Port Lavaca: Mural approved by city

The Port Lavaca Wave
By CJ VETTER cjvetter@plwave.com
​​​​​​​Oct 15, 2022

Bringing color

Port Lavaca will be getting a splash of color after the city council approved a new mural on the side of the Lighthouse Beach restrooms, giving the drive into town a little more pizazz.

Approved by the city council, the mural will be painted by local artist Michael Sanchez, who cooperated with Port Lavaca’s park and recreation department to develop a mural that would come to represent Port Lavaca as a town. Sanchez, who is best known around town for his sketch portrait work, took the opportunity as a chance to add vibrancy and life to a town he has grown up around for most of his life.

“I’m standing behind the design of the mural. I’m proud of it. I think that it’s going to be a good representation of Lighthouse Beach, and I think that almost everyone will be able to see Lighthouse Beach whenever they look at the [mural],” Sanchez said. “They’ll be able to know where it’s at, know what it is, and feel represented by something, and have something represent their home.”

Work has already begun on preparing the mural’s future location, with teams prepping the wall it will go on. Since the mural is intended to last for a long time, the wall must be properly painted and prepared, lest the paint fade, crack, or even fall off. Certain materials, such as wood or ceramic, can have adverse effects on any paint that covers it, with the most drastic cases resulting in entire sections of the work falling off the wall. Properly prepared murals can last for decades, as seen with the mural on the side of Mainstreet’s theater, but each material needs special attention to ensure the mural’s continued existence.

“You have to be conscious of what you are painting on and how it is going to last. A lot of preparation had to go into the wall to make sure it would last. If we had painted over the old top coat that they had on, it would have lasted only a few years, but now, it’ll last a better part of a decade or two,” Sanchez said. “You need to know what surface you painting on, whether it be stone, concrete, ceramic, or any kind of material. You need to understand how it will absorb your paint and how it will mess with it because, for example, wood will literally soak up your paint. Masonry breathes, and if you don’t use the right paint, the masonry will push the paint right off.”

Sanchez, a Calhoun County local, was inspired to approach the council after conversations with Interim City Manager Jody Weaver. As part of his desire to expand his artistic skills and to help give back to the community, Sanchez says that part of his goal when painting the mural was to help inspire other young artists in the community to also try and express themselves.

“There’s plenty of people who grow up here and who may honestly never really leave. But even for people just passing by, art is for everyone. That’s literally what art is for…. Art has a way for people to open their minds and expand their horizons,” Sanchez said.

When approaching the mural, Sanchez plans to separate the piece into different quadrants before transcribing them from his smaller sketch onto the wall. Block by block, he will paint the mural until the entire surface is complete. Supplies for the mural will come directly from the local Sherwin Williams, and once completed, the mural will be visible to anyone passing by Lighthouse Beach. The design of the mural itself is based on postcards, as seen in other cities around the U.S., with small images representing Port Lavaca.

“I’m all for Port Lavaca to have the best art, and I want Galveston to not have anything on us. I want Corpus to look at us and come over here to paint. That’s pretty ambitious, but if we get recognized among them as a beautiful coastal town with art, that would be an achievement,” Sanchez said. “That would be something to be happy and proud about.”

Work on the project is estimated to be finished by late November; however, inclement weather may cause delays. No official announcement of any other murals has been made by the city, but Sanchez will be working on another mural ordered by a local business. When asked what is next, Sanchez says he will continue to try and make Port Lavaca a more artistic destination and is open to the idea of painting more for the city.

“So long as I’m able-bodied, and I am able to paint and able to do all this, I’ve got a feeling this is gonna turn out good. I’ve got trust in the good Lord above that I’ve been given enough skill and dexterity, and hopefully, time to be able to go ahead and do this,” Sanchez said. “So that way I can do my thing and serve the people. That’s the underlying motivation.”