Bryan woman contributes to murals honoring Uvalde victims

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - A Bryan woman is using her skills to help highlight the memories of the 21 victims of the Uvalde school massacre.

In May, 19 students and two educators in Uvalde were killed when a gunman entered Robb Elementary School. This tragedy has brought people from many backgrounds to contribute skills, resources and prayers.

Gabi Magaly lives in San Antonio but grew up in Bryan. Since the shooting, she knew she needed to help. One way she could do that is by bringing color and happy memories to the town.

“How can I contribute to this community? How can they heal? And like they say, art heals,” Magaly said.

Teams of artists were assigned to each victim, to create murals in town highlighting the things they loved, their goals and to keep their memories alive. Magaly contributed to the mural for 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez. During the process, she met with Maite’s family, learning about the young girl.

“She had goals at 10 years old. She had goals. She had ambitions. She wanted to go to Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Like she knew what she wanted at 10 years old. She was about to start reading the Diary of Anne Frank. Like it’s wild to me that this little girl, she knew what she wanted,” Magaly said.

The mural includes a photo of Maite wearing the green Converse shoes she loved so much. The artists included her love for books and her goal to be a marine biologist.

“To see her family, look up to Maite in that beautiful mural, it was really sweet. And I could tell that they really loved it and they were crying and I’m just crying and I’m like, ‘Gabi, I thought you’re gonna hold it together,’ but it was a beautiful moment for us to reveal that to them,” Magaly said.

Eleven of the 21 murals are complete and can be seen on walls around Uvalde. The goal is to complete all 21 by September. The group has a ways to go to meet that goal, to support their efforts see their GoFundMe here.