HALL OF FAME PAINTINGS
After scoring a goal, Brian Ching would kiss the Dynamo crest, an important ritual that honored the city and fans who welcomed him in 2006. The franchise’s all-time leading scorer, Ching gave Houston fans plenty of occasions to share in that celebration. Through spectacular finishes and back-to-back MLS Cup championships, he helped create memories that would become part of the city’s soccer story.
An ordinary moment for an extraordinary player, the painting captures Ching rising above Clint Dempsey, his friend and former U.S. Men’s National Team teammate, to win a header. Here, wearing opposing club colors, the two share another moment on the field. In that familiar motion, artist Opie Otterstad saw a way to celebrate a career that gave Houston so much to cheer for.
While talking at Daikin Park, Ching kept returning to his famous bicycle kick, a memory Otterstad would tuck into the painting. That spectacular finish against D.C. United in 2006 secured the Dynamo’s first playoff berth and earned MLS Goal of the Year honors. Weeks later, Ching helped finish what he had started, scoring a late equalizer and the decisive shootout penalty in the MLS Cup final.
Another hidden image captures the reward for that journey: Ching lifting the MLS Cup above his head. The tension of chasing a goal gives way to the joy of raising a trophy, celebrating everything he and his teammates had worked toward. Houston had become home to champions in the Dynamo’s very first season, and Ching had helped lead them there.
For Otterstad, hearing his friend revisit those moments helped him tell the story through Ching’s own eyes. “You want to show the person that you know,” he explained.
For years, Otterstad had championed Ching’s place among Houston’s sporting legends. “He is the forefather of those teams,” he said, “and should be celebrated.” In the painting, Ching is back in Dynamo orange, rising to meet the ball with a championship still to chase. The player who helped write the beginning of Houston’s Dynamo story now has a permanent place in the Houston Sports Hall of Fame.
