show, “The Roy Rogers Show.”
Artist John Cerney, assisted by Timothy Robert Smith, both of California, work on a 17-foot mural depicting actor and former Uvaldean Matthew McConaughey. The mural was erected in about three hours on the side of Hacienda Road where it intersects with U.S. Highway 90. Cerney said McConaughey is aware of the art piece, and though he did not attend the installation on Nov. 8, Cerney said it would have made his day if the actor had shown up.
McConaughey
The mural of McConaughey started to go up at about 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 8 and was done around 11 a.m. The Texas Department of transportation and the city of Uvalde had to rework their contract regarding land maintenance at the side of U.S. Highway 90 coming into Uvalde, where it intersects with Hacienda Road.
Los Angeles, California-born artist Timothy Robert Smith flew out to help Cerney with this project.
Cerney said McConaughey was aware of the artwork.
Oscar-winner McConaughey was born in Uvalde and, to the delight of area residents, frequently mentions the community in interviews. Accompanied by his mother and brother, Mike, also known as Rooster, he appeared on stage at the Uvalde Area Chamber of Commerce’s centennial banquet in 2020.
During that event, family matriarch Kay McConaughey recalled adventures the family had during a 16-year residence in Uvalde. She told of the family’s moves across Uvalde, as they occupied homes on High, Getty and Third streets.
While their former abode at 518 N. Getty St. is now black – a feature Rooster noted during their time onstage – the family said it took turns as lime and mustard during their residence.
Looking back through Uvalde Leader-News archives, the McConaugheys were no strangers to news coverage even then, with Matthew making the front page as a runner-up in a Bandera youth pageant and stories about teacher Kay’s various civic ventures.
Since May 24, McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves-McConaughey, have visited Uvalde and also the White House to speak in support of gun reform.
Project history
The art project is a cooperative effort by numerous entities, and suggested Instagram hashtags are placed on signs near the murals for tourists and locals to post pictures with on social media.
In April, the city of Uvalde granted the Uvalde Area Development Foundation’s request for $21,400 in hotel occupancy tax funds for the murals for McConaughey and Los Palominos.
Former chamber president Karla Radicke spoke in favor of the project, envisioned by UADF vice president Kelly Faglie.
In mid-September, Faglie said the project was expected to come in about $2,000 under budget.
Faglie said Texas Hill Country River Region, which administers the county’s hotel occupancy tax revenue, would spend about $6,200 for the Evans mural.
Faglie said Buzz Kincaid housed Cerney and Smith, Dolly Schulz arranged a meal, Baker Rentals donated a skid steer with drilling attachments and TJ Moore Lumber Yard donated about $500 in materials.
She said Cerney was also speaking with her about maintaining the artwork, and what future touch-ups might be needed to keep the highway attractions standing, drawing visitors to the area for years to come.
See more of Cerney’s work on Instagram, johncerney, and Smith’s work, timothyrobertsmith, or visit Cerney’s website, www.johncerneymurals.com.
Future projects
While no other plans are presently in the works, when Uvalde City Council approved project funding, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr. expressed hope that some of Uvalde’s other notable figures might also be depicted in the future.
In addition to these larger-than-life figures, Uvalde also claims world champion boxer Oscar “Shotgun” Albarado, NFL Super Bowl winner Vann McElroy, evangelist Ben Kinchlow, the Newton Gang; MLB athlete Brooks Raley; rancher, outlaw, and lawman King Fisher; and Hollywood actor Dana Andrews among others.
jkeeble@ulnnow.com, 830-278-3335
