‘THE PEARL OF THE CONCHOS'

MERMAID A TALE OF VISION

Public art installation is real gem


How many of us know the story of the mermaid in the North Concho River near Celebration Bridge?

Her story began in 1944 when a child named Jayne Charless moved with her family from Amarillo to San Angelo.

"Coming from the Panhandle, I was awe-struck by the beauty of the trees, parks and rivers," she wrote in the fall of 1992.

She added that she wrote her friends in Amarillo that, "even the vacant lots have trees." As an adult, Jayne Charless married Bernard Max Beck in San Angelo in 1955.

The couple had three children, and Jayne became well-known as an artist and sculptor.

She never forgot about her fascination with the city's trees, parks and river.

"Truly an oasis in West Texas, San Angelo was called ‘The Pearl of the Conchos,' " she wrote.

When the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts held its "Visions and Choices II" exhibit in the fall of 1992, I attended and was dazzled by the beauty of Jayne's tiny mock-up.

Jotting notes about the miniature mermaid, I wrote in my notebook, "Graceful. Flowing. Welcoming." I wasn't surprised when Jayne Beck's creation was judged "Best Idea for Art in a Public Place." Her "rough mock-up" of "Pearl of the Conchos" showed a small version of the mermaid.

"I visualize the mystique of a larger-than-life bronze mermaid in our river," she wrote. "(The mermaid) would be extending her hand in welcome, offering a Concho Pearl symbolic of the treasures our city has to offer." "At that point, people started talking about some way to make the mermaid a big piece of sculpture," said the late San Angelo artist Max Hulse, who was president of the San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council in 1993.

But that idea was still only that — just an idea — when Jayne Beck unexpectedly died on Jan. 1, 1993, at age 60.

The idea of her beautiful mermaid, her "Pearl," might have died with Jay ne .

But friends of the family contacted Max and suggested that a memorial fund be established to raise the money to complete the project and build a full-size mermaid statue Max agreed, both as a friend of the family who cared about Jayne, and as the president of the arts group.

"The mermaid would be a memorial for Jayne, but it would also be an important piece of public art for the city," he said.

"You go to Santa Fe, Chicago, San Antonio and you see public art, lots of it," he said.

"Here in San Angelo, if we don't start creating public art, 20 years from now there still won't be any. We won't have that legacy to leave to our c h i ld ren ." "There's no better way to start," Max said.

"Jayne was a caring person, a very giving person," Max told me. "There would be no better memorial for her than for us to give this sculpture to our city." A Jayne Beck Memorial Fund was created to collect the $20,000 for a full-size mermaid.

"We will raise the money," Max said. "My hope is that we can get the whole city involved in this project.

"It's for Jayne," he said, "but it's also for us." Garland Weeks, a wellknown West Texas sculptor and friend of Jayne, created the full-sized mermaid from Jayne's tiny model, finishing it in about 10 months.

The "Pearl of the Conchos" mermaid was placed near Celebration Bridge and dedicated on June 11, 1994.

Now, 20 years later, she's still there, still holding a pearl, still a beaut y.

Rick Smith is a local news and community affairs columnist. Contact him at [email protected] or 325-659-8248. SAN ANGELO STANDARD TIMES