Juneteenth mural unveiled in Amarillo’s North Heights by Blank Spaces
The 100th mural by Blank Spaces celebrates Juneteenth with powerful imagery honoring Black families, literacy, and community love in Amarillo.
- Blank Spaces, an Amarillo non-profit, unveiled its 100th mural in the North Heights neighborhood on Juneteenth.
- The mural, located on the Amarillo United Citizens Forum building, celebrates family, literacy, and early childhood development.
- The artwork features a Black father and daughter, a mother and infant, and a young boy reading, surrounded by white flowers in tribute to local legend Mathew “Bones” Hooks.
- The mural’s location, formerly the site of Amarillo’s Black hospital during segregation, adds historical significance to the project.
A vibrant new mural in North Heights is turning heads and honoring history — prominently displayed on the Ninth Street side of the Amarillo United Citizens Forum, and clearly visible from Amarillo Boulevard just one block away.
Unveiled on Juneteenth, the mural marks a major milestone: the 100th public art installation completed by Blank Spaces, an Amarillo-based nonprofit that empowers youth through community art. The mural was commissioned in partnership with Operation First Five and Basics Amarillo to celebrate family, literacy and early childhood development.
But for many in the neighborhood, the mural also stands as a tribute to Mathew “Bones” Hooks, the legendary Black cowboy and civic leader whose name remains deeply tied to the North Heights community.
“It’s amazing — truly legendary,” said Melodie Graves, executive director of the United Citizens Forum. “We’re honored to be the recipients of their 100th mural. For them to choose this location — with its history, its roots, its people — it means something. It’s not just art on a wall. This mural is a declaration that North Heights matters, that our stories matter. It’s a springboard to getting this center revitalized and bringing people in to admire it, remember what came before, and invest in what’s still to come.”
The mural features striking imagery: a Black father with his daughter, a mother cradling an infant, and a young boy reading a book — each symbolizing care, growth and opportunity. White flowers surround the images, included as a nod to Bones Hooks, who was known for giving white flowers as a symbol of celebration. At the mural’s center, two hands form the shape of a heart.
“That’s the foundation of the community,” Graves said. “If we build on love, then anything can happen.”
She said the mother and baby reflect Amarillo’s high infant mortality rates and the need for better maternal care, while the reading child symbolizes the power of literacy to open doors.
“We need to get back to the family,” Graves said. “We have so many single mothers in our community. This mural reminds us of what matters most.”
A site with deep roots
Long before the current building was constructed, the location served as Amarillo’s Black hospital, created when local Black physician Dr. Wyatt was barred from practicing in white hospitals. The hospital provided essential care for Black residents during segregation.
Graves explained that after the hospital was torn down, the Amarillo United Citizens Forum built the existing structure to continue that legacy — not as a medical facility, but as a hub for community dialogue, progress and safety.
“This building was meant to carry on that legacy,” she said. “To be a place where our people could come together, speak freely, and organize for change.”
Designed with intention
The mural had been in the works for more than two years, said Victoria Hughes, a representative for Operation First Five and Basics Amarillo.
Operation First Five is a local coalition that brings together schools, clinics, libraries, civic groups and child care providers to support Amarillo families with children under age 5. Through its “Basics Amarillo” initiative, the group promotes five simple, science-backed parenting practices — such as “maximize love and manage stress” — and embeds them into community spaces like murals, libraries and clinics.
“When people see this, we want them to understand that early brain development doesn’t start in school — it starts at home, from birth,” Hughes said. “These images are not just decorative. They represent the most critical foundations for a child’s growth: love, learning, safety, connection.”
She added that the mural is meant to reach both caregivers and the broader community.
“We want families to see themselves in the art — to feel supported and valued,” Hughes said. “And we want businesses, churches and community centers to ask themselves, ‘What role can we play in helping children thrive?’ It takes all of us.”
Returning artist leaves a lasting mark
Niara Torres, a junior at the University of Texas at Austin studying studio art, helped paint the mural after returning to Amarillo for the summer. She first joined Blank Spaces as a high school student and has now worked on more than 30 murals — six as lead artist.
“This one’s my favorite,” she said. “The culture and the location make it really special. It’s a place of love and growth.”
Torres said the project posed technical challenges due to the building’s brick and metal surfaces, but the end result was worth it.
“It was beautiful to see it all come together,” she said. “Blank Spaces shaped who I am. It helped me realize the power of using art to give back to my community.”
Full-circle moment for Blank Spaces
Founded in 2016 with no money and no supplies — just a wall and a vision — Blank Spaces launched its first mural only a few blocks away at Snack Pak 4 Kids. Executive Director Shawn Kennedy said reaching 100 murals on Juneteenth in North Heights brought everything full circle.
“We were surprised when we got to our second mural,” Kennedy said. “To go from there to here, it feels like all the stars aligned. This wall, this neighborhood, this day — it’s special.”
Kennedy said the design — which incorporates the five Basics principles and cultural elements meaningful to the neighborhood — was carefully planned to reflect both the mission and the setting.
“This was a technically tough wall, with the overhangs and columns,” he said. “But our interns are experienced. They’ve worked on every kind of surface. It just took a little longer — and it came out powerful.”
He also noted the group’s recent projects, including murals at The Bull & Bloom and an updated rocket mural nearby.
“You won’t see anything else like these installations in Amarillo,” Kennedy said. “And we’re proud to be a part of that creative vision.”
More than just public art, Blank Spaces continues to mentor youth long after high school.
“We see them graduate, get married, have babies — we stay in their lives,” he said. “They’re our kids for life.”
A national presence in Amarillo with a lasting message
Among the guests at the mural unveiling on Thursday, June 19 was Dr. Ron Ferguson, a Harvard economist and founder of The Basics movement. Ferguson flew in from Boston to witness the installation and meet with community leaders. Though he did not give a public speech, his visit signaled the national significance of Amarillo’s participation in a growing early childhood movement.
“This is what it looks like when a community really shows up for its children,” Ferguson said. “It’s powerful to see the Basics principles come to life on this wall — with art, with history, with heart.”
As the mural brightens a historically Black neighborhood in Amarillo, the people who helped create it hope it offers something lasting.
“This is more than a painting,” Graves said. “It’s a reminder of where we’ve been, and a vision for where we’re going.”
