Three cherry pickers sat\u00a0on a length of plywood\u00a0early Friday morning,\u00a0humming\u00a0as their\u00a0necks\u00a0moved\u00a0up and down. The machines suspended\u00a0three\u00a0artists\u00a0nearly\u00a0150\u00a0feet in the air\u00a0next to\u00a0the old Dawson State Jail building on W. Commerce Street.<\/p>\n
Netherlands-based muralist\u00a0Rosalie\u00a0de\u00a0Graaf<\/a>, 26,\u00a0worked\u00a0at the right end\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0wall facing the Trinity River,\u00a0perfecting the black stripes on the shorts\u00a0of a young boy dribbling a soccer ball.\u00a0Two\u00a0other\u00a0artists worked\u00a0with muted colors to block off sections of the\u00a0image, preparing them for\u00a0details to be added later.<\/p>\n The smell of spray paint drifted\u00a0toward the Trinity River, where wildflowers in pale pinks and bright yellows grow in patches.<\/p>\n Graaf and\u00a0three\u00a0more\u00a0artists\u00a0\u2014 Dallas-based Daniel Yanez and Houston-based\u00a0Bimbo Adenugba\u00a0and\u00a0Ade Odunfa\u00a0\u2014\u00a0will spend 10 to 12 hours\u00a0at the building\u00a0each day\u00a0until their FIFA World Cup<\/a>\u00a0mural is\u00a0complete.<\/p>\n The Dallas mural, dubbed One field, infinite smiles, was designed by Graaf\u00a0in her usual\u00a0hyper-realistic style, meant to\u00a0highlight\u00a0people\u00a0and their communities\u00a0with the utmost detail.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tony Moore, president and CEO of the conservancy, said that as a former soccer player, the sport has a special place in his heart. The World Cup tournament being hosted in North Texas<\/a> created an opportunity for him to combine his passion for soccer with his aspirations for Harold Simmons Park.<\/p>\n Moore expects a significant part of the park to be done in late 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cSoccer to me\u00a0is a big deal, and to have an opportunity to have a piece of art that will\u00a0represent\u00a0the fun and global impact of the sport is pretty darn cool,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n The\u00a0conservancy is a\u00a0nonprofit organization<\/a> chosen in 2018 to design, construct and maintain the new park in partnership with the city of Dallas and the Trinity River Corridor Local Government Corporation. The organization bought the old jail building, which sits on the western edge of downtown Dallas, in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWe chose this iconic location between the Margaret McDermott and Margaret Hunt Hill bridges [for the mural] because we wanted to place it somewhere with a visual impact,\u201d Moore said. <\/p>\n Graaf said\u00a0she was given\u00a0full\u00a0creative license for this piece, and\u00a0Moore mirrored that statement, adding that only a few\u00a0Texas-based details\u00a0were added before the design was\u00a0finalized.\u00a0<\/p>\n The completed mural will feature four children performing soccer tricks from famous players while surrounded by bluebonnets and various other plants and animals. There will even be a Texas flag, Moore said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur tagline for the park is \u2018Where nature unites Dallas,\u2019 \u201d Moore said. \u201cIt was important to us to incorporate some nature elements, especially when it sits on the bank of the only river that passes through the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Running low on time, Graaf said the team used virtual reality glasses to sketch the design on the building before moving to color-blocking.\u00a0She\u2019ll\u00a0add the details\u00a0\u2014 shading,\u00a0blending\u00a0and highlighting\u00a0\u2014 while the rest of the team continues the background.<\/p>\n Graaf, who started spray-painting<\/a> when she was 18,\u00a0has created over 200 wall paintings across\u00a0nearly 20\u00a0countries.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like\u00a0work\u00a0because it\u2019s my passion,\u201d she said. Her dream is to someday have a second house in the U.S. to continue exploring and sharing her art.<\/p>\n SAM co-founders Audrey and\u00a0Thibault Decker\u00a0started the organization\u00a0in 2011\u00a0to inspire and unite\u00a0communities, choosing art as a medium to do so.<\/p>\n