“Soaring Through McAllen,” created by local artist Oneida Aceves Treviño, was unveiled Oct. 13 at a downtown parking garage. The project marks 50 years of Keep McAllen Beautiful and brings the Rio Grande Valley’s natural character into a public place residents and visitors can encounter in everyday life.
The City of McAllen and Keep McAllen Beautiful introduced the mural during a ceremony with city leaders, community partners and state and federal representatives. The city described the work as a 14,000-square-foot installation, and its release called it the largest mural in Deep South Texas. The piece covers the Downtown Parking Garage and celebrates the wildlife and natural beauty of the region. Texas Border Business reported that the project took about 1,000 hours of painting and involved city departments, local businesses and community partners.
The mural also reflects what McAllen residents said they wanted to see in public art. In a city survey in 2024, approximately 1,000 residents expressed strong interest in murals featuring nature, wildlife and regional heritage, according to the city. “Soaring Through McAllen” brings those subjects to a prominent downtown site, giving the city’s art collection a large-scale work tied to the landscape around the Rio Grande Valley.
For Treviño, the project brought a childhood ambition into public view. The city’s release identifies her as a South Texas native who grew up in Harlingen and says her art collection includes murals around McAllen, including painted standpipes and “Animals of the RGV” at Houston Avenue and Bicentennial Boulevard. At the unveiling, she said she wanted to capture the region’s natural beauty, unique wildlife and character in a way people could experience every day. She also said that contributing to McAllen’s public art as a local artist was rewarding.
Texas Border Business reported more of the story behind Treviño’s path to the commission. The artist said a former Keep McAllen Beautiful representative, Chris Lash, encouraged her to join the city’s mural program in 2020, helping her pursue art full time. She recognized her former art teacher, Olga Sanchez, her family and her husband Jesse for their support. Sanchez, who taught for 25 years, attended the unveiling. The account makes the project more than a new downtown feature: it records how local encouragement and a public art program helped a South Texas artist build a career.
The mural is part of a longer-running effort to make art from familiar city infrastructure. Keep McAllen Beautiful board president Mike McClure said the group has worked with artists from Texas and Mexico for about a decade. The city’s release says those projects have created an outdoor collection of more than 200 painted standpipes, turning everyday utility structures into colorful public displays. “Soaring Through McAllen” carries that approach onto a much larger canvas, while marking the organization’s 50th year.
The unveiling ceremony included a recognition of that anniversary. Texas Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa attended and presented a Texas Senate recognition, Texas Border Business reported. The city said representatives from the offices of U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz also presented certificates honoring Keep McAllen Beautiful’s legacy. After a video about the mural’s creation, officials and attendees joined a countdown to reveal it.
City Manager Isaac J. Tawil described the mural as a way to invite people to stop, take photographs, visit nearby businesses and restaurants, and explore downtown. That is the city’s stated hope for public art, not a measured result from the opening. Still, the project creates a new reason to look at a familiar structure differently: a parking garage now carries a work celebrating the region’s wildlife and natural setting, while the city’s survey found strong interest in murals featuring nature, wildlife and regional heritage.
The mural is open to residents and visitors at the Downtown Parking Garage. The city and Keep McAllen Beautiful are inviting people to experience the work as a new downtown landmark. For the artist, the city, and the organization marking five decades of beautification and stewardship, its unveiling brought a large-scale community art project into view and connected it to a decade of smaller public art efforts across McAllen.
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