Phantom Artist Spreads Holiday Cheer

Updated: December 22, 2022

Emilio Flores
La Feria News

Ever wonder about some of the great murals that are painted around La Feria or even the window paintings at different business fronts? Many of those are done by one man. Brett Oberthaler is an artist out of Weslaco that does work from all over the Valley.

Oberthaler shares that he started his side job about 20 years ago as a way for a little extra income.
“It’s all just been word of mouth,” he says “I’d be just working with the School and people would find me.” He says people noticed and he received referrals from Schools and one thing led to another, and now he’s doing great murals all over the Valley!

He says window art is just a side thing that a lot of people enjoy and that he enjoys doing for the holidays. This year he’s done several around town including La Feria Cafe, Los Leones, All-Star Dentistry, JC Wings, and La Feria News.

Brett Oberthaler has a Masters in fine arts from the University of Pan Am (UTRGV) and teaches fine arts at the Middle School in Santa Rosa, along with early college courses for high schoolers that are taking Art Appreciation. He teaches for Texas Southmost College. “The College course is Art Appreciation mixed with a studio element, too” So he says the kids get to do a lot of painting with that.

Oberthaler stays very busy but loves what he does and that passion really shows. He shares that he got out of retirement and started teaching again at Santa Rosa sharing that, “A lot has changed,” says that many of the students are different after covid, and many are still scared.

When asked what Oberthaler has been able to implement, he states, “Just staying positive, and not being afraid,” he says, “Because that’s another thing is they watch the news they hear about the death… It’s put a lot of fear in the kids.” He says that he tries not to focus on death, but rather says, “Let’s live!”

Next time you have the chance to walk around downtown and enjoy some of the great artwork get inspired to do some of your own! Pick up a new hobby and as Brett says, “Let’s live!”

Check out some of his great work through his Instagram

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