Mural showcases elementary school art; revealed in dedication ceremony Saturday

A dedication ceremony for a new mural showcasing the art of Carrboro elementary school students was held Saturday at the Carrboro Town Commons.

The mural is located at the intersection of Jones Ferry Road and N.C. Highway 54.

Michael Adamson, mural project manager of Carrboro, said he thought of the idea for a mural at this location about two years ago when his daughter said she passed the blank wall on her daily commute to work and thought it would be a perfect spot for a mural.

“It was a good idea and I was looking for something to contribute to Carrboro,” Adamson said. “It kind of fit together, so all of the Aldermen board were very supportive from the beginning.”

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen saw this new mural as an opportunity to display Carrboro’s new logo while also showcasing Carrboro’s support for diversity, he said.

The muralist, UNC graduate Michael Brown, was approached by the board and came up with the design for the project. Brown said he tapped into his previous experience of being an elementary school art teacher for 10 years.

He said he used the third grade self-portrait project from local elementary schools, Carrboro Elementary and Mary Scroggs Elementary, for the art for the mural.

“I knew how cool (the self-portraits) look — they do look cool. I mean crazy, quirky, human, real, spontaneous — there’s all kinds of good things about it,” Brown said.

Together, Adamson and Brown collaborated with art teachers to collect about 160 third grade self-portraits from the elementary schools. Brown scanned the portraits into a computer and selected separate elements of each piece to be combined into the seven large portraits in the mural.

“We didn’t want any particular child to say ‘Hey, that’s me on the wall’ — you know that would be obnoxious — so instead it’s a mixture of what the kids contributed,” Adamson said.

Carina Caraher, mother of Mary Scroggs fifth-grader Kelly Caraher, said the mural is beautiful.

“The first time we saw it we just came from the beach with our family from New York and we were going out for pizza at Anna Maria’s pizzeria and (Kelly) noticed it and said ‘That looks like my art over there!’” she said.

Kelly Caraher said she recognized her nose in one of the faces.

For about two years, the mural project went through a process of approval from the Board of Aldermen and the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The department has the final say on what is displayed around the roads and selects pieces that don’t hold too much controversy, Adamson said.

He said he is hoping the second phase of the mural will be painted by middle and high school students and the third phase will be painted by local community organizations.

Carrboro Elementary art teacher Deb Cox said the mural demonstrates the importance of the arts and shows a colorful, diverse group of students.

“It was made by an adult artist, but with collaboration to show how important kids are, and it’s kind of built from the ground up,” she said.

Cox said the board approached her two years ago and she was immediately supportive.

“It’s bright, it’s colorful, it’s very welcoming on a very blank wall,” Cox said.

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