Hendersonville, NC (Hendo) Audio Public Art Tour

The "City of Four Seasons Mural" by Diamond Cash (101 E. Allen St.)

This episode features the “City of Four Seasons” mural painted by Diamond Cash. Hendersonville is known as the city of four seasons because of its consistent temperate weather. Residents here enjoy the pleasures of each season without having to experience the extremes that can come with each of them in other parts of the world. Artist and photographer Diamond Cash created the City of Four Seasons mural for her hometown of Hendersonville, NC. From an early age, Diamond has always had a talent for photography, painting, and drawing. She has a B.A. in Studio Arts from UNC Greensboro. She is passionate about teaching art and believes she can teach anyone who is willing to learn. Diamond’s work has been featured in several magazines, and she has been commissioned by Hendersonville to create several significant public art projects. It includes two hands clasping in front of the Rainbow flag signifying diversity and inclusion. The name of the town hovers over well-known symbols of the city. As a “Bee and Tree” city, images of both feature prominently. Since bears are a symbol of Hendersonville, two of them lounge at either edge of the scene. The town is very famous for its apples and other delicious veggies. And last but not least, an acoustic guitar highlights the rich musical heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Diamond tells how she conceived the design for the mural and how she made it come to life.

The Jump Off Rock Mural Restored by Knox Crowell (142 3rd Ave West)

This episode features the Jump Off Rock mural on the side of the Brooks Tavern building at 142 3rd Ave. West. The date of the original mural is unknown but is estimated to have been painted sometime in the 1920’s. In 2014, the mural was restored by local artist Knox Crowell. Knox is a trained graphic artist and illustrator with an interest in local history. He is a former director of Henderson County Heritage Museum. In addition to restoring this mural, Knox has painted nearly half a dozen murals over the years in the area. The main subject of the mural is Jump Off Rock, a large stone outcropping on top of Davis Mountain which rises above Hendersonville just a few miles to the west of downtown. It has long been a tourist destination because of its beautiful views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. The mural advertised the site and encouraged visitors to make the short drive to enjoy the vistas. Knox said it was a challenge to bring the iconic wall art back to its former glory and he will tell us about how he did it and the challenges he faced. Knox will also give us some of the history of Jump Off Rock and Laurel Park, the community where Jump Off Rock is located and where he grew up.

The Coca-Cola "Ghost" Murals Featuring Muralist Amber Thompson (303 N. Main St.)

This episode features the Coca-Cola mural at 303 N. Main St. which faces south overlooking 3rd Ave. West. One might think that a mural advertising America’s favorite soft drink is out of place in the Hendo Art Tour. But there is an interesting history behind these murals that the Coca-Cola company commissioned at the turn of the 20th Century. It is estimated that they installed over 16,000 of these murals all over the United States and especially in the South beginning in the 1890’s. Over time, many of these vibrant artworks, became weathered and faded. Because of that they became known as “ghost murals.” The term “ghost” refers to their aged appearance, which adds to their nostalgic charm. Hendersonville has three Coca-Cola murals. The oldest one was painted on the side of the former Justus Pharmacy building in 1907 to advertise the soda fountain inside, which of course served Coca-Cola. The mural was refurbished by sign painter/artist Andy Thompson, who painted his first sign for Coca-Cola in 1958. Andy Thompson left an indelible mark on the world of Coca-Cola advertising, working with the iconic brand for well over 50 years before his death in 2017. He worked on so many of the company’s murals, that toward the end of his career he could not say exactly how many he had worked on. Since Andy Thompson is no longer here to talk about his work on the murals, his granddaughter, Amber Thompson, joins us to tell us about her grandfather’s work. Amber is following in Andy’s footsteps with her own sign and mural painting business. Andy began to train her to restore these murals just a year before he died, but she learned enough from him that Coca-Cola is commissioning her to do the restoration work. Amber will tell us about the history of the Coca-Cola murals, her grandfather’s work on them, and why they are so greatly valued in the communities where they were painted.

The Nature in North Carolina Mural by Vasily Polevoy (318 N. Main St.) Black Bear Coffee

This episode features the Nature in NC mural at 318 N. Main St. on the façade of the “Hands On Children’s “ just above the Black Bear Coffee shop. Nature in North Carolina is an 18x18 mosaic created in 1993 by Ukrainian artist Vasily Polevoy. Vasily Polevoy was a well-known painter, muralist, and mosaic artist from the Soviet Union who suffered persecution for his religious faith and for artwork that did not fit within the Communist Party’s ideology. As a result, he was forced to work in a factory and was barred from the USSR Artist’s Union. But he continued to practice his art underground. Eventually, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Hendersonville. Moved by Polevoy’s story, a local businessman commissioned him to do this mosaic mural. Unfortunately, Vasily passed away some years ago, so we cannot hear directly from him about the mural. But it is a marvelous piece of intricate art. So, listen as we do our best to describe it.

The Hendo Bee Line & Life Line Sidewalk Murals by Elizabeth Queen (Corner of 3rd Ave E & Main St to Corner of 7th Ave E & Maple St)

This episode features two sidewalk murals, The Hendo Bee Line and the Hendo Life Line. The Life Line mural begins at the corner of 3rd Ave East and Main Street. It follows the sidewalk east to King Street, then turns north running on the west side of King until it reaches 4th Ave. East. At that corner, it crosses over to the east side of King and continues to proceed north to 5th Ave East. Crossing to the north side of 5th Ave., it turns east again and continues one block to Grove Street. Across Grove, another sidewalk mural begins called the Bear or Mountain Crossing mural. That mural extends along 5th Ave East from Grove to N. Pine St. where another sidewalk mural is located. The HENDO sign language mural spans the sidewalk from N. Pine to Maple St. This mural spells out the nickname of Hendersonville, “Hendo” in both letters and American Sign Language. Both the Bear Crossing mural and the Hendo mural were created and painted by Diamond Cash and will be featured in another episode. Just past the Hendo mural, at the northeast corner of 5th Ave East and Maple Street, the Hendo Bee Line mural begins. It runs north between Maple Street and the old Southern Railway tracks until it reaches the historic Hendersonville train depot in the heart of the revitalized 7th Avenue District Elizabeth Queen, the creator of both the Bee Line and the Life Line murals, will tell us about them and guide us on the tour of them. She is an artist who is passionate about using art as a communal activity with the goal of bringing people from all walks of life to collaborate on public art projects not only to beautify the local community but to inspire community service. The Bee Line mural was commissioned first by the city of Hendersonville to fulfill a grant they received from the AARP for just such communal art projects. Hundreds of people came out to help Elizabeth paint the mural. The project was such a success that those citizens that worked on it asked when they could do another one. Because of that Elizabeth got the idea to create another mural connecting the main downtown area to the Bee Line mural and the 7th Avenue Historic District. Elizabeth resides in Hendersonville, NC and has led several art projects in various media that accomplished this community goal. She compares her directing of those projects to “choreography” which is a lovely way to think of getting people to work together to create something beautiful. Listen now as she tells us how the projects got started and the communal spirit that was built as they were created and completed.