Monarch Highway mural proposed for 1102 Grant; artist requests $14,000 over remaining mural budget

Amanda Fernando of the city’s economic development department presented a proposal for the “Monarch Highway” mural at 1102 Grant Street and described the artist, proposed materials and schedule.

Fernando identified the artist as Alan Gindick and said the design was modified from an earlier version; the mural would occupy the main façade of Casa Raul and a portion of an adjacent building owned by Melsa LLC. The design uses realistic monarch butterflies, selective red Texas flowers and handwritten lettering. Fernando said design finalization would take one to two weeks after approval and on-site painting would take about seven to ten days (roughly 12–16 working days total).

Fernando said no board funding or final design approval had been completed. Staff advised the board that the artist requested $14,000 for the project. A board member noted the board had a previously approved $50,000 mural allocation and that three murals already contracted left approximately $11,003.92 remaining. That left the current request about $2,600 over the remaining budget.

The chair and staff discussed options: negotiating the request down, verifying available account balances, or asking a council member to sponsor the remainder from discretionary funds. Staff said they would return the item at the next meeting as an actionable item after confirming fund availability and any sponsor commitments.

No final approval or budget allocation was made at the May 12 meeting. The item will return with clarified funding and a possible amended motion.