Painting the Town

photo by shane darby

Texarkana native Jes Weiner talks art, community, and the business of murals
By Jaime Knighton

Jes Weiner of Magic Hat Muralist is the artist behind nine public murals in Texarkana, including the frequently-photographed Texarkana balloons piece, the geometric TXK logo downtown, and the wildflowers on the South State Line Avenue/3rd Street underpasses. Though born, raised, and beloved in Texarkana, she is very active in other parts of Texas and Arkansas, as well as throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. To date, she’s done over 100 murals across the states.

Jes left Texarkana at 19 and eventually settled in Bentonville. She and her husband chose the bustling Northwest Arkansas town to raise their three kids. The thriving art scene was a big draw to the area, and it has placed her in one of the fastest-growing arts communities in the region, helping to accelerate her career as a muralist.

While she now calls Bentonville home, Jes remains committed to sharing her community-focused art in Texarkana. Jes still has strong ties and roots here, and she was excited to become involved when the murals downtown started appearing. “As soon as they started painting downtown, I wanted in,” she said. Despite living and building a career elsewhere, she remains deeply connected to her hometown and has actively contributed to its artistic transformation. By sharing her talents across multiple states, she also spreads her belief that art is for everyone.

Having drawn and painted her entire life, Jes once asked her high school art teacher if she thought she could make a career out of her art. The teacher confidently stated, “I don’t think you can do anything else.” Her teacher’s comment was not meant as criticism: it was recognition that art wasn’t a hobby for Jes but a calling.

 Jes has collaborated with others to create large-scale murals and projects, such as the Love Thy Neighbor mural (formerly in the Kress Gap). submitted photo

Jes said that her most unique mural is one she did at an emu farm in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. She created a large postcard concept, incorporating Arkansas landmarks into the letters for the state name. For two and half months, while working on the mural, the emu sidekicks spent time eating her paint, stealing her brushes, and constantly interfering. “They’re like velociraptors!” she laughed.

A client commissioned this work for their dining room. submitted photo

Jes’ favorite of her murals is located at a vacation rental in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Her face lit up as she described the three life-sized horses running towards the viewer on an interior wall inside the cabin. She also shared that the mural she created at Lost Pizza was a lot of fun. She was halfway through when the owners informed her that, through an accident of miscommunication, Jes had been painting the wrong design. Fortunately, she was able to regroup and redo the piece in half the time she had originally anticipated. In the end, it turned into one of her favorites, and the clients loved it.

Though Jes typically paints alone, she loves creative collaboration with clients and community members. submitted photo

Like many professional artists, Jes never pursued formal training in art, though she did spend a short time in Milwaukee when she was 17 for an arts internship. She had high school art classes and said her informal learning comes from libraries, books, podcasts, and studying art history on her own. She largely built her skills through self-directed learning. She is often inspired by music. “Sometimes I hear a song and see a painting,” she said. She also loves creating symbolic imagery which viewers can interpret personally.

Jes is currently working to help secure funding for her biggest dream project: transforming a children’s home in Arkansas with color, inspiration, encouragement, and beautiful public art. Together with the home, she is seeking grants and donors, and is exploring crowdfunding. She wants to add visual stimulation, motivation, and hope for the children who live there.

Although Jes usually works alone, occasionally she brings in a close friend or other artists, and sometimes her dad. In the past, she has collaborated with others to create large-scale murals and projects, such as the Love Thy Neighbor mural (formerly in the Kress Gap), which was painted with the help of volunteers, including children. “Teamwork makes the dream work,” she said.

 “Art matters. Communities need more art. Public art belongs to everyone. People deserve to be seen.” – Jes Weiner, photo by shane darby

Jes said that she worries about the harms caused by generative AI, which can limit creative collaboration: in her experience, a client may become attached to AI-generated concepts that aren’t easily created by the human hand, and human brainstorming can become reduced. Further, Jes expressed that generative AI is incapable of human creativity. Paraphrasing a Hans Zimmer quote, Jes said, “AI can only draw from what’s already been done; humans innovate.” She followed this by saying, “I hope people brag one day and say, ‘A human made this.’”

Jes painted this cheerful mural for the Community Table Food Bank in Bentonville, Arkansas. submitted photo

Jes’s advice for young artists is simply to make art, over and over. Make bad art. Make embarrassing art. Make vulnerable art. Draw, paint, experiment. Use libraries, study artists, borrow inspiration, and don’t obsess over finding a style. “You cannot make great art without making bad art first,” she said.

With full creative control, Jes created this mural for King James Wine in Bentonville, Arkansas. submitted photo

“Art is for everyone,” she continued. “Creativity is human nature. Children are naturally artistic, though some tend to drift away from it as they grow and age. Artistic ability can be rediscovered at any age. Art matters. Communities need more art. Public art belongs to everyone. People deserve to be seen.”

This large equine mural, located in a vacation rental in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, is a recent favorite of the artist. submitted photo

Ultimately, Jes wants to be known for more than just her art and murals. She wants to help others feel empowered, accepted, and connected. She said that, when people hear her name, she wants them to think, “Jes Weiner makes me want to be myself.” She said that she hopes her children will remember her with paint on her hands.