The Asheville Mural Project is a group of artists brought together through the nonprofit Arts 2 People, with the cooperative objective of both revitalizing existing urban environments and memorializing the diversity of experience and culture that Asheville hosts. AMP has created several small murals in the past and is currently forging the frontier of large-scale mural projects with the Lexington Gateway Mural. Both sets of I-240 concrete piers framing the lower end of North Lexington Avenue in downtown Asheville are being painted with designs AMP has been working on for more than a year. The pillars will eventually be covered with standing portraits of local people, chosen by nomination. AMP hopes that this current mural will lay the foundation for more large-scale murals and a continuing public dialogue regarding collective vision and intent.
AMP Director Molly Must says, “This is really one big experiment; none of us have ever painted a mural before. And beyond the challenges of physically implementing such a large project, I’m learning a lot about local history, urban planning, community organization and the frustrations of bureaucracy. … I still have much to learn, and in many ways this project is a small piece of a developing idea.”
AMP hopes to bring more collaboration into the public-art process. The collective is excited about creating art that will become part of people’s daily routines, interrupting the ordinary. Info: www.arts2people.org or www.ashevillemuralproject.org.
Where is Molly Must? I see both websites have gone AWAY!
What’s happened?