Muralist Jeremy Flores at work on the city’s latest mural. He spent much of 2017 brightening the downtown area. ‘I got a lot better over the past year,’ he said. ‘I can get a lot more detail.’ Courtesy photo
Local muralist Jeremy Flores was almost without words when State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa paid a visit to Corpus Christi to honor the artist’s contributions to the community.
“That was a blessing,” Flores said of the proclamation he received from Hinojosa and the Texas Legislature. “I didn’t even see that coming.”
The proclamation honored Flores’s overall work but was prompted by his “Greetings from Corpus Christi” mural at 114 N. Mesquite St. in the Marina Arts District downtown. In fine detail within the letters, one can see the city’s landmarks, including the USS Lexington and Harbor Bridge. A portrait of Selena is painted inside an “S,” and the skyline frames the entire mural.
Flores has been working on changing the face of downtown Corpus Christi for a long time. In 2017, he threw the city a party. CC Street WAVE was the first-ever mural art gathering in the city. Some of the best muralists in the state helped paint ocean-inspired masterpieces across Corpus Christi.
The main mural from CC Street WAVE depicted a baby turtle crawling toward the ocean, a popular occurrence that makes summers extra special at Padre Island National Seashore. “A Breath of Fresh Air” decorates the Braswell Office Systems building at 301 N. Mesquite St.
“The mural ended up getting appraised by an art broker, Lisa Brewer, at $45,000,” Flores said. “It brought a lot of attention to the building and the street.”
Flores has kept up the momentum over the past year. He joined an artist collective in Austin called SprATX, which brought him jobs during South by Southwest, the capitol’s annual two-week music and interactive festival. Currently, Flores has a mural in the works for Harrison’s Landing and is on call with American Bank Center to create paintings for special events.
Flores also made moves to purchase a building and open a business downtown. Called Cr8tive Culture, he plans to use the space to teach “the fundamentals of being creative.” It’s also a space for filmmakers, designers, and artist types of every kind to gather and work on their projects.
Before becoming a full-time artist, Flores worked in a pediatric dentist’s office. He had always wanted to work with kids — but working with their teeth wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. Now, Flores aims to inspire the next generation of artists.
“Instead of painting and painting, I want to help other people learn to do it,” he said.
Flores doesn’t plan to leave Corpus Christi anytime soon.
“I’m not going to be moving,” he said. “I’m trying to paint every wall down here.”
