As the old cliche goes, you can’t know where you are going until you know where you have been. For local artist Joey Martinez and business owner Chuck Chapman, they came together to create a mural to show the history to the present of East Lubbock.
Located at 1219 Ave. A, the mural is something you can’t miss. With a background of bright yellow, the letters L-B-K and the history, the art seems to stand out.
“I just want people to appreciate what they have here in Lubbock, there’s really a lot more than they know about,” Chuck Chapman said.
Chapman says he dreamed of having this mural painted for nine years, and he is emotionally attached to it. Chapman called on Lubbock Artist Joey Martinez to make it a reality.
Martinez says, “This mural represents Lubbock. We tried to do a little research and tried to get images from the past to the future.”
To help with the big project, Martinez brought in his friend Jose Pedro Godinez from Chicago. But Martinez wasn’t short on talent. He tells me, “I’ve been doing graffiti for 27 years and so it’s just something I’ve learned through the years and that’s my go to tool. I’m used to it, it just comes naturally.”
The mural includes items like the Caviel Pharmacy, Migrant Workers, Buddy Holly, the Tornado of 1970, the Hi-D-Ho, Mr. Stubbs with Stubbs BBQ, the Masked Rider, Texas Tech, LHUCA, Farming and Ranching, The Ranching Heritage Center, and much more. The mural brings together the past and present of Lubbock.
“We wanted to do bring something to this part of town because it’s a good part of town. We love this part of town and are trying to bring attention to it. People just kind of frown when you mention East Lubbock and there’s no reason to,” Chapman said.
You can go see the mural anytime, but if you want photos in front of it, you will need to go after 5 p.m. on weekdays and then it’s open during the weekends.
Chapman hopes that the mural will become part of the First Friday Art Trail soon.