Artist Creates ‘Epic’ Mural To ReflectCity’s Culture
Leo Rivera takes a look up at a 20-foot-tall Western-thememural with cowboys on horseback spread out over a stucco wall in downtownMercedes.
“This is my first time painting cowboys and horses,”he said of the mural which he completed just before Thanksgiving. “It was superfun and interesting. I tried to make it fun to paint and then hoped what wouldbe in this space would be epic.”
It’s mission accomplished. The mural features two vaquerosriding hard with dust flying and lassos over their heads in hot pursuit ofa fleeing black bull. The mural can be found on west 3rd Street –facing east – on a two story-building between Texas Avenue and Ohio Street. Rivera,a Harlingen native, was commissioned by the Mercedes Economic DevelopmentCorporation to do three murals that reflect the spirit and character of thecity.
The first to be undertaken was the now finished muralof the cowboys and the bull. Two more will be done over the first quarter of 2026.Rivera’s next project will be to do a postcard type of mural on the Ohio Streetbuilding housing the Mercedes Chamber of Commerce and the city’s EconomicDevelopment Corporation. After that, a third work of art will be done on at asite to be determined in the downtown area.
Rivera has done wall murals in Harlingen. The Mercedesmural project is his first of a significant scale in the RGV outside of hishometown. He is happy to add the Mercedes art work to his portfolio.
“I want to be that guy to do more work for cities inthe Valley,” he said.
Experience To Bring Back Home
Rivera left Harlingen in 2009 to get his art educationand training at the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design in suburbanDenver.
He would earn an undergraduate degree in studio fineart painting. He gained valuable insights and experiences that Rivera wouldbring home upon his return to the Valley in 2020. It was in Denver where hepainted the largest wall mural of his career and gave him the confidence thathe could undertake such large projects. He became an aficionado of art history andEuropean artists and has fused those interests with his pop culture andpersonal interests.
Rivera enjoys personal fine art and gallery work. Atthe present time, murals are his focus and he describes himself as an “artistfor hire.” He has done commission work for businesses like restaurants andbarber shops throughout the Valley. It’s art work that highlights the missionand purpose of the business and is done after what he says is “back-and-forth”dialogue with the client.
“You work with them to find the right concept,” hesaid. “At the end of the day, you want them to like what’s going in theirspace.”
Getting ‘To A Good Idea’
The “back-and-forth” dialogue with the Mercedes EDCwas productive.
Rivera says he “fumbled the first sketch” presented tothe EDC for the initial mural project. Clients rarely like the first trypresented in its entirety, which Rivera says is understandable. The goal, hesays, is to “come to a good idea” that finds mutual agreement. The imagerybeing sought came from a handful of photographs Rivera referenced for ideas andcollaging them into a digital sketch. Rivera took what he liked best from thedifferent photos and changed some of the colors “to make it my own.”
Once the EDC agreed, Rivera went to work on the mural inmid-November. Most of Rivera’s mural work is spray painted with key backgroundcolors done by brush. The cowboys-and-bull mural took eleven days to complete.Rivera praised the city for providing him with a lift to get up high with easein working on the 20-foot-high project. By all early accounts, his clients withthe city of Mercedes were delighted with the finished product.
“I think it’s fitting for the culture of the city,”Rivera said of the 3rd Street mural. “The theme was fiesta. We allknow the (Rio Grande Valley) livestock show is what Mercedes is known for. Workingwith the EDC was nothing but great, and we fleshed out the idea to getsomething that represents the city’s culture.”
- Ric Cavazos
