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One small piece at a tiime

June 2006 - Britney Porter

A 76-foot long, 6-foot high mosaic mural will be presented to the Douglass Community in time for Juneteenth, the oldest commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Called Tracks of the Past & Future, the mural blankets a retaining wall of the DART rail overpass at Avenue I and 12th Street. Thousands of pieces of colorful glass reflect the community's rich history and promising future.

When the Douglass Community Arts Advisory Committee launched a contest in the summer of 2001 for a public piece of art, Lynne Chinn and Shug Jones (pronounced Shoog), owners of Tesserae Mosaic Studio, Inc., responded to the call. The total budget for the commission was $50,000, including the costs of fabricating, transporting and installing the work as well as insurance, permits, and other related expenses.

The deadline to enter the contest was September 2001. Chinn and Jones weren't even in business yet, but the two artists had a vision – just like the slaves had a vision of freedom before notice arrived in Galveston that slavery had ended. That order arrived June 19, 1865, two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln enforced The Emancipation Proclamation.

Plano celebrates Juneteenth on Friday and Saturday, June 16 - 17. Jim Wear, creative arts manager for the City of Plano Parks and Recreation department, is working on the logistics and called the mural “a wonderful example of a public and private partnership in enhancing art in the community.” Wear also said that the Douglass Community has a rich and meaningful history, and “this artwork will celebrate that and serve both to beautify the neighborhood and act as a source of pride in the history of the people that live there.”

A piece of history
The Douglass Community, named after the prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass, is one of Plano's oldest communities with a population of around 200. “This is the neighborhood that the first black people lived in,” said Chinn, who designed the mural. “And that family,” she said pointing to a man on the mural wearing a hat, “the Drakes, was the first to move here. The land was given to them by the Harringtons.”

Chinn explained the concept behind her design: “This is a progressional design that goes from old times to new times,” she said pointing to the interurban tracks on the left side of the mural and then to the modern day DART tracks on the right. “The interurban train took those who settled here into downtown Dallas to work in some of the masters’ homes. Now that the DART train is here, it's kind of come full circle. Residents still have a way to get to downtown today.”

Chinn continued, “I have driven through the neighborhood for years and years. A lot of people in Plano don't even know it exists! Our studio is so close, we cut through there to go to the Home Depot.”

Tesserae Mosaic Studio is located at 1111 North Jupiter Rd. Before Chinn and Jones opened the business, Chinn was an oil painter and Jones was a water colorist. Now, four-and-a-half years after they have been awarded the contract to create the mural and with a new partner and artist, Julie Dilling, as well as a fellow mosaicist Stephanie Angel, the four work diligently to complete the project in time for Juneteenth.

A piece of mural making
First, the artists went door-to-door to meet with the families in the Douglass Community. “We got to know what was important to them, and we tried to incorporate some of the things they talked about,” said Chinn.

Next, the artists buried themselves in research at the library. “We love going to the library and poring through whatever books we need,” said Chinn. “We've always done that. We love that part of a project.”

Then, Chinn and Jones raised funds for the project by creating a three-dimensional, painted model to scale.

Most of the funds for the mural have come from the City of Plano. The Heritage Commission has granted $21,000 toward the mural this year and just over $40,000 in all, according to Marcus Watson, the City of Plano’s heritage preservation officer.

Before creating the model, Chinn had drawn various sketches. One sketch was blown up, or enlarged, and is called the cartoon. The artists fit the cartoon on the cement wall to make sure they had an accurate sketch. Then, they cut the tesserae, or tiles, using nippers (cutters) and placed them along the lines of the cartoon. “Most of our glass comes from Venice, Italy,” Chinn said. “It’s Italian glass and some French glass.” The tesserae are glued onto fiber glass with Weldbond. A miniature drawing hangs on the wall where the artists highlight completed sections in hot pink.

After the tesserae dry, the artists grout in between them. “It turns out really well when it's all finished, but it's a pretty messy process,” said Chinn.

Is this the artists’ greatest challenge?

“No – the injuries!” answered Dilling. “The bleeding!”

“It is glass so we bleed every day,” said Chinn, “but other than that, it's really the installation that's the hard work. It's hot; it's backbreaking; it's dirty; but it's all part of a mosaic!”

Jones agreed, “We're girly girls but we can get down and dirty, too!”

Said Chinn, “We have more tools than our husbands!”

A piece of community
Meanwhile, Dollie Thomas is chipping away at the details of Juneteenth, organizing a schedule of activities including the dedication of the mural. “I would like one member from each of the families [portrayed on the mural] to speak,” said Thomas. “The Drakes, the Roberts, and the Thomases are important to the Douglass Community.”

Thomas, an HR specialist in diversity programs for PISD, is the granddaughter of James Thomas, the philanthropist wearing a tie in the mural. She said the one thing that she remembers most about her grandfather was his quietness. “When Daddy Jim spoke, everybody stopped and listened. Whatever he said was important.”

Thomas continued, “My grandparents lived where the police station is and the court building is, and it had a trail that went from their house to Haggard Park. Because he worked uptown, we used to see him come from town with a sack of potatoes on his head and all of us would just tear after him. That's my favorite memory of my granddaddy.”

Dollie Thomas was “born and reared” in Plano and said that growing up, Juneteenth was nothing more than getting together at the Douglass campus, playing games, and watching a Miss Juneteenth pageant. “Last year, it was just a barbecue, and that was pretty tragic to me because I remember what a good time we used to have.”

Family and fellowship are important to the Douglass Community and so is religion. Eight churches are tucked away there. Three of them are on the mural and were the first churches to be established in the community: the Holiness Temple Church of God in Christ, the Methodist Church, and Shiloh Baptist Church.

Chinn said, “We know they are very religious and we see a lot of community between the neighbors.” She points to a Scripture verse on the mural: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and then she points to two cupped hands on either side. “The hands are like the hands of God holding the community together and comforting them.”

Thomas hopes that Juneteenth will reflect this kind of unity. She's asked the Voices of Asia and the Hispanic population to participate. “I hope Juneteenth brings back the celebration of freedom for everyone. Freedom is freedom no matter who it is,” she said. “We're just celebrating life and love and the commitment and the relevance of our culture. We all make up the tapestry of America, and we're stronger together than we are apart.”

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