Wall of Fame

First it was the exterior wall of a downtown flower shop, then a bronze sculpture of the school mascot and now Rina Roberts wants her students to create a 228-foot long tile mosaic along 2nd Street.

"We should have it finished by the end of the summer. Probably August; let's say September to be safe," Roberts said without irony. "We did this first section (4-feet long) in a week, but now we're going to be working on this all the time, no distractions."

An art teacher at McAllen Memorial High School, Roberts almost comes off as a modern day Captain Ahab, intent on pursing her "white whale" - in this case covering the city in her students' public art projects.

Each afternoon students congregate in the studio at the back of Memorial High School to work on "Starry, Starry Valley," a tile mosaic loosely based on Vincent Van Gogh's famed oil painting "The Starry Night." The French countryside is replaced with yucca trees, cacti and other staples of the Rio Grande Valley landscape, all depicted in broken tile across a series of panels to be installed along 2nd Street.

Freshman Selina Gamez, 15, said she spent on average three hours a day on the mosaic, finding time between classes and after school.

"It's like a puzzle. Sometimes the pieces just fit together ... if not we find another place for them," she said.

And with classes getting ready to wrap up for the summer, Gamez and a handful of other dedicated students will be spending a lot more time smashing and then cutting down tile to create Roberts' vision of the Valley.

"Ms. Roberts tried to get the scene before they started building all the buildings here," said Danny Hernandez, 17. "I said we should get in a little of what McAllen looks like today, but I don't think she liked that idea."

The class's first public art project, a mural on Fresno Avenue in downtown McAllen depicting hummingbirds feeding on flowers, is still ongoing almost two years after it began.

"I'm so embarrassed it's not finished yet. But we should have it done soon, maybe a few more weeks," Roberts said.

Whether this project will meet the same fate - Roberts, at least, is optimistic.

If not, there's always a new crop of students waiting in the wings.

"I used to walk past the mural when I was little, and I always thought it was so pretty," Gamez said.

James Osborne covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.