Painting the Town

Summer has kicked off with a bang! Ten days after the first day of summer and I had already completed two of my biggest mural projects to date. June 30th marked the completion date for the Durham Parking Garage murals and the Keep Bull City Litter Free Campaign (I will be writing a new blog about this project). I was hired to paint two sections of the new parking garage in downtown Durham by Durham County. The two sections that I was asked to paint were the two bike storage sections (long term and short term). Apparently the owners loved my previous bike murals and wanted me to create some new bike-oriented artwork in these spaces. I was thrilled to create more artwork celebrating movement, health, and wellness!

I painted the first section of this mural in the Spring. It was a great experience AND it was filled with new adventures. Since this was a new build and was still being worked on, I had to coordinate all of my painting sessions with the construction team. I had to wear a hard hat, protective eyewear, gloves, and construction shoes every day that I painted.

While there was a lot of back and forth with coordination, I ended up painting that section in about seven days despite the cold and the extra challenges that came with coordination through multiple teams. The vibrance of the mural made everything completely worth it as it is immediately noticeable when you enter the garage.

I painted the second section in June over the course of four days. I painted it efficiently to meet the project deadline despite the flooding that ended up occurring in the garage. I had not navigated conditions like that before so it was new and it was frustrating but I persevered! Normally, I would have waited to paint until the flooding went away but because we had a strict deadline, I had to accommodate the pooling water.

I didn’t start the mural until so late because May-June was filled with four other mural projects so I had to coordinate them around this mural and vice versa. I never expected the flooding but we got it done and that is what matters!

As my schedule gets busier, I am definitely learning how to work smarter around multiple projects. Deadlines are so critical, but so are safe working conditions so learning when to shift and pivot has become very important. I am very grateful for clients who are flexible and trust my ability to navigate multiple projects and still get their’s done on time, if not early.

Looking Ahead

I have a few projects that are in development or are about to be completed that I can’t wait to share with you. One of them is Urban Community AgriNomics (UCAN) which is an incredible farm in North Durham that I have been painting a mural at for the last four months to depict the past, present, and future of the farm. This experience has been incredible as it is the first mural that I have really focused on painting actual people. Furthermore, I am painting people on a CORRUGATED SURFACE!!! If you are a muralist, your hand probably went to your chest. For those of you who don’t know, it is an extreme challenge to paint people on a surface with many curves and ridges on it. The challenge was much appreciated as I learned so much and I am so excited to share the big reveal in the next newsletter!

I also recently completed TWO murals at a new cycling studio in downtown Durham called Revel Durham. Their team is phenomenal and I was so honored to add some new energy to their first brick and mortar location! Projects surrounding health and wellness always mean so much to me, not just because of my background in public health and health fitness, but also because movement and community are such important parts of healing and anything that celebrates that is something that I want to be part of. If you happen to know any fitness studios (yoga, cycling, gyms, etc.) that might need some new energy via murals, no matter where you live, please let me know! I will travel anywhere to do what I love!

In addition to that mural, I am working on a dog park mural with a former client and a crosswalk mural in the town of Apex, NC celebrating the arts. I might also be starting a new children’s book which is one of my favorite things to do! I will keep you posted and promise to be more intentional with updating my blog! I have so much that I want to say about the amazing projects that I have been working on. Let me know what you think by commenting below :)

Happy Summer!

Sincerely,

Mayanthi