Crafts store owner gives ‘love letter to the city’ that supported her during pandemic
Teri Dodson, who owns a craft store that stayed afloat during the height of the pandemic, wanted to give back to the community through art after people supported her business during hard times.
Dodson owns Smart Parts Crafts at 521 W. Bedford Euless Road, and is working with artist Riley Morris to paint a mural on her building to show her appreciation to local residents. Dodson also wants to encourage other businesses to support public art installations.
“Everyone helped us do such a good job of getting through COVID. This is a love letter to the city of Hurst,” Dodson said.
Dodson said that during the height of the pandemic, customers ordered art supplies online and purchased gift cards which allowed her to stay open. She said she was luckier than other small businesses that did not survive.
Dodson said this is the first public art installation approved in Hurst, and that the city is helping to publicize the mural.
Several city council members also advocate for the arts, she said. The project is privately funded, Dodson said.
Dodson also founded a group called Art Matters which teaches artists how to run and manage their businesses.
The mural is quickly taking shape on a blank wall of Smart Parts Crafts which is “highly visible” to the public from Bedford-Euless Road, she said.
Morris said she plans to have it finished on Sunday.
Morris grew up in Mansfield but now lives in San Marcos. The mural features a clean and modern Scandinavian floral design, she said.
“I’m making great progress. I’m almost halfway finished,” she said.
Morris said she does a lot of her work digitally and took photos of the blank wall and then transferred them to her iPad where she created images to see how they would look. This made it easier to start painting, she said.
The wall that is visible from Bedford-Euless Road is 90 feet long, she said.
Morris said she likes the look of Scandinavian folk art which led her to choose the floral design. She said she began painting murals last summer when a friend asked her to paint a wall in his office.
Then, the city of San Marcos asked her to paint a mural for its Mermaid Festival, she said.
Dodson said the idea for a mural began about a year ago.
“What can we do in the city to make this a vibrant, thriving community,” she said. Dodson said she talked to artists form New York and Chicago who were traveling around the country creating murals.
Then, she met Morris, and she was impressed with her talent.
‘I was blown away by Riley’s artwork. It is very clean and modern, not like other bids we were getting,” Dodson said.
“We’re really hoping this will inspire other businesses up and down the Hurst Bedford corridor,” she said.