Hillcrest Community Mural Project
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Students working on the mural. |
For the past year or more, Dewayne Barton and Lise Kloeppel have been working closely with residents and community leaders, including artists Daniel Suberman and Ernie Mapp, to plan and design a public art work for the community.
They have conducted interviews with residents to compile thoughts and images that speak a clear message of positivity, and have collaborated with local artist Ian Wilkinson, from the Arts2People-funded Asheville Mural Project, to develop these ideas into an outdoor mural. The Hillcrest Community Mural Project’s design and implementation program is striving to celebrate this community.
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Danny Suberman, a Hillcrest Mural Project artist, stands in front of the Hillcrest mural. Photo by Jackson Stahl |
Funding was secured for this project through the Asheville Area Arts
Council Grassroots Minority Grant. Dewayne Barton, co-founder of Green
Opportunities, sees the goal as actively engaging the community at
Hillcrest, empowering them to build a culture of sustainability through
green collar job creation and collaborative ventures such as the Mural
Project, which bring the people together in an expressive way.
“Green
Opportunities is working to help the Hillcrest community become more
sustainable and aware of the development that’s happening in and around
the city,” said Barton.
A number of people in the Hillcrest
community have been integral in the planning and inspiration for the
project. These include Elder John Hayes (founder and director of the
Hillcrest High-Steppers), Ms. Jackie Bryson (Hillcrest Resident Council
President), Trinia Boyd (Housing Resident Association Liaison), Susan
Diamond (Hillcrest Resident Council Secretary), Charleston & Sandra
Owens (parents of Anthony Gilmore), Nicole Hinebaugh & Itiyopiya
Ewart (Hillcrest Program Coordinators, Women’s Wellbeing and Development
Foundation (WWD-F), to name a few.
Ian Wilkinson says the Hillcrest community’s enthusiasm and support for the project inspires him to do more.
“It
has been tough because a lot of folks want to get everything they can
into this piece. This isn’t something that has ever happened here
before, so it’s hard not to try to put all the eggs in this basket. The
piece will be stunning, but I try to assure everyone it is also just the
beginning.”
“I know the healing power of events like this for
communities experiencing hardship. I will continue to create more
[works] like this, with or without funding.”