Belton Dam Mural

In recent years, murals have grown in popularity as both marketing tools and examples of civic pride. Ahead of its time, the project to create a mural on the east side of the Belton Dam began in 1978. Imagine an 800-foot paint-by-number coloring book! That is how the mural began.

Maurine Burks, an art professor at Mary Hardin-Baylor College (now University of Mary Hardin-Baylor) in Belton, Texas, in conjunction with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, coordinated and supervised a project to install a mural on the concrete retaining walls of the Belton Dam in July 1978. The art department oversaw the design, creation, and painting of the 22,200 square foot mural. The cost was $2000, and it was the second mural of its kind in the country with the other mural located in California. 

The mural is a pictorial history of Bell County including scenes of Fort Hood, historical homes, hospitals, the Chisholm Trail, covered wagons, downtown Belton, and Lake Belton.

 Artists from MHB sketched the panorama of Bell County history on the east side of the dam. Materials were supplied by the Corps of Engineers. Once the sketches were done, they were color coded, allowing a team of student and community volunteers to take part in painting it. The only preparation needed was sandblasting the graffiti from the concrete wall. Most of the work was done in the evenings from about 7:00 p.m. until dusk. The first portion on the east side was 800 feet long and 15 feet high, and consumed 63 gallons of paint. By 1986, Professor Burks and students were putting the finishing touches on the west side mural entitled "The Great Belton Dam Balloon Race." Two of the balloons were filled with about 75 caricatures of Bell County residents, UMHB students, and Burks' family and friends.The mural on the west side was 500 feet long and ranged from 3 to 5 feet high. 

By 2000 the mural on the spillway had faded. It was reported in the Belton Journal that UMHB signed a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restore the mural to its original colors for a bid of $9,000. Ten art students and four art faculty would restore 36 panels and 800 feet of 15 foot high cement on the east side of FM 2271. Among those who participated were Rex Murrah, Michael Alford, Amy Rawlings, John Borem, and professors Hershall Seals and John Hancock. It was estimated that it would take 10 hours to restore each panel with work being completed by late August. 

Plans were made to do the west side of the dam as well. The original balloons with the faces of local residents remained, but UMHB planned to design something new for the remainder. The new design was a postcard look with several kinds of fish, a diver, and two signs that said, "Welcome to Belton." In December 2021, the Temple Daily Telegram reported that Rudy Calooy, Jr., the commercial artist who received the original contract in 1978 when he was a student at UMHB, started a movement to revitalize the 42-year-old artwork, recently marred by graffiti. Several volunteers stepped forward to offer services to help witth the project and return the mural to its former glory.

"Artists Close the Gap in Belton Dam Mural." Belton Journal (Belton, TX), August 14, 1986.

“[Belton Dam Mural].” The Mary Hardin-Baylor Forum, August 1978.

"Belton Lake Dam Mural to be Restored." Belton Journal (Belton, TX), July 27, 2000.

Betancourt, Christian. "Mural Repair." Temple Daily Telegram, December 15, 2021.