Mural restorations are underway in downtown Chapel Hill to repair two well-known pieces.
As part of the Chapel Hill Downtown Plan, local muralist Michael Brown has updated his “Hands” mural, located on the side of Chapel Hill Dry Cleaners on West Franklin Street and is about to start work on the “Paint by Number” mural, located at Pantana Bob’s on West Rosemary Street.
Jeffrey York, the public and cultural arts administrator with the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department said the current project was prompted by the reconstruction of Rosemary and Franklin streets.
“The murals have been there for a very long time and they have not had work done on them in many many years,” York said. “Now is a good time to do that while we’re making the streetscape look nice and adding new sidewalks and repaving the road.”
Brown said the two main problems that the murals face are fading over time and graffiti. While fading poses the challenge of matching paints with pigments that have changed over time, graffiti comes in many forms, he said.
“There are so many types of paint and so many tools to do graffiti and so many types of varnishes, so each project is different,” Brown said. “You approach it with a couple of things: what’s the problem with this one and what materials will work. It takes experience and you gradually learn what works.”
Due to the prevalence of graffiti, Brown said that he repairs many of his murals on a regular basis.
“A lot of times if it’s a small thing and I’m not working on anything at the time then I’ll just run over and deal with it and nobody is any the wiser,” Brown said. “It’s been happening for years. Once one person does it, it’s a real inducement for others to do it too.”
York said the murals pose a tricky situation for the town, as they were originally on private property and privately funded. However, as the murals became a part of the town of Chapel Hill, he said the town feels obligated to help with upkeep.
