Mural will bring art downtown
/The painting will feature city structures — City Hall, Acme-McCrary, the stage at Bicentennial Park, and more — in a stylized interpretation by Asheboro artist Cori Cagle.
City council members approved the project, which will not cost the city a penny, at their regular meeting on Thursday night. Trees Asheboro received a grassroots grant for the project from the N.C. Arts Council through the Randolph Arts Guild, its third such grant in recent years.
The first two years, the monies funded a summer arts workshop and an art project at the Central Boys and Girls Club in East Asheboro. Members of the Asheboro Appearance Commission pegged the wall downtown, which is about 55 feet long and approximately 6 feet tall at its highest point, as a space that could stand some beautifying.
A quotation by George F. Kneller — “To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.” — will be featured prominently, thanks to a suggestion from folks with the Randolph County Library, a collaborator on the project. (The Latino Coalition will be yet another partner.)
Cagle said she kept the quote in mind when designing the mural.
“Sometimes we take our surroundings for granted,” she said. “I just wanted people to see it with new eyes.”
Tim Womick, a member of both Trees Asheboro and the Asheboro Appearance Commission, told council members as many as 120 people, many of them young people, will be involved in creating the work of art from July 13-24 (weather permitting).
“We’re just happy that we’re taking art downtown and we’re involving all these diverse groups,” he said.
Chip Womick
The Courier-Tribune
