If you haven’t spent any time walking along the Trinity River, you’re really missing something. The Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) now has 100 miles of trails along the river throughout our county. The month of May is a perfect time to take a stroll along the river.
You can find me walking somewhere along the Trinity River every weekend. My plastic surgery practice has actually adopted a section of the Trinity River! For the next two years, we are responsible for cleaning up the riverbank along the Shops at Clearfork in Fort Worth. More specifically, our section is along the area called ‘Heart of the Ranch‘. Look for our markers along the path!
Painting the River: A Trinity Trails Mural Gallery
In 2020, the TRWD commissioned local artists as well as artist from around the country to paint murals on concrete structures found along the Trinity. Artists were paid $3,000 – $6,000, depending on the size of the mural. The structures, called utilitarian gates, dot the shoreline of the river in several areas. Pick a section of the Trails some Saturday or Sunday morning and go for a nice walk. Admire the murals along the way. I’ve taken photographs of most of them, and they’re shown below. Look at #4, #7, and #30B to get a better perspective. I’ve cropped most of these murals to use as parts of collages in my office. Numbers 4, 7, and 30B show the concrete blocks as you would see them along the Trinity.
#1: Trail Crawlers
by Callie Stiewig, from Springtown, Texas
#2: Texas Trail Buds
by Chris Bingham, from Mesquite, Texas
#3: Sharing Spaces
by Audie Pope, from Fort Worth
#4: Monarch
by Shelly Denning, from Denton, Texas
Take a good look at this one. Shelly painted the concrete block to look like it has a hole in it. Through the ‘hole’ you can ‘see’ the grassy riverbank. The photograph shows the concrete block, the actual riverbank, and Shelly’s mural.
#6: Music on the Trinity
by Jana Renee, from Fort Worth
#7: Backyard Princesses
by Anya Boz, from Brooklyn, New York
The first photograph just adds a little perspective. These concrete blocks are usually about 15 feet high and 6 feet wide.
#9: Cloud 9
by Jimmy Jenkins, from Fort Worth
#10: Giving and Receiving
by Adrian Brooks, from Wimberly, Texas
#11: Cowboy Punk
by John Worley, from West Hollywood, California
#13: The Birds
by Nolan Mueller, from Plano, Texas
#14: Selah
by Joshua West, from Azle, Texas
#15: Keep Floating On
by Jason Eatherly, from Austin, Texas
#16: The Cardinal
by Selena Mize, from Wichita Falls, Texas
#17: Trinity Trails
by Saxon Lynn Arts, in Mansfield, Texas
#21: River Owls
by Anat Ronen, from Houston, Texas
#25: Trinity Trout
by Mike Tabor, from Granbury, Texas
#28: Wild Trinity
by Anthony Padilla, from Ridgewood, New York
#29A: Bulldog Rodeo
by Qwynto, from Memphis, Tennessee
#29B: Bikes and River Tubes
by Murray Miller, from Fort Worth
#30A: Alive and Kicking
by Gabriel Prusmack, from Galveston, Texas
#30B: Wildflower Country
by SM Sanz, from Dallas, Texas
Here, too, I wanted to add a little perspective.
#31: Armadillo
by Mia Soleil, from Austin, Texas
Trinity Trails Mural Gallery
As you can see, there’s a lot of art just waiting for you along the Trinity River in Fort Worth. If any of the murals shown above interest you, go see it in person! Here’s a link that shows you where each of the murals is located: Trinity Trails murals map.
I have created collages of these, and other, murals from around Fort Worth. The collages decorate my plastic surgery office in the Fort Worth medical district. Come by and take a look sometime!
