Perhaps it was preordained that Lidia would inherit a passion for combining thinking and creating, which she sees as the essence of design. “Thinking things through, dealing with constraints and finding a creative solution; that’s design,” says Lidia.  For her, it’s the constraints that make things fascinating.  So after reading about BEST’s Dillon mural in a News and Observer article, Lidia said to herself, “Heck YES.  I’m doing this!”  The constraints of working within a collaborative design spark her inspiration.  But, she says, those constraints multiply even more when considering the process of painting in public.  “There’s no room for self doubt.  You learn to embrace your painting at every stage with people seeing it while you’re painting.”  She appreciates how this BEST collaboration creates a ready made community of like minds where she feels at home.

For Lidia, design is about providing a service that will make others’ lives easier, better, prettier…  And she finds that murals are a perfect outlet.  Compared to painting on a conventional scale, Lidia says she loves the outlandish size of the wall, the quickness of applying the paint and the way murals offer a “large scale altering of the world.”   

There’s an anime quote that captures Lidia’s sensing of life.  When a young girl visiting her grandparents is given the assignment to create a painting to summarize her experience, she tearfully responds, “How am I supposed to fit all my dreams onto a little piece of paper?”

Indeed, how is this artist ignited by design and educated by living around the world to find a form that can contain her imagination?  BEST is delighted to present as large a canvas as Lidia can fill!

Joe’s passion is for art messaging.  In creating art his questions are always, “How will others respond?”  “How will they take this in?”  The Dillon mural allows him to explore this relationship with viewers on a grand scale.  Along with BEST artist Lidia Churakova, a graduate from the NCSU School of Design, Joe sees BEST as offering a platform for the school’s presence in the heart of downtown.  “BEST is a great place for artists getting started in public art, allowing them to introduce themselves to the aesthetic of the city,” says Joe.  “It beats knocking on doors as an individual artist trying to develop a project on their own.”

Reflecting on his creative path, Joe cites the influence of a high school teacher who helped to desensitize him to the critiquing that is part of growth as an artist.  “Nothing was good enough for him!” That was great preparation for the rigorous demands of the School of Design where a steady stream of critiques from guest artists, peers, designers and professors constantly offers students the next steps for gaining excellence.  It is this heartbeat of give and take that Joe describes as “creating an underpainting of collaboration.”

Joe will be designing and heading a massive mosaic Post It Note installation on Fayetteville Street in the fall at SPARKcon.  With the help of volunteers fanning out to Raleigh’s schools, retirement homes, businesses, soup kitchens and city sidewalks to gather participants’ hand written Post It Note statements about what they love about life in Raleigh, this art will be a collaboration that literally touch thousands of residents, workers and visitors to Raleigh.

Carolyn Williams posing for her portrait

With BEST Dillon’s theme of Moving Forward Together, who could be better to fill in the mural’s train driver seat than Triangle Transit bus driver Carolyn Williams?  From the beginning, BEST’s vision was to express community through a wide range of artists and volunteers, as well as the subjects pictured in the design, culminating in portraits of local residents and businesses whose contributions have made the mural a reality.

At the top of that donor list is Triangle Transit, who provided the enormous stretch of vacant warehouse space as a canvas for the 200 foot mural on the facade of the Dillon Supply Company building at 216 S. West Street.  Asked who should represent them on the mural, the board quickly reached consensus.  It was the bus drivers who were the real face of Triangle Transit.  When supervisor Tammy Romain put the names of bus drivers into a hat, Carolyn Williams was the name she pulled.

After serving as a bus driver and dispatcher for nearly a decade, Carolyn serves as a perfect model for the dedication and experience it takes to provide safe and dependable transportation for the hundreds who ride her bus each day.

Angela Zappala paints Carolyn Williams’ portrait, joined by Nola Johnson, Donna Belt and Patrick Shanahan

Carolyn’s portrait in the driver’s seat of the BEST train will soon be finished.  She looks forward to bringing her twelve year old son, Kamozie and her mother down to the Warehouse District to view herself as BEST artist Angela Zappala has captured her.  Asked what she sees for her future, Carolyn doesn’t have to think twice.  She’d like to be a train driver.   We picture that for her too.

For Angela, painting murals is part of a legacy from her mother, who supported the family as a mural painter.  As a teenager, Angela would spend many hours on weekends helping her mother paint the interior walls of medical and professional offices.  Since her mother treated her as an equal in this setting, she was free to develop her own style of painting.  Angela soon branched out from her roots as a 12 year old, who had thoroughly enjoyed closeting herself away to pour over the work of masters like Michelangelo as inspiration for her art journal.

Angela’s art today is a reflection of many influences ranging from a favorite professor of Abstract Art who stretched students’ inventiveness by forbidding the use of paint brushes, to classic art training in Florence.  It’s not unusual for other BEST artists to gather as Angela paints, amazed at her subtle tones that capture the light that shines from within her subjects.  Pictured here with her latest subject, Triangle Transit bus driver Carolyn Williams, one can see an aliveness even in the initial stages of her portrait.

Asked what she would want people to know about her, Angela smiles and responds, “When I started having a family, I thought that the time for my own interests was over.  But now I’m starting all over again!”  Painting the Dillon mural has been a path to re-engaging with other artists and again joining a community of like minded people.

Angela points out that BEST’s mission of building community through creativity is two fold.  It begins with mentorship and connection between artists, but spills over into people who park their cars and bikes to talk about what the mural has meant to their neighborhood or drive to and from work.  For Angela, all these contacts have made Raleigh feel like a true home.

You can see Angela’s art in the Art of Auction at North Carolina Museum of Art (http://ncartmuseum.org/auction_2013/) during May and June, or by checking out her website at www.angelazappalart.com

Since its beginning in October 2011, this all volunteer group of downtown residents has installed four art installations in the downtown Raleigh area, the largest being a 200 foot long community mural on the facade of the former Dillon Supply building at 216 S. West Street in the Warehouse District. The Dillon Supply mural, currently in phase II of its progress is on track for completion in May of this year.

“The response to our organization has been overwhelming,” remarked founder Donna Belt. “The community has come together to support the arts downtown, so obtaining our 501(c)(3) status will help us to continue our mission.”

Focused on overlooked, vacant storefronts and spaces set in the heart of Raleigh, BEST spotlights these underutilized buildings, repurposing them into canvases for artistic expression and community interaction. Individual BEST installations strive to depict the core of what defines Raleigh as a community: a modern, southern city inspired by diversity, motivated by creativity, and driven by its achievements of the past and the endless possibilities for its future.

Contributions donated to BEST since its inception are fully tax-deductible, retroactive to the founding of the organization. BEST is also now eligible to apply for government and foundation grants, which will further broaden its access to resources and strengthen its ability to fulfill its mission of creating art in neglected or vacant storefronts.

The BEST Tax Identification Number (EID) is 27-2360828. Donations can be made at the website: RaleighEmergingSpaces.com.

Manjri Lall also learned of the Dillon mural through Donna Belt after a visit to Donna’s studio on First Friday in September. With a daughter now in kindergarten in Downtown Raleigh, Majjri had time on her hands and was a bit lost as to what to do. A textile designer from India, ten years ago she was painting scarves and shawls, but somewhere between marriage, a new country and kids, she was confused as to what came next.

A week after that visit with Donna, she was at the Dillon mural completely immersed in the local art community. “I felt I belonged with these wonderful people I met for the first time, Emily, Patrick, Ben , Bill…& of course Donna!! The language of art has no accent, no culture, no traditions. We all paint the same way, hold the brush the same way. The colors are the same. The passion to create is the same. I feel this is my community beyond nationality, this is my truth. I was accepted for what I was – an artist. Nothing else mattered.”

After painting at the background for some time, she volunteered for the SPARKcon event at the Dillon wall. “That was my most exciting part of the mural as I got to get my kids handprints & body tracings on the wall. In fact my older daughter had her own exciting time painting the background while Emily held her up high!”

In October, very soon after SPARKcon, Manjri got a studio in The Carter Building. “The Dillon mural gave me the opportunity to be called an artist again. It has worked as my good luck charm before I ventured into painting my own dreams on fabric. My scarves are my canvas. When I paint a scarf, it is not just a piece of fabric anymore, it is a piece of art. That’s why I say… Let Art Drape Your Soul.”

“My ode to this country and the city of Raleigh is my series of scarves featuring Raleigh’s downtown. I love painting skylines and I intend to paint the Raleigh skyline in every hue, color, season, and I can’t wait for my first “Raleigh’s first night skyline” scarf.

Manjri Lall be found at The Carter Building, studio 4.

Art is a very personal thing.  Generally, we think of art as something separate from us, framed and hung on a wall. We think of landscapes or portraits, or are perhaps drawn into the nuance of abstracts. Some assume that they need a background in art history to grasp what the artist is conveying.  But one thing that art has in common with just about any other subject out there, from technology to cooking to motorcycles, is the community generated by those that have something in common, whether seeing themselves mirrored in the colors of the same piece of art, or actually applying paint together to a common canvas.  BEST celebrates public art as a community activity that is approachable and interactive. Not all art, you see, is protected by stanchion ropes, hanging on a white wall.

This brings us to the core of what the Dillon Supply mural is all about – community.  Hanging out on West Street, talking to the artists, you might be surprised at the diversity of ages, styles of art and even cultural backgrounds that are represented.  Some are foreign students here to study at the NC State School of Design; some are transitioning from long and successful careers in architectural design; others find time to return to their art career, with kids leaving the nest or having just started school. Through this mural, local artists, many new to the area have discovered a welcoming community where each is able to share their talents and learn from others to refine their creative expression.  This is the first post in a series that highlights the participants.

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Julie MacDonald relocated to Raleigh from Toronto in June 2011 with her husband, Steve. Through Donna Belt, they discovered the opportunity to work on the Dillon project, which gave them a perfect opportunity to get involved in the city and do something fun. Her husband worked a number Saturdays at the construction stage throughout September and October, while Julie painted many sections of the background art, including trees.

“At the artists meetings, I was surprised by the diverse talents and the passion coming forward; there were graffiti artists, illustrators, portrait artists and spray painters there. It would seem that artists will seize any opportunity to make art,” commented Julie.

Julie enjoys working with other artists because of the shared sense of purpose and a common understanding she finds to be unique. “Working on a project of this size requires a collaborative effort – where one person puts down their brush to work on some other part of the mural, someone else picks the brush up and carries on,” she said. “Some days are quite seamless. There are moments working on something like this when you can’t believe they’ll let you do something that’s this much fun!”

Julie has a studio in the Carter Building in Glenwood South, plus some of her paintings are currently in the office of HUB Raleigh on Hillsborough Street.

More than 30 volunteers show up to help with constructing the wall between August 22 and 26th. Old friends meet on the site, not realizing that they have both been drawn by the same opportunity to lend their creativity to the community.

Artists meet with Patrick Shanahan and Jason Craighead to map out the stages of creating this nearly block-long mural.   Primed panels are placed into the windows, while brick is treated with filler to smooth the painting surface.

By Sunday evening, August 26, progress is definitely being seen.  People passing by join the artists and volunteers in imagining how this mural will transform this block on South West Street.

I was like magic this week to see  the vast stretch of blue paneling take on dimension and color!  With Patrick Shanahan’s vision and the practical experience of mural painter, Lisa Gaither and stage set designer Emily Breyer, the background came together quickly.  Artists on site learned lots of new tricks to take home to their studios to add to their own repertoire of creative techniques.

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The crowd continues to collect on the train platform of the BEST Dillon mural.  What fun seeing each week’s progress!

The first phase of this project is almost complete , so we thought it would be a nice time to take a step back and summarize what it took to make this project possible.

BEST was founded in October, 2011 and quickly completed three storefronts. Success came so fast, that we soon set our hearts on the Dillon building as a larger scale blank canvas for the group.  Little did we know what we were getting into!  Our goal was to create a project that would reflect our downtown community, and from the very beginning, we were astounded by the level of community participation and support that allowed us to create this unique piece of art. Each step in the process led us to a growing appreciation of the TOGETHER aspect of Beautifying Emerging Spaces TOGETHER.

To get started, we needed a concept. With such a huge canvas, the possibilities were endless, so the pressure was on.  Patrick Shanahan and Jason Craighead (of the Raleigh Arts Commission) got together and created a design that reflected the idea of forward movement. They wanted to tie in the goals of Triangle Transit, who owned the property, as well as their understanding of creative expression as a means to human and cultural development. We loved what we saw.

Digital rendering of Dillon concept by Beth Nooe.

The next step was meeting with the Board of Triangle Transit to present the concept and establish the plan. Patrick Shanahan got busy and painted his view of the mural concept. Beth Nooe, a recent graduate in architectural design from NC State, created a computerized version of what the mural would look like on the actual building. Bill Beatty put together a construction design that would smooth the windows and doorways into a canvas that blended into the brick surfaces of the building facade. It was critical to cover all the design aspects so both Triangle Transit and our BEST team could consider all the steps necessary for creating this mural that would likely be in place for several years.

Once approved, we needed money!  And this is really where community effort kicked in. Even the plywood to cover windows and doorways of the building would cost thousands of dollars.  So with Triangle Transit giving us the go in June, in July we held a fundraiser at SPY Raleigh. Artists donated art for a silent auction. Local businesses donated goods and services for a raffle. Rich Sigfrit volunteered to host a live auction of art by Jason Craighead, Will Goodyear, and Sean Kernick, as well as a free Trolley Pub tour and a free three month membership to City Clubs of Raleigh. We raised enough money to help fund the project!

Fundraiser at Spy Raleigh

Special thanks to Ira Goldstein of Jerry’s Artarama, who donated $5,000 worth of paint and brushes, and Rick Richardson who helped reach out to his sphere of friends in local law firms who were generous in their support of this community expression.

So that’s the foundation of how the Dillon project came to be. It was overwhelming, ambitious, and beyond those things, extremely rewarding!  We were launched, all right, but then came the next hurdle. Who would come to do all the construction and painting to anchor this 200 foot mural?

In our next post, we’ll share how volunteers came together to lend their hands in this mammoth undertaking to help shape the creative vision and bring it to life.