THE NEWS DESK
The News Desk is a collection of news, notes and breaking items affecting the Fredericksburg community.
Large mural will provide welcome
BY ROBYN SIDERSKY
A new mural has been commissioned and will be designed on a wall along William Street at the corner of Sophia. / Photo by Reza Marvashti
Mirinda Reynolds, a well-known artist in the area and an art teacher at Fredericksburg Academy, will lead a project to paint a large design on the wall of BikeWorks that faces Sophia Street.
The mural will look like a vintage postcard. The picture will be of a woman on a bike looking toward the city from Chatham Manor.
Reynolds said she was inspired by a California artist who paints in the Art Nouveau style, and by murals of the 1930s that were commissioned by the Works Progress Administration as inspiration during the Depression.
She said she felt a connection with the concept of murals as inspiration.
She said it’s her responsibility as an artist not only to welcome people into the city with the mural, but to celebrate the history of the city with it.
The mural will take about a month to complete, but Reynolds will have the help of Carol Coffman, also an artist, who is an art teacher at Shirley C. Heim Middle School in Stafford.
She’ll also have the help of five high school art students who will work on the project for a week each. The students are from Fredericksburg and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties.
She asked for recommendations from area art teachers for serious art students who are considering art as a career.
On Tuesday, she met with the students and their parents to explain the project and to get them on board.
The mural will be about 26 feet high and 16 feet wide, and will begin about 7 feet off the ground.
The mural is expected to last at least 10 years. Reynolds will use high-quality exterior acrylic paint and at least three coats of sealer, she said.
Reynolds said creating the large image in just three weeks is a “phenomenal task,” but “I know I can do it.”
Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413
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