DENVER — A once-blank wall in the heart of downtown Denver now bursts with color and pride, transformed into a massive tribute to one of the Denver Broncos' brightest stars: cornerback Pat Surtain II.
Behind the towering mural is Denver native Gus Ray, a lifelong artist whose recent focus has shifted to large-scale public art.
"I've been an artist my whole life," Ray said. "But I've jumped into more mural arts in the last, like, three years or so."
The mural, which features Surtain — the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year — was a project months in the making. Initial talks with the Broncos began in February, according to Ray.
“The Broncos reached out and we talked in February about this,” Ray said. “We didn't have a location, so that was the biggest challenge — is trying to find a spot downtown.”
Securing the site was just the beginning. Ray said it took over three months and approvals from eight different groups before he could begin painting.
“We signed a contract to do this project, and I started the very next day,” Ray said. “I worked for 19 days straight. I think I had the equivalent to, like, 300 cans of spray paint.”
The mural is more than just a likeness of Surtain. Ray said it’s a creative blend of iconic moments and artistic vision.
“On the far side, it was [the] 100-yard interception return he had,” Ray explained. “And then there's some plays in the background, like some play markers, and that's pulled from that play. So I like watch the video and redo the play.”
At the center of it all is a bold message: "Why not be great?" — a line pulled from Surtain’s award acceptance speech.
“Even if you don't know who Pat Surtain is, you can still kind of relate to a positive message inside to it,” Ray said.
After nearly three weeks of painting, Ray finally got to meet his muse.
“Everyone was asking me, like, ‘Oh, did he like it? I hope he's gonna like it,’” Ray said. “I painted it for three weeks, but he was a really nice guy, really grateful, and I think he really appreciated, like, the whole artistic process and effort that went into it.”
For Ray, a devoted Broncos fan, the project was personal.
“Any artist's goal is to leave a stamp in the community,” Ray said. “And like to do it on a large scale like this — it’s like all I could ever ask for.”
