Earlier this spring, dozens of volunteers sporting orange, yellow, and pink safety vests and armed with paint brushes and rollers descended on San Antonio Street in downtown San Marcos. Over four days, the volunteers—made up of Texas State University students, local artists, and community members—worked under the sun to paint murals of an armadillo, butterflies, turtles, and other San Marcos wildlife.
The four days of painting were the culmination of years of effort and planning for Paint the Path, a collaborative project between TXST, the City of San Marcos, and local community members to install new paintings that add beauty and safety to the city’s downtown.
Timelapse and drone footage of the mural “Metamorphosis”
“I loved it so much,” said Michelle Wilson, a San Marcos artist and TXST alum who designed the murals. “It was a great thing to be a part of and see everybody come together, which is what San Marcos is all about.”
The idea for Paint the Path originated two years ago when students in TXST’s Stelos Scholars program approached the City of San Marcos with a proposal for creating a downtown “active space” to encourage social interaction and physical activity. Their discussion led to the idea of painting murals on crosswalks and curb extensions along San Antonio Street.
“The idea was to take those curb extensions, which are functional spaces meant to improve pedestrian visibility, and make them a point of interest as opposed to unused space in downtown,” said Peter Tschirhart, Ph.D., a Stelos Scholars program director. “By painting them, we hope that people will go downtown, see the murals, and visit the businesses that are nearby.”
"Armadillo"
Launched in 2015, the Stelos Scholars program provides a two-year experience for community-minded and intellectually motivated students to develop the knowledge and skills they need to reach their potential and become a leader in their profession and field of study.
Program participants Abbey Mitchell, sophomore anthropology major, Danielle Zulueta, junior biology major, and Will Moore, junior urban and regional planning major, worked on the mural project. Along with their cohort, they designed and conceptualized the project and came up with the “Paint the Path” name.
"Bluebees"Will Moore, Abbey Mitchell, and Danielle Zulueta
“We went around San Marcos and learned a lot about the history and culture of our town,” Zulueta said. “As college students, we sort of forget that San Marcos is not just Texas State. There’s a whole community here that isn’t just made of students. Personally, I wanted to bridge the gap between us. It’s not something that can just be fixed with art, but it helps.”
The biggest task they took on, however, was ironing out the logistics for the painting project. “We measured all the curb extensions and walkways that were proposed for this plan to share with the artist,” Mitchell said. “We also decided on the general theme, colors, and local animals that we wanted to highlight in the murals.”
While the main purpose of the project was to beautify the area, another priority was making the street safer and more visible to pedestrians and motorists. As an urban and regional planning major, Moore was particularly interested in the safety aspect.
“I’ve always been interested in the idea of traffic calming, which are strategies to slow down cars to create safe environments for pedestrians and cyclists,” he said. “The designs give drivers something to slow down for and pay attention to. It was cool to get involved with a project that implements that idea rather than just conceptualizing it in class.”
With a plan in place and sound logistics for six murals, the Stelos Scholars secured a $25,000 grant across the Allstate Foundation and the Center for Expanding Leadership & Opportunity (CELO), a program that empowers youth to serve and improve communities, to implement the idea.
Michelle Wilson (B.A. '08)
But before anyone put brush to concrete, they needed an artist to bring the idea to life. That’s when the students began researching local artists who might be up for the task.
After weeks of flipping through artist portfolios and social media pages, and considering their artistic styles, the students settled on Wilson, a 2008 Honors College alum who earned a dual degree in philosophy and art. She has previously painted several murals around the city.
“We had a big discussion of who embodies what we want to put out into the world the most,” Mitchell said. “We also wanted to feature an alum, and specifically an Honors College alum. Michelle also worked at the Price Center and is from San Marcos, so she had all these connections, which helped us with facilitating the logistics of the project.”
Moore said he had the impression that most artists would be too proud and have an ego about their work, but Wilson changed his mind.
“You would think that artists would not be willing to take input or critiques and be too headstrong,” Moore said. “But through every step of the way, whenever she would show us a draft, she would say, ‘Tear this apart and tell me everything that’s wrong with it.’ She was super open to feedback.”
Wilson said she was impressed with how the students received her “as a community member, somebody who raised children here and went to Texas State,” she said. “They really wanted to make sure that this was impactful not just for Texas State, but also for the community.”
Over the four days of painting in April, dozens of volunteers and professional artists from TXST, San Marcos, Austin, and San Antonio helped mix paint, brush along the concrete, run supplies, and direct traffic.
Wilson was there every step of the way, guiding volunteers to their stations, giving detailed instructions on how to handle the paint, and using the brush herself.
During San Marcos Art Fest 2025 on April 12, the Stelos Scholars took to the streets to talk to citizens about the project and to survey them on names for the animals in the murals. Participants received a button for casting their votes.
Families voted on naming the armadillo “Dilly,” the turtles “Claudius,” “Crush,” and “Cutie,” and one of the bees “Bumbledoore,” among others.
Wilson, the Stelos Scholars, and City of San Marcos staff members officially capped off Paint the Path with a celebratory dinner on April 21 and a dedication ceremony on April 24 at the Price Center.
“We are grateful to the Honors College and Stelos Scholars for their partnership on this project,” said Josie Falletta, downtown manager for the City of San Marcos. “It truly would not have taken place without their support and collaboration. The idea for intersection improvements was pulled directly from the city’s adopted Downtown Area Plan, and we are excited to see one of the concepts come to life. This project is especially meaningful for downtown because it highlights what is possible when university, city, and community come together for a common purpose in the city center we all share.”
Claudia Röschmann, a Stelos Scholars director and communication design professor, said fostering relationships between students and the San Marcos community was an important part of the project.
“We could have just completed this project and showcased art here on campus, but what we heard from the city and from the students is that they aren’t necessarily an item all the time,” Röschmann said. “This project got both the city and the students excited. To me, the most amazing part of all this was for the students to have the experience that their opinion and support means something to the city.”
The Stelos Scholars hope that Paint the Path is just the start of a growing artistic partnership, with the project serving as a prototype for what they can do together in the future for active spaces in the city.
The Stelos Scholars Program is a highly competitive scholars’ program for community-minded and intellectually gifted young leaders selected from among the university’s top-level scholarship recipients.
