With her finishing touches completed three stories above, artist Haylee Ryan recently joined dignitaries at street level to officially cut the ribbon on the Valoris HealthPark mural. Ryan describes the mural as one of meaningful symbolism and representative of Garland’s native landscape and rich health care community. Watch a time-lapse video of the mural's creation – 340 hours of work condensed into one minute.
With great help from the City's partners, Garland VA Medical Center and Prevarian Companies, the story continues to develop at Shiloh Road and Walnut Street. The City Council has approved an urban design plan contract with Studio Outside for the Valoris HealthPark Garland Medical District. The urban design plan includes improvements funded by the 2019 bond program. The master plan will soon wrap up and includes improvements such as streetscapes, trails and a VA wellness park.
The City has also engaged urban design nonprofit Better Block to help facilitate community input and feedback on the urban design plan. In October, the City worked with the Better Block Foundation to reenvision the possibilities for the Clara Barton Boulevard gateway into the district, turning the street into a temporary street park.
Ryan sought to capture the feeling of community and caregiving in the mural, which in size is her largest project ever. The work incorporates nurses and veterans from nostalgic photos. The native landscapes include the purple coneflower (associated with healing), trumpet vine (representing a fresh start) and a fall aster (representing wisdom). A hummingbird is included as a sign of joy, healing and good luck.
"Hopefully, when you look at my work, at this piece, you get some sort of feeling of longing and comfort and the feeling of caregiving," she said.