PHOTO COURTESY NOELANI OLVERA-IOANE
For Yvette “Evie” Olvera-Ioane, the gray, industrial remnants of the Rio Grande Valley’s agricultural past are not eyesores. They are canvases.
Through the Keep McAllen Beautiful public art project, Olvera-Ioane, a UTRGV alumna and artist, is transforming the city’s landscape one irrigation pipe at a time.
What began in 2019 as a citywide initiative to beautify more than 200 vintage irrigation pipes has become a sprawling gallery for her vibrant, site-specific murals.
“I see now how much better it could be, but that’s just me,” Olvera-Ioane said of her first “OG” pipe mural titled “Our Valley,” located at 2612 N. McColl Road, which she passes on her morning commute. “It does have a little special place in my heart. It’s the one that started it all.”
She said her entry into the public art sphere was a leap of faith.
After encouragement from friends and family, she submitted a digital proposal created on Procreate to the city’s open call in 2021. When the city approved her design and provided the materials, the artist was “stoked.”
That initial success sparked a prolific run. Olvera-Ioane continued to submit proposals, each one accepted by the city.
This momentum eventually led the artist to her most recent and favorite work, “Woman’s Strength,” located at 118 N. Main St.
“I had a lot of, like, freedom with it,” she said, describing the work as representing the ability for women to balance love and fierceness.
Though Olvera-Ioane admitted her personal wardrobe is mostly black, her artistic palette is a riot of turquoise, pink, blue and green.
“I guess it’s kind of, like, my way to express myself,” she said.
The artist’s preferred motifs—the regional birds that populate South Texas backyards—stem from a period of absence, according to the artist.
After living in California for a time, Olvera-Ioane said she returned to the Valley in 2020, with a renewed appreciation for the local environment.
Her work serves as a colorful homecoming, featuring hummingbirds and parakeets that have become symbols of the region, she said.
“It’s kind of just paying homage to what’s around here,” Olvera-Ioane said.
Beyond the paint, the artist said she is looking toward the intersection of art and healing.
She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling to receive her license as a counselor, with art therapy as her choice treatment method.
Locally, her next major project, she said, is a water tower mural designed to promote awareness for the deaf community, which will be located at 1301 S. 10th St. in McAllen.
Olvera-Ioane said the impact of her work is best measured by the residents who live alongside it. According to the artist, the feedback from the community has been one of gratitude.
“They don’t have to have this ugly pipe sitting on their lawn,” she said. “They’re just so appreciative that something has been put there, and it can brighten up their day.”
Olvera-Ioane said the project invites people to rediscover their own neighborhoods.
By encouraging residents to hit the trails and engage with both art and nature, she said she is making her home feel “a little more special.”
To learn more about the Keep McAllen Beautiful project, visit keepmcallenbeautiful.org or the artist’s Instagram @eviieearts.
PHOTO COURTESY NOELANI OLVERA-IOANE
