Gerault Park’s Mural Makeover

MAKEOVER Gerault Park’s MURAL

by Steve Gamel | photos courtesy of Steve Gamel

The Flower Mound and Highland Village areas have long been known as a hotbed for talented baseball and softball players. Many former local stars began their rise to fame in little league on the perfectly-manicured fields at Gerault Park, then unsurprisingly went on to have standout high school careers at nearby Marcus and Flower Mound.

“WE WANTED TO CREATE A PIECE OF ART THAT WOULD FURTHER INVIGORATE THE SPACE, GIVE THE VIEWER SOMETHING TO ENGAGE WITH WHEN THEY CAME.”

Some won state titles and played in a College World Series. Others went even further, playing for Team USA and even professional ball clubs. Recently, officials set out to honor these athletes with a mural that is every bit a grand slam.

The Gerault Park playground mural was unveiled in December and honors 21 athletes whose contributions to the game and their community are considered the standard for every player who followed in their footsteps — including the little ones just now starting their bright careers.

Each player now has individual caricatures and a bio of their accomplishments for visitors to see, engage with, and be inspired by. All artwork was created by local artists Brent McMahan of Path Studios and Sherry Trusty.

“The idea for the mural came about after a redesign of the playground, which included these really beautiful, bright, bold colors and a baseball theme, of course. And it had these really cool graphics integrated into it as well,” Community and Cultural Events Coordinator Kris Oden said in a promotional video created by the Town of Flower Mound. “We wanted to create a piece of art that would further invigorate the space, give the viewers something to engage with when they came, and kind of make it more fun and exciting.”

The only trick was to whittle a rather long list of nominations down to a manageable few for the mural.

The list of athletes who were ultimately chosen are Connor Wanhanen, Taylor Hoagland, Tim Millard, Alison Baird, Alex Albright, Craig Italiano, Zach Neal, Lauren Kennewell, Brendan Venter, Kyle Johnston, Annelise Oswalt, Billy Leech, Lauren Buck, Hanna Null, Colin Poche, Sarah Draheim, Ryan Pressly, Jason Carswell, Christie Benton, Ashton Easley, and current Marcus baseball coach Jeff Sherman.

All honorees graduated from either Marcus or Flower Mound, played baseball or softball in some capacity beyond high school, and routinely gave back to the community that cheered them on.

“I do mural work all the time, and I’ve been doing this for 30 years. But it was different for me that I got to do it in collaboration with another artist — which is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Trusty said in the video. “I wanted Brent to do it with me because he’s got really strong graphic design skills, and he’s done similar murals, too. But then, also, after I did all this reading about these players and their accomplishments, it was neat to meet some of the players that came out here to see the progress.”

Taking the time to read the bios and see what these athletes accomplished is truly inspiring. Wanhanan, for example, helped lead Flower Mound High to a state title in 2014 before playing in three College World Series at TCU. Hoagland, another former Jaguar, won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in 2011 and secured a College World Series title in 2013 while at UT. She also played for Team USA between 2011 and 2014.

Null played softball at Marcus before moving on to Abilene Christian, where she tossed three no-hitters. Venter, also a former Marauder, moved from South Africa and began playing baseball for the first time when he was 8. He ended up playing at Auburn and was eventually drafted by the Atlanta Braves.

Overall, Venter is one of eight athletes in the mural drafted by a Major League Baseball team.