Local artist brightens downtown San Marcos with banner paintings

San Marcos artist Rene Perez’s paintings are now highlighted on recently installed banners placed around downtown. 

Perez, who used iconic features across the town such as the San Marcos River, rattlesnakes, bobcats and Kissing Alley, said the inspiration behind the paintings featured on the banners came naturally. 

“I always want to bring Rattlers to downtown or anywhere I can, and just that whole school spirit,” Perez said. “Then I was like, ‘Well, I’ll just bring in the two mascots (of San Marcos High School and Texas State University) and kind of tie them into the river and try to make it fit in somehow.’ 

“Then, the Lions Club was another one,” Perez added. “I always wanted to paint lions because I’m a Leo and I was like, ‘Well, a lion on a tube is kind of cool’ and then one day I was sitting on the banks (of the river) right there by the Lions Club (Tube Rental) in the evening when the sun was setting on the water and I took a picture and I just got that glow off the water right there and it was really stunning. It was just natural — A banner came out of it and I drew a lion on it.” 

The banners placed around downtown are a part of a placemaking initiative led by the City of San Marcos’s Main Street Program. 

“Placemaking means creating spaces where people want to spend time,” Downtown Coordinator Josie Falletta said in a statement. “We are excited to highlight a local artist’s work and we hope the banners bring smiles to the faces of residents and visitors alike.”

The city’s banner project was completed with help from its Capital Improvements and Engineering Department, the Convention and Visitor Bureau and the Public Services Transportation Division 

After working on the project for a month and waiting several months for the banners to be placed, Perez said seeing his art across downtown is a “neat experience.”

“I always try to be a little subtle about my art,” Perez said. “But just recently it’s kind of been thrown in your face. I hope people don’t mind because there’s my art all over the place now. But I’ve really loved the response that San Marcos has had for me and my art. It kind of keeps me going.”

Perez said the original paintings highlighted on the downtown banners will be shown at Blue Dahlia Bistro, located at 107 E Hopkins St., in the near future. 

“I still have these paintings and they’re pretty big. They’re 24x36 (inches) which is the full size of the banner, so the printed area on the banner is actually smaller than the actual painting,” Perez said. “I’m fixing to go hang the paintings at Blue Dahlia. They’ll be up there for a month or so on display.”