On Wednesday, artist and UNC alumnus Michael Brown proposed a mural to the Chapel Hill Design Commission.
This project is a collaboration between University Place and the local artist for the enjoyment of Chapel Hill residents and visitors. The mural will be a 140 foot wide by 20 foot high colorful and abstract pointillist piece at University Place's theater complex.
“The new mural will draw attention to our shopping center and its many exciting changes, including the name change to University Place, which took place earlier this year, the spacious patio that we're creating on the south side of the center and to the opening of our new anchor, Silverspot Cinema, with its Trilogy Restaurant," said Beverly Carr, the marketing coordinator for University Place, in an email.
Brown said he has done most of the murals here in Chapel Hill and has worked in this field since 1988.
“When I started in 1988, the downtown commission would originally just take donations from citizens and downtown business owners," Brown said. "When they scraped together enough money I would come in. As things evolved, I just developed a reputation for doing work that people like.”
Now with years of experience under his belt, Brown is excited by his new project and is unafraid of innovation.
“The one on the theater will be huge, dot-matrix eyes, floating in space like clouds," Brown said. "It's late in my career, I am going to turn 61 soon. It’s late in my career and I’m trying to stick my neck out a little bit."
Brown's murals pepper the town, in back alleys and storefronts, like the sea turtle mural on Columbia Street. They have become an institution and source of joy for Chapel Hill residents.
“I feel like they inspire students," said Timothy Wyatt, a UNC student. "Whether they are battling classes, personal issues, social injustice or whatever, these brighten the town and make being it enjoyable to be a UNC student.”
