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Creative Waco unveils giant board‑game mural for Seventh Street Plaza; community paint day set for May 31
Summary
Creative Waco proposed a pavement mural for Seventh Street Plaza to be painted by its Art Apprenticeship program; the design is a family‑friendly, interactive "board game" and staff say funding and a National Endowment for the Arts grant are in place.
Creative Waco presented a design for a pavement mural at Seventh Street Plaza to the Waco City Council on May 6, proposing a large, family‑friendly interactive design to be painted by high school apprentices in Creative Waco’s Art Apprenticeship program.
"This is designed to be a giant board game," Creative Waco Executive Director Fiona Bond said, describing a pathway of painted squares with prompts such as "what made you laugh today" or "show us some dance moves," plus an on‑site spinner and the option to use a phone app or dice. The design includes neutral space to allow staging, seating or a market layout and was developed with input from City Centre Waco, city arts staff and a local design review panel.
Why it matters: the project pairs workforce development for teen artists with public‑realm activation downtown. Creative Waco intends the mural to be both a place‑making element for the Seventh Street corridor and a paid work‑experience opportunity for apprentices.
Key details: - Program and timeline: Creative Waco said the apprenticeship program hires local high school artists and five teaching artists; the organization intends to site‑prep in May, paint with apprentices roughly May 26–June 15 and host a community paint day on May 31 for residents to participate. Creative Waco indicated the mural painting portion would be largely complete by mid‑June with a wrap party later. - Funding: Creative Waco described total program costs at just over $100,000, which include apprentice stipends and teaching artist pay. Major support listed included a $45,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant (Creative Waco said that grant remained intact at the time of the meeting), $25,000 from the Waco Foundation, roughly $18,500 from City Centre Waco (PID funds) and $25,000 from other philanthropy. - Artist and design: the selected design was submitted by local artist Hayley Cash (The Starving Artist). Bond said Creative Waco will use Maker’s Edge to produce large stencils to standardize lettering in each square.
Council response and next steps: council members expressed support for the design and for the apprenticeship model. Mayor Pro Tem Darius Ewing, who served on the selection panel, and other councilors said they planned to participate in the community paint day. Creative Waco asked the council to consider the proposed design and invited council and staff to the May 31 community paint event.
Ending: Creative Waco and city partners said the mural is part of a larger Seventh Street Plaza revitalization plan and that the project will be a visible, publicly accessible activation for downtown if the timeline and funding hold.
