Newly Launched“Kerrville Runs on Water” campaign celebrates local art and raises water awareness Local youth art contest and new water mural in Kerrville
Kerrville is proud to partner with Texas Runs on Water®(TROW) to launch a local campaign highlighting the many ways Kerrville is built on water. TROW is a statewide water campaign addressing the state’s growing water supply needs by spurring action and conversation around water, and inviting local partners to join the movement.
To kickstart the local campaign, a group of partners including the Hill Country Alliance, Kerrville Community Arts Program, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA), and Big Seed launched an art competition in schools, inviting students to submit artworks that celebrate their unique connections to water. The top two designs will be featured on local utility boxes on Water Street.
“The story of Kerr County starts with the Guadalupe River,” explains Tara Bushnoe, General Manager at the UGRA. “The river provides water, economic prosperity, and quality of life, and it is unlikely that Kerrville would be located where it is today had it not been for the Guadalupe River. The students’ designs reflect that connection beautifully.“
The organizing team received over 80 outstanding entries from students in Peterson Middle School, Tivy High School, and Notre Dame Catholic School.
“We were so impressed by the quality of all the artwork submitted. We are grateful for the local art teachers who let us present this opportunity to students, and then guided them to create such amazing art,” says Katharine Boyette, Community Arts Program Director of the Kerrville CVB.
In addition to the organizing team, a panel of judges that included Mayor Judy Eychner, Becky Etzler of the Riverside Nature Center, and Karolyn Andrews of the Kerr County Water Alliance selected two winners: Tivy High School students Azur Anderson and Isabel Venegas, both grade 11. They also selected three honorable mentions: Darren Dang, grade 7, and Bellalinda Burtchell, grade 6, from Peterson Middle School, and Maitlyn Goodwyn, grade 10, from Tivy High School. These students will be awarded a prize and certificate at April 9th’s Kerrville City Council Meeting.
Thanks to the generous support and encouragement of the Kerrville Public Utility Board (KPUB) and James Avery, the winning designs will be wrapped around two utility boxes on Water Street sometime in the spring. In the meantime, you can view some of the student entries at the Pint & Plow Brewing Co. now through March 10th.
Next up for the campaign: a new mural on Water Street that celebrates Kerrville’s connection to water. If you would like to support this effort, please visit: https://www.communityfoundation.net/donate and select the Kerrville Runs on Water fund.
About Texas Runs on Water
Texas Runs on Water is a first-of-its-kind statewide water campaign developed by the Texas Water Foundation to inspire a generation of Texans to participate in the cultural and behavioral changes needed to meet future water supply needs. Launched in 2021, this campaign is intentionally designed as an umbrella concept that can be localized by region, audience, or water use, linking the value of water to pride in all things Texas. Learn more at TexasRunsonWater.org or follow along @TexasRunsonWater on Facebook and Instagram, and @TXRunsonWater on Twitter and Tiktok.
Annie Walker Doyle came to Kerrville in 1908. She was an educator and graduate of the Tuskegee Institute and the State Normal School in Prairie View, Texas. Soon after her arrival, she purchased three lots to be donated for the establishment of a school. The Black community raised funds to move an old frame building previously owned by the Kerrville school district to the donated property. Mrs. Doyle served as the only teacher at the Kerrville Colored School for more than 25 years.
Mrs. Doyle passed away in 1937. In 1940, married couple B.T. and Itasco Wilson arrived in Kerrville to teach. Soon after, the Wilsons led an effort to change the name to the Doyle Colored School, in honor of Annie Doyle.
B.T. Wilson was an educator, musician, and community leader. He transformed the educational experience for Black children in Kerrville. During his tenure, he started both a choir and athletics program that traveled statewide. Known as "Prof" by many, B.T. served as the principal of the Doyle School until Kerrville schools were integrated in 1964. When the Doyle School closed in 1966, B. T. Wilson moved to Tivy High School, where he taught mathematics and biology.
The Doyle School, along with local businesses, churches, juke joints, and organized sports were the elements that made the Doyle neighborhood a vibrant and self-reliant community. Today, the Doyle Community Center and Carver Park serve as cultural and social centers for this historic neighborhood.
Mural designed and installed by George Waring
Assistance from Kristin LaRue, Marty Garcia,
and the Kerrville community
This project was made possible by the Kerr County Lead
“No Space” speaks to how each of us constantly deals
with our individual issues, and how challenging it can be
to take a step back and get space from them.
Whether it be family issues, body issues, comparing
yourself to others, or even to yourself, it is difficult to
remove oneself from them and discover the space to
thrive. We are often so fixated on how others perceive us
that we have no space in our minds to focus on the future
and work on improving ourselves.
This mural demonstrates how important it is to
acknowledge your personal mental health challenges
and become more comfortable in your own skin. No one
is free from struggles and it is important to raise each
other up, not tear each other down.
Mural designed by Pilar Garcia
Installation by Pilar Garcia, Carmela Garcia, and Marty Garcia
This project was made possible by Peterson Health
“The importance of water can be seen and felt all around Junction and Kimble County,” says Llano River Watershed Alliance President, Linda Fawcett. “Kimble County is sometimes called The Land of Living Waters because of all the water that runs through our region, including the beautiful South Llano River that runs through Junction. The river is our drinking water supply, a source for irrigation, and a place to recreate.”
To organize this mural, the mural committee has joined forces with the Hill Country Alliance (HCA), a nonprofit that works with local partners to protect the clean waters, starry night skies, and open spaces of the Hill Country. This mural will be the first of its kind in the Hill Country, and Hill Country Alliance hopes it inspires murals like Junction’s around the Hill Country.
“Because water is so local, and people’s relationships to water so personal, it was hugely important that this mural project be led by local Junction residents,” says HCA’s Water Program Manager, Marisa Bruno. “This effort wouldn’t be possible without the ideas, support, and action of community members.”
The mural is slated for completion in April and will be painted on the side of the Meals on Wheels Thrift Shoppe on Main Street. For technical support and artist recruitment, the mural committee is partnering with Big Seed, a Kerrville-based nonprofit that provides a medium for creative young people throughout the Texas Hill Country to explore and develop their artistic passion. Big Seed will provide the artist coaching and mural expertise to bring the mural designs to life.
Significantly, the ideas for the mural will come from within the community. The mural committee is partnering with Junction High School to get input and inspiration from students. Additionally, the mural committee welcomes ideas from the community.
Mural designed and installed by Oly Limon and Christan Powers.
In partnership with Hill Country Alliance, Llano River Watershed Alliance, Texas Water Foundation, and the community of Junction.
During the summer season at the Kerrville Olympic Pool,
swimmers share space with families of Barn Swallows, whose
mud nests are left undisturbed by City staff, providing safe
habitat for this native summer resident.
The nest in this outdoor hallway and above the Men’s locker
room entrance is reused each year by the Swallows, who
return to Kerrville every June after wintering in Central and
South America.
In the evenings, as pool users exit the facility through the
locker room hallway, nesting Barn Swallows swoop in and out
feeding hungry babies who, by summer’s end, are strong
enough to leave the nest and join the evening hunt for flying
insects. Both male and female Swallows build nests and feed
their young.
Swallows feed largely on flies, but will also eat wasps, beetles,
bees, moths, grasshoppers, and other insects. A single
Swallow can consume as many as 850 insects in one day.
Designed and installed by students of Fredericksburg High
School, June 2021:
Emma Stewart Olivia Findley Lexi Sione
Kennedy West Whitney Phillips Journie Valadez
guided by Julie Mangum
Made possible by Big Seed, supporting young creatives
throughout the Kerrville area, with funding from H-E-B.
The earth’s oceans cover seventy-one percent of the
planet. It is estimated that over 700,00 species live in
these waters.
These powerful ecosystems help regulate our
weather and climate, absorb vast amounts of carbon
dioxide, provide much of the oxygen in atmosphere,
and contribute food to a substantial portion of the
human population.
This artistic representation of ocean life reminds us of
the magnificent biodiversity of the natural world, and
of our responsibility to protect and preserve the
natural systems that support us.
Designed and installed by Samantha Bass, Tivy High
School, July 2021, guided by Kristin LaRue.
Made possible by Big Seed, supporting young
creatives throughout the Texas Hill Country, with
funding from H-E-B.
Before the Industrial Revolution, horses were a primary
form of transportation. Populated places were once full
of carriages and wagons, with horses transporting
people and goods across town. As technological
advancements led to the replacement of horses with
automobiles, negative environmental impacts
accumulated. Now, transportation continues to evolve,
as electric vehicles begin to enter the mainstream.
Seven shades of green, highlighted in black and white,
represent new development, new life, and continued
renewal. A waxing moon symbolizes the illuminating
phases of human understanding - blackbirds, the human
phases of advancement including resting and
recharging.
As the evolution of transportation technology moves
toward renewable and sustainable energy sources,
communities and utilities are incorporating infrastructure
that make these advancements possible. This mural is
dedicated by the artist to the Creator who makes all
things possible, including the ability to use knowledge
for advancement, stewardship, and greater ease of life
on earth.
Mural designed and installed by Ren Wright-Trapino and students
Notre Dame Catholic School, Kerrville
This project was made possible by Big Seed, supporting young
creatives throughout the Kerrville area, with funding and support
from the Kerrville Public Utility Board
Tennis and art bring joy to both participants and
observers. Just as the swing of the racket pulls you into
the game, the stroke of a brush can draw us into a scene
and carry us into a story, a journey, or a deeper
understanding of our world. Art has a way of captivating
interest and inspiring others to tap into their own
creativity.
Bright colors can bring light into our lives. Contrasts
between light and dark helps tell a story - sometimes the
story that’s happening between the lines.
Movement is beauty - art is in motion. Within each action
is a power to make us feel something within ourselves,
whether holding a racket or holding a brush. Creativity is
in all of us, if we only find the inspiration to draw it out.
Mural designed and installed by Olivia Findley
Fredericksburg High School, Class of 2022
This project was made possible by the City of Kerrville
Our local streams gather water from precipitation and
from underground aquifers and direct it in ever-growing
progressions toward the Guadalupe River. Here, Quinlan
Creek flows into the Guadalupe about 300 yards to the
south. These waterways are critical habitat for turtles like
the Guadalupe Spiny Softshell and the Red-eared Slider,
for fish like the Blacktail Shiner, and for tadpoles of
numerous frogs and toads.
Local waterways cut through ancient seabeds. Today you
can find fossils of marine mollusks and algae that lived
here in shallow seas in the days of the dinosaurs.
Riparian areas are bedrock qualities of Kerrville’s distinct
natural beauty and local ecosystem. These terrestrial
habitats along streams and rivers form critical food and
shelter sources for many species of birds, amphibians,
insects, and mammals. These are the areas where turtles
nest, ringtails prowl at night, and foxes trot unnoticed
due to their excellent camouflage.
Listen and look for tiny cricket frogs whose calls sound
like marbles clicking together, chattery Carolina wrens
flying around the underbrush, turtles basking on
protruding logs, and owls hiding high in trees. They are
all aspects of a complex food web that relies as much on
nutrients moving from stream to land as it does the other
way around.
Mural designed by Mackenzie Wade
Schreiner University Communication Design, Class of 2018
Funded by the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country
Copyright © 2024 Big Seed - All Rights Reserved.
all photos by Samuel Beaver and Louis Amestoy (KFM,POP photos by Dale Leach, Cartewheels photos by Max Walther)
Powered by young creatives in the TX Hill Country