Jeremie Fletcher Bourcy’s mural at the corner of Gaston and Grand Avenues. Photo courtesy of Jeremie Fletcher Bourcy.
The lot on the corner of Gaston and Grand Avenues has always been empty. Or at least, for as long as local artist Jeremie Fletcher Bourcy can remember.
Bourcy, who now lives in Casa View, grew up in Lake Highlands and spent time in East Dallas when she was younger. After noticing a “for lease” sign at the 3G site, Bourcy decided to call the number and ask if she could paint a mural on the blank retaining wall on the property. The owner approved the project, and she got to work on creating the concept.
Weeks and months later, Bourcy finished the main design. Now, instead of a blank wall, you’ll see colorful flowers and greenery, a sailboat riding blue waves with a yellow sun behind it, a banner reading, “East Dallas,” and the words “Choose Love.” That last phrase was picked by the property owner, and those words are also utilized by the NFL on helmets and elsewhere.
“I finished that part of the mural the same day as the Super Bowl, just coincidentally,” Bourcy said.
Creating the art is mainly all on Bourcy, but she does have help from her husband to get set up.
“It’s like a date night or day date thing for us to do,” she said. “He comes and helps me measure it out, and then he did the sun for this one. He was very proud of himself because he’s not a painter. He doesn’t consider himself a painter, but he helped me do the sun, and he helped me do the “C” for “Choose.” And it’s just like something fun. It’s like a family thing.”
This wall is the largest that Bourcy has ever painted on before.
“Just the entire thing has been a great challenge for me and a surprise because I wasn’t really logistically sure how I was going to set it up,” she said.
Now, Bourcy will work on continuing the mural on the other end of the wall, and she wants this part to be interactive for the East Dallas community.
“I have a design already in mind, but I’ve had so many people ask if they can help,” she said. “I usually get my kids to help me do different murals that I’ve done. And then I had some of their friends, parents ask if their kids could help do it. And I try to make it just something that the community can be involved with. I’ve done several other things around town that we get handprints from local residents in the community, and it makes them feel good just to be part of the big event.”
Bourcy is thinking of a way to logistically pull neighbors into this project in an efficient and not so messy way. If you’re interested in participating in this, you can reach Bourcy at jeremie.fletcher@gmail.com.
