Murals of Durham
Passersby rarely stop, yet the scattered Murals of Durham have a captivating quality and an undeniable connection to the city they represent. They are commonplace, integrated into the walls of converted aged tobacco warehouses. Some are incredibly vibrant and playful. Others are weathered timestamps of bygone eras. “Here Comes the Sun,” a telescopic mural circa mid-1970s painted by a local highschooler Karen Stern, then 15, is torn straight from the album art of a psychedelic rock band and after named for the Beatles’ 1969 piece. It is a quintessentially ‘70s piece, so much so that the work is pushing you into the perspective of a teenager experiencing the post-segregation South and tail end of the Vietnam War.
Andria Lin painted “Wall of Hope” for the Threshold Clubhouse, an organization that supports adults with severe mental illnesses. Lin, having battled with mental illness herself, intended the jumbled hands and mingling of colors to be viewed as a parallel for the unity, solidarity, and strength that joins the community together.
Born from a collaborative effort between scholars, community members and artists, the “Durham Civil Rights” mural is a celebration of civil rights figures of varied backgrounds including business leaders from Black Wall Street, architect Julian Francis Abele and activist Ann Atwater. The satellite park — a project to transform dull utilitarian satellites to a vivid playscape — is tucked behind the Duke Arts Annex. Numerous local artists painted over the aluminum dishes, which radiate out the artists’ traditions and culture into the city. The murals are the ultimate democratization of art: free, painted for and by locals, and portals to the history of the city.