KERRVILLE, Texas – A memorial built from flood debris is helping Kerr County heal after devastating July 4 floodwaters swept through the area — damaging homes, property and lives.
The tribute was created by artist Roberto Marquez, who arrived in Kerrville days after the storm and began building crosses from debris found in Guadalupe Park.
“The devastation: it was so big,” Marquez said. “This is like miles and miles of properties that were taken away.”
Though the park remains closed, a section is open to the public featuring Marquez’s work — an interactive mural and handcrafted crosses constructed to reflect the magnitude of the loss and offer solace to those affected.
Marquez, who has created memorials at global tragedies and mass casualty events — including in Uvalde — said Kerr County’s flooding left a particularly deep impact.
He began gathering wood, broken materials and flood remnants to form the tribute. The idea for the mural followed shortly after.
“That mural, it’s like connecting the whole environment... from kids to anybody that comes and joins,” Marquez said. “It’s a piece of work that is like holding the spirits of those lives.”
Marquez spent a little more than a week in Kerrville before returning home. He recently traveled to New York City to create another memorial following a deadly incident where four people were killed in a Manhattan skyscraper.
He hopes what he left behind in Texas serves a purpose.
“Art is very powerful because whenever something happens, we tend to forget, except those families that lost their loved ones,” Marquez said. “So, in a painting, we can hold those memories for a long time.”
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