Sidewalk art at Railwalk gets new designs
Published 12:06 am Thursday, September 26, 2024
Cherrathee Hager pauses for a moment in painting more of the outlines in her piece in the Paint the Pavement event that she hopes will make people smile. Photo by Elisabeth Strillacci
Gina Mitchell works on the background before she begins to add color to the NC state dog, the Plott Hound, in her design. Photo by Elisabeth Strillacci
Sunday afternoon artists were well into working on filling in the colors and details on their individual designs in the Paint the Pavement event. Photo by Elisabeth Strillacci
Design by Gina Mitchell
Design by Yesenia Abney
Design by Sheila Pinero
Yesenia Abney watcxhes as her family help fill in the colors in her design for Paint the Pavement last weekend. Abney was the only artist to be selected for a second time. She was chosen for the effent in 2022 as well. Photo by Elisabeth Strillacci
Connie Lane said this is the first public art she has done, and it's been a learning process, but she's loved it. Photo by Elisabeth Strillacci
Sheila Pinero, right, and her mother, Carrie Chowski, work on the outlines and details of Pinero's flowers Saturday during the Paint the Pavement event. Submitted photo
Al five artists who were chosen for the second Paint the Pavement event involving the crosswalks on Kerr and Lee Streets. From left are Sheila Pinero, Connie Lane, Gina Mitchell, Cherrithee Hager, and Yesenia Abney. Submitted photo
SALISBURY — The crosswalks at the intersection of Lee and Kerr streets and the one by the Farmer’s Market, all in the Railwalk Arts District, got new designs this weekend during the second Paint the Pavement event.
The first painting event was completed in September 2022, and was sponsored by what was then the Salisbury Public Art Committee.
When the organization first came up with the idea in 2020, they were still a committee. Two local residents, Taylor Ellerbee and Whitney Wallace Williams, got a grant to pay for the first event, and the budget allowed the committee to cover the cost of all supplies.
When the committee became a commission, the city began to sponsor it, and now supplies are paid for and artists were paid a small $200 stipend as well.
Artists of all ages and all genres were invited to submit ideas for consideration and the only requirement was that it have some connection to Salisbury. As many as five submissions per artist were allowed, said Alyssa Nelson, urban design planner for Salisbury and the city staff liaison to the commission.
There were about 30 applicants this year, said Nelson, and this year, the commission was able to get actual street paint, so the art should last even longer than the last time around. The previous murals had faded from exposure to weather and sun, but could still be seen. This time the hope is they will have more resilience.
The five artists selected were Cherrathee Hager, Connie Lane, Gina Mitchell, Yesenia Abney, who was also one of the original paint the pavement artists, and Sheila Pinero.
The group of five began working after the Saturday farmer’s market closed, painting over the previous pieces to create a clean slate, then beginning to sketch their designs. Sunday morning they were back at work, beginning to add color and detail, and Nelson said they wrapped up about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
“It’s been interesting to see them prepare the blank canvas and begin to sketch in their designs,” said Jane Creech White, a commission member, on Saturday afternoon. “Such a great group of artists and family and friends working. At least two of the artists are fairly new to Salisbury and this is their first time doing anything like this.”
Abney, who said she was thrilled to be chosen a second time, said her design was called “Sensational Salisbury” and shows a skyline of the city, with a sun behind, and a family front and center enjoying all the city has to offer.
She has, like all the artists in the group, been an artist since childhood, and recently participated in barn quilt pieces in both Mt. Ulla and Cleveland. Her husband and children, a 24-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son, were all on hand to help paint the design.
Lane said her work is an ode to Florence Wells Slater, an entomologist from the 1800s who fought for equal pay for teachers.
“This is my first public art piece, and it’s bigger than I expected,” she said. “I saw others come and put down stencils and thought I probably should have done that! I’ve had to move a few of the insects around, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and I’m happy with it.”
Gina Mitchell said her son moved to Salisbury recently and bought a doggy day care. She wanted to do something that honored him as well as the city, so her design incorporated the state’s dog, the Plott Hound, into her design.
“I want art to be educational, and a lot of people didn’t realize the state has an official dog,” she said. “I’ve been doing art all my life,” she added, including sculpture as well as painting, and her work “has almost always been large scale pieces,” so the sidewalk work is right in her wheelhouse.
“I paint to make people smile,” said Hager, whose design had smiles on every creature in the piece, from bees to frogs and even the sun. A member of Carolina Artists Guild, Hager is no stranger to public art work. She’s done window designs for a number of businesses in Rowan as well as residential, and will soon be presenting her 10th annual Christmas window show, where people can drive past a number of holiday designs on windows in Rowan.
Pinero had a helping hand from her mother, Carrie Chowske, in painting her design called Equal Flowers on a sky blue background. Pinero, like two of the other artists, recently moved to Salisbury and thought this project was a great start.
“The focus of the commission is to make art accessible to everyone,” said White. “When people walk down the street we want them to stop and look and enjoy.”
