HOUSTON, Texas — It's been a decade since the graffiti artist known as GONZO247 created the "Houston Is Inspired" mural as part of a marketing campaign off Market Square Park in downtown Houston.
It was originally meant to be a temporary installation.
"We told ourselves originally, 'If we get six months out of it, job well done,'" creator GONZO247 told KHOU 11 Tuesday. "Well, six months turned into 10 years."
They weren't expecting the positive overwhelmingly positive reaction from Houstonians.
"It really became an icon for the city, became a destination," GONZO247 said.
It also opened the door for other muralists.
“The Houston is Inspired mural was a visual game changer for the downtown landscape and signified the turning of a page in the acceptance of graffiti and street art culture on a major scale," GONZO247 explained. "It also helped usher in a new era of blockbuster murals that give the city a little more character."
Some of the artist's signature vibrant colors have faded so he and others were inspired to restore it one paint stroke at a time. Fortunately, the paint being used for this refresh should keep its color much longer since it’s exterior latex rather than simple spray paint.
GONZO247 will use a crane to reach higher areas once work closer to the ground is complete.
Volunteers are pitching in too.
"I love it, I love it,” Norma Ponce with Houston First Corporation told KHOU 11.
Ponce usually works at a desk but was recruited, along with others, to help get the refresh underway Tuesday morning.
"It’s fun and gets you out of the office for a little bit,” Ponce said.
There's no timeline for the restoration. However, the OG of iconic H-Town murals expects what is perhaps his most recognized work to look better than ever when it's done.
"Obviously, this wasn’t the first mural ever painted in Houston," GONZO247 told us. "But this mural really helped open the door to more blockbuster murals here in the downtown area.”