TMS commissions sports artist for live mural tour honoring Jeff Gordon through DFW Metroplex

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Renowned sports artist David Arrigo will embark Monday on a seven-day “Live Mural Experience” tour throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex that will commemorate retiring NASCAR icon Jeff Gordon’s final race at Texas Motor Speedway coming in next Sunday’s AAA Texas 500.

 
Arrigo has been commissioned by Texas Motor Speedway for the week-long tour in which he will be painting among the public day and evening at a variety of high-profile establishments, locations and events that will culminate with him finishing during the AAA Texas 500 pre-race activities. He will make more than a dozen stops along the way, ranging from the heart of downtown Dallas at Pegasus Plaza in City Center to the Fort Worth entertainment and cultural districts of The Stockyards and West 7th Street.
 
The “Live Mural Experience” opens Monday afternoon at the Omni Dallas Hotel, with Arrigo painting in the hotel lobby (4-5 p.m.) and then in the hotel’s Owner’s Box sports bar (6:30-9 p.m.) for the Monday Night Football game between the Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers. The hotel also will pay tribute to Gordon that evening by illuminating his No. 24 on the side of the building as well as have the Texas Motor Speedway show car on display out front.
 
Texas Motor Speedway will have a social media play for fans with Arrigo’s painting locations each day being identified on the speedway’s Twitter account (@txmotorspeedway) as well as the week-long listing on Facebook. At each of his stops during the tour, Arrigo will have a limited amount of speedway merchandise he will be giving away to fans that take a photo with the artwork and tag Texas Motor Speedway on their social channels.
 
He will be painting five canvasses – a 4’x4′ feature piece commemorating his entire career at TMS and then four 2’x3′ pieces that will signify special moments such as his Cup win in 2009 – and all will make up one all-encompassing piece of artwork. One of the pieces of artwork will be presented to Gordon by Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage and Arrigo while the other four will be auctioned off at a later date to benefit Speedway Children’s Charities-Texas Chapter.
 
“This is a tremendous opportunity for me to share Texas Motor Speedway’s tribute to retiring NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon with all of the great NASCAR fans throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex,” Arrigo said. “It will be one of my more challenging ‘Live Mural Experiences,’ but this is Texas Motor Speedway once again thinking outside the box. It should be an awesome piece of artwork and I’m looking forward to being part of presenting one of the canvases to Jeff with Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage as a keepsake.”

Arrigo, a native of Toronto, has executed “Live Mural Experiences” all around the world that have included some of the most heralded sporting events including the Olympics, Super Bowl, U.S. Open tennis and Major League Baseball and National Hockey League All-Star Games, among others.
 
His work also has previously been featured in North Texas. He produced a live, giant mural on the speedway marquee of the Sports Illustrated cover of Danica Pat­rick after her breakthrough Indy 500 performance in 2005, a mural for “Mike Modano Tribute Night” honoring the Dallas Stars legend in 2007 and another honoring the 1999 Stanley Cup champion Stars at the 2007 NHL All-Star Celebration held in Dallas.
 
He also has produced custom helmets for former Hall of Fame Racing co-owners Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman commemorating the military (2007), Willie Robertson for their family business Duck Commander being the title sponsor of the annual spring Sprint Cup race at TMS (2014) and annually paints the pole award helmets given to the pole sitters for the Texas XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series races.
 
Here is a look at the “Live Mural Experience” tour schedule (subject to change):
  • Monday – Omni Dallas Hotel, 555 S. Lamar St., Dallas, 4-5 p.m. in hotel lobby and 6:30-9 p.m. at The Owner’s Box hotel sports bar and restaurant patio.
  • Tuesday – Pegasus Plaza, Main at Akard Streets, Downtown Dallas, 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; WFAA-Channel 8 outdoor studio area, Victory Plaza at American Airlines Center, 4-8 p.m.
  • Wednesday – The Stockyards Visitors Center, 608 E. Exchange Ave., Fort Worth, 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; West 7th District, Crockett Square, 2940 Crockett Square, Fort Worth, 6:30-9 p.m.
  • Thursday – Speedway Children’s Charities Celebrity Clay Shoot, Ross Perot Jr.’s Circle T Ranch, Highway 114 at Trophy Club exit, Westlake, 10:30-12:30 p.m.; Hard Eight BBQ, 205 S Oak St, Roanoke, 5-8 p.m.
  • Friday – Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, Texas Motor Speedway infield, 6-9 a.m.; TMS gift presentation to Jeff Gordon, infield media center deadline room, 1-2:30 p.m.; Zac Brown Band concert, TMS display area at Gexa Energy Pavilion, 3839 South Fitzhugh Ave., Dallas, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
  • Saturday – O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge XFINITY Series race day, TMS grandstand concourse at Gate 4, 10-2:30 p.m.; Speedway Children’s Charities Memorabilia Auction, Hospitality Village across from Gate 7 & TMS admin building, 5-6:30 p.m.; Casino Night for Speedway Club members, Starlight Dining Room, The Speedway Club, 7:30-9 p.m.
  • Sunday – AAA Texas 500 pre-race activities, infield ballfield adjacent to the starting grid of Sprint Cup Series cars on pit road, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

TMS PR

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