Dublin Dr Pepper is proud to be partnering with the Texas Commision on the Arts this year to celebrate the anniversaries of both organizations.
That Dublin Dr Pepper and TCA would get together was a natural. Since its inception in 1965, the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) has composed, sketched, directed and played its part to ensure the arts thrive in Texas. Dublin Dr Pepper has long sought to encourage Texans to include art in their daily lives.
The crowning achievement of TCA and Dublin Dr Pepper joining forces is the 9 by 30 foot mural being painted above the entrance to the historic bottling plant. Austin Artist Fidencio Duran will spend 4 weeks living in Dublin and painting the mural which is not only a timeline of Dublin Dr Pepper's history, but an incredible artistic work and destined to be a tourist attraction in its own right. The mural will be officially unveiled the morning of the plant's 115th birthday celebration.
Owner Mark Kloster wanted to not only portray the company's history with this mural, he wanted to particularly pay homage to Grace Lyons, daughter of Sam Houston Prim and owner/manager thru the turbulent 40's. "Grace had to overcome so many challenges, her father's illness, the loss of her husband, the sugar rationing of World War 2 and the struggle to run the plant while Sales manager Bill Kloster was off at the war. Grace was a strong business woman in a time when that was not usual. I wanted to see her shine in this painting." With these instructions Fidencio immersed himself in Dublin Dr Pepper's history and came back with a mural design that more than pleased the company. "Visitors will be amazed at how much imagery from the company's 115 year history Fidencio has managed to get into the painting." Kloster added.
To find out more about TCA’s yearlong show that will bring art to communities across the state in a Texas-sized way, go to http://www.arts.state.tx.us/tca/tca40/index.asp
to find out more about Fidencio's work visit www.fidencioduran.com
To see pictures of the mural as the progress click here.
