Dallas artist adding his work to growing memorial outside Allen Premium Outlets mall
ALLEN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – A Dallas native is working to paint more light into the community of Allen following the latest mass shooting.
Roberto Marquez is an artist who has been traveling around the world to grieving communities following different tragedies.
Since Monday, Marquez has been outside of the Allen Premium Outlets mall adding pieces to a growing memorial. With just a brush and paint, Marquez is making a distinctive safe space for people to mourn and come together.
"Artist have a big responsibility to do something for humans, not just for museums, not just for collectors," Marquez said.
He's added more than three pieces to the memorial to honor the victims, from the eight crosses with all the victim's names to the murals reflecting what happened.
"While I'm painting sometimes I started to cry...because I'm getting that information from tragic events," Marquez said. "So what I do, I turn around and try to bring hope."
The art is inspired by the tragedy that happened after a gunman shot and killed eight people and injured seven.
"I'm working a lot of details, I'm working with positive, negative spaces, line balance," Marquez said. "I'm going to bring like three pieces that are going to be what we call the focal point."
This isn't the first time Marquez brought out his brushes to create a memorial.
In 2021, he painted murals following the Surfside, Florida condo collapse.
In 2022, put together a memorial for the victims from the Uvalde school shooting.
Later that year, he helped pay tribute to 53 migrants who died in San Antonio, a few months later he created a memorial for the airmen killed at the Dallas Executive Airport.
"Sometimes I need to fly...I like to reach the destination and do what I can," Marquez said. "I like to be there, I feel like I can do something."
Marquez said for him it's about using his artistic gift to 'paint a bigger picture' about what's happening around our country — while hoping each stroke will bring light to the darkest places.
"I wish nothing else tragic happened but for some reason it keeps on happening, so I figured I'm going to continue," Marquez said.