Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Here’s part of a press release sent last week in advance of a fundraising event over the weekend. I missed posting this, but the need remains: Asheville Mural Project needs your financial support.
The Asheville Mural Project has recently completed the Lexington Avenue Gateway Mural, and plans to extend painting to the Merrimon Avenue side of the I-240 bridge. Working artists in the collective include Kurt Theasler, Steven Lister, Harper Leich, Molly Must, and new additions Ian Wilkinson, Trish Tripp, and Melissa Glaze. Generously supported by a grant from the Chaddick Foundation, the City of Asheville, and donations from several local businesses and artists the Asheville Mural Project has been able to continue work on the mural that began in the summer of 2008. However, we are still raising funds so that we can see the completion of this near 6,000 square foot painting.
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Ian and Molly have been hard at work in the AMP studio in Riverview Station preparing the new mural that will be “laminated” to the concrete piers on Merrimon Avenue, the design of which will be dedicated to the chess players at Pritchard Park. Trish and Melissa are working on the adjoining design, dedicated to the local farmer’s markets. Both new segments will be painted using a technique inspired by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (muralarts.org), that involves painting on “parachute-cloth”, a tyvek-like non-woven fiber that is sealed to the wall with an acrylic medium, allowing the artists to work indoors and off of scaffolding.
The Asheville Mural Project is very excited to complete our largest mural to date, and hopes to continue painting murals throughout town that beautify existing architecture, memorialize community stories, and provide artists and local youth with the opportunity to paint and participate in the creation of grassroots public art. AMP is a branch of the Arts2People 501(c)3 non-profit, an organization devoted to promoting the role of the arts as an integral part of our culture by serving the community through arts outreach, bringing the arts to those in need of the healing power of art, supporting the careers of artists, and through community cultural development. Arts 2 People houses several programs including the Lexington Ave. Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF), the REACH Programming series, Moving Women, and the Faces of Asheville. Visitwww.arts2people.org.
Location: Lexington Avenue, under I-240 Overpass
www.ashevillemuralproject.org www.arts2people.org/amp
