Public art blooms with League City initiative
Locals are at the forefront of the blitz, with bigger plans next year
At the corner of Maple Leaf Drive and FM 518 in League City, Adam Socie painted a traffic box, as well as a mural that depicts a train conductor handing off a ticket.
“The train conductor was made to look like Walter Hall,” said Sarah Greer Osborne, a spokeswoman for the city. “Even though he was not a politician, he was instrumental in getting League City incorporated and he was also instrumental in getting League City and the surrounding school districts to combine into one school district.
“He also rode that train every day to Rice University to get his degree,” she said. Folks can pose in front of the mural and act like they are grabbing a ticket from Hall.
Socie’s work reflects the local flair of a public art initiative that was launched by the city in 2021 and has been drawing praise.
Osborne said the initiative had its genesis in early 2020, promoted by City Council members Larry Millican and Andy Mann, along with Mayor Pat Hallisey. Keep League City Beautiful’s citizens committee also had a hand in the project.
Earlier this year, examples of outdoor art began appearing around the city, located some 30 miles southeast of downtown Houston. Six traffic boxes were decorated, along with the fountain-control box at League Park, 512 Second St. Another addition was a large-scale mural on the side of a caboose, also at League Park.
In some cases, paint is applied directly to a box. In others, a decal is printed to adhere to the surface.
“If you have professional artists, painting is great because they get things done in one or two days,” Osborne said. “But when you’re working with students, you really don’t want students painting on the side of the road in traffic and they have to be micromanaged. So, we learned early on that wraps (are a better option) for students.”
Osborne said “the overarching theme for our first set of artists was celebrating League City’s natural assets.”
“That’s why there are (subjects like) birds and reptiles and a flowerscape,” she said.
Local artists are also at the forefront of the creative blitz. Socie, for example, is a Pasadena native who lives in League City.
Thelma Brown, also of League City, has a piece at the corner of Texas 3 and Walker Street, across the way from the Helen Hall Library, 100 West Walker, that features seagulls soaring across a sunset.
“Thelma is retired and she moved here about seven years ago,” Osborne said. “She loves to paint and she paints every day. She applied to be one of the mural artists and she got selected and she is thrilled (to be part of the program).”
Funding for the art initiative comes from several sources.
Park dedication fees, which are collected from developers when subdivisions are being built, account for $150,000. Another $50,000 comes from the hotel occupancy tax, while League City’s traffic department had contributed $20,000.
Things will really get humming in 2022.
“We have a lot of things going on right now, particularly with parks and trails over at Hometown Heroes with the 5K loop and the dog park; so we will be doing some sculptures at the dog park. We have some other things planned for a 5K mural,” Osborne said.
The center of town will also see some changes.
“When we did our residents’ survey about where they would like to see art, there was a strong response that they would like to see art in the historic district; so that’s where our main focus is. In the new year we will be painting six traffic boxes along Main Street in the historic district.
Schoolkids in League City will be involved, too, Osborne said.
“All (the) schools are designing wraps and then we will look at them and decide where they will be,” she said. “Ideally the wrap will go close to the school that created it.”
So far, the effort to bring more art outdoors has been positive.
“The responses on Facebook have been wonderful,” Osborne said. “People love to see them when they drive by, and they have been very complimentary. The overall response has been amazing from people watching the artists and then driving by and seeing the finished product.”