A community mural in the heart of Lubbock has been vandalized. The artwork, located on a cinder block garden wall at a home owned by the Lambda Chi Alpha Alumni Association, was painted by 24 students ranging from four to 14 years old, as well as two assistants from Miss Megan’s Make Room, an art maker space and workshop studio on 34th street.
The vandalized mural, at a property owned by the Lambda Chi Alpha Alumni Association in Lubbock.
Spray paint, eggs, and flour defaced over 25 areas that will have to be repaired in the mural. Miss Megan’s Make Room has filed police reports as well as complaints for student misconduct through Texas Tech University (TTU) and the TTU Greek Life directors, all Intrafraternity Council members, and fraternities whose symbols were represented in the vandalism. According to staff at Miss Megan’s Make Room, at the time of this writing there are no leads in the case, and there has been no response from the local police department.
The community mural at a property owned by the Lambda Chi Alpha Alumni Association in Lubbock, prior to vandalism.
More about the original mural from Megan Shirley-Ross, the namesake and founder of Miss Megan’s Make Room: “Makers in our mural classes learn about working together to complete a project; we solved any design/color questions using votes. Since this mural was also designed for a client, we discussed what it means to make commission work… Makers were given reference materials, including photos of West Texas landscapes such as the Caprock Escarpment, Yellow House Canyon, and Blanco Canyon, paintings from David Hockney’s Grand Canyon painting series, and images of the backgrounds from vintage Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Overall, a total of 60+ hours went into the mural, including the planning stages, prep, landscaping, and touch-ups.”
Ms. Shirley-Ross founded Miss Megan’s Make Room in 2016, where she teaches fine art classes and workshops to all ages, hosts a student art gallery, and offers full-service instructor-led private events and parties. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Minnesota State University and has been teaching drawing, painting, art history, sewing, embroidery, sculpture, collage, and printmaking to students, from “age two to 90 for the past 10 years.”
If you have any information about the mural vandalism, or want to donate to repairs, please contact Miss Megan’s Make Room at [email protected] or the Lubbock Police Department at (806) 775-2865.
