A long and colorful history of Euless

Lost heritage returned to Euless Saturday with the unveiling of a long-anticipated mural.

A work begun three years ago by art teachers John Misner and Carolyn Allen was finished by Fort Worth artist Lisa McNamara and hangs in the entryway of Euless Heritage Museum. The 22-foot-long, 64-inch-tall oil-on-canvas painting was designed and executed as an artistic story board, officials said. In brilliant colors it tells the town’s history from its origin near Bird’s Fort to the event that ensured Euless’ health far into the future: the opening of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

“There are businesses and houses on the mural that bring back memories,” said Bill Golden, immediate past-president of Euless Historical Preservation Committee and a resident since 1955. “Most of the buildings are gone. We didn’t have a town square, so our history was scattered out over what used to be the Euless community, which was larger than what the city is now.”

The woman who succeeded Golden, Barbara Collier, said that the mural “is absolutely beautiful. I was amazed at having a history depicted on one canvas. The colors are bright and it’s one big, vivid history lesson of Euless.”

The first thing visitors see as they enter the 6,300-square-foot former church on Cullum Drive, the mural illustrates “how Euless evolved, what were the important businesses, homes and churches,” Collier said. “It carries the history right up to D/FW Airport.”

Collier credited Allen and Misner for digging up images to go on the mural and outlining many of the elements.

McNamara said about 20 percent of the work was done and a couple of serious challenges popped up when the canvas arrived in her studio a couple of years after circumstances caused the art teachers to back-burner the mural.

“I first had to condition it with linseed oil, because the primer was starting to crack,” McNamara said. “I have a 10-by-10-foot studio. It wasn’t the best condition to paint in. I had to roll up one end as I paid out the other, and wait for each day’s work to dry, because I used oils. I have about 100 hours invested in this mural.”

The city paid significantly less than what that 100-hour job was worth, McNamara said. But the multimedia professional said the difference will work out in the wash, and she had an emotional investment as well.

“We need to be surrounded by art, and I didn’t want this project to be unfinished,” she said. “The city of Euless has been really good to me on another project I’ve been working on for two years, and I felt the city deserved a really good deal. Also, they’re bringing me back to add to the mural.”

Indeed, as people who are pillars of Euless society got previews of the mural they began asking “Where’s this, where’s that?” Collier said.

McNamara will return Feb. 21 to paint more buildings onto it. With those additions, Golden said the canvas will serve residents well.

“It’s quite a bit of nostalgia for those of us who were here [to see the lost buildings],” Golden said. “For the people who weren’t here then it’s a glimpse of how things used to be that gives them something of an anchor.”

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published February 17, 2015 at 8:23 AM with the headline "A long and colorful history of Euless."