July 30, 2026 – Today the Cedar Springs Merchant Association received an email from the Friends of Oak Lawn Library Branch with a projected timeline for the mural. In an email reviewed from Library Director Manya Shorr, she tells Councilperson Paul Ridley that the artists will start in early August. The mural project is scheduled to complete by the time of the Pride in Dallas Parade planned for September 20th.
In the wake of TxDOT’s directive to remove decorative crosswalks, the City of Dallas has channeled community feedback into a series of public art projects, one of which is now taking shape at the Oak Lawn Branch Library. According to a May 15, 2026 memorandum from the City Manager’s office, a mural project is moving forward on the library’s exterior, funded by a private donation and designed by two prominent local muralists.
The initiative, documented in the memo, comes after the Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) conducted community engagement sessions in April 2026 that revealed residents’ strong desire for public art that reflects the “identity, resilience, and inclusiveness” of Dallas’s richly diverse communities. The Oak Lawn neighborhood was specifically mentioned alongside South Dallas as one of the areas impacted by the crosswalk removal, will see the first concrete result of this engagement with the library mural projects.
The project is being funded through a designated special library fund: the Benjamin and Selma Parrill Trust Fund. The specific designation for the benefit of the Oak Lawn Branch Library has unlocked a unique opportunity for the neighborhood.
An artist selection panel–composed of staff from the Dallas Public Library, the OAC, and a District 14 Municipal Board Member–concluded its process in 2025, ultimately recommending a collaborative team: Will Heron and Sam Lao.
Both artists are well-established figures in the Dallas public art scene. Heron, who works under the moniker “Wheron,” is known for his high-contrast, illustrative style and his role as the founder of the Wild West Mural Fest. He most recently served as the artist liaison for Meow Wolf’s permanent exhibit in Grapevine, Texas. Lao is a multidisciplinary artist whose tactile fiber art and tufting work explore color, texture, and pattern. The two have previously collaborated on large-scale public projects, including the 180-foot-long murals installed under I-35 at the Hi Line Connector, a project that also involved other prominent Dallas muralists.
The scope of the Oak Lawn Library project calls for the installation of a mural on the four exterior columns facing the library’s parking lot. The City memo also notes a groundswell of additional ideas from the community: residents have suggested painting the front entrance steps of the library, which face the road, to further enhance the building’s visibility and welcome. City staff have indicated they will work to ensure any such concepts align with the main column mural as plans continue to advance.
This project at the library is one piece of a larger neighborhood strategy that emerged from community feedback. Survey results compiled by the OAC showed that across Oak Lawn and Cedar Springs, murals were the preferred “identity marker” in roughly 67% of responses, along with street banners and gateway signage. Participants consistently described their neighborhood as a “uniquely vibrant, diverse, and accepting” area, home to one of the nation’s few remaining LGBTQ+ districts and historic landmarks.
The City Council has been invited to provide continued feedback on these concepts. For more information, residents can contact Office of Arts and Culture Director Martine Phillippe at martine.phillipe@dallas.gov by May 29, 2026.