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Natural History of the Hawksbill Greenway by Mural Art

     Public mural art is magical, it can change an entire community in a positive way. Especially community murals that tell a story of the town. Even more, when murals are placed together on a mural trail the magic become magnified. Take Luray Virginia, their Greenway mural trail is a source of pride for everyone!... Weldon Bagwell, Mural Artist, says, "While working for the town of Luray in the Parks and Recreation Dept., I was given the opportunity to paint a mural on the abutment under the bridge over Highway 340. Sand bags placed in the creek supported me on three level of scaffolding as i climbed up to paint much of the mural. I decided to call it 'A Natural History of the Hawksbill Creek' and in it depict some of the birds, fish, and butterflies that I had observed while working along the Luray Hawksbill Greenway. A Black-crowned Night Heron watched me as I painted a portrait of him as he sat high up in a tree and most of the butterflies were painted from life. I lived for many years just off Tanners Ridge Road in the woods going up into the Park. I've spent many hours hiking all around this area and from pictures that I have taken and from life have painted many landscapes through the seasons of nature, the sky and animals that I have observed."

     Then add to that a regional Appalachian Mural Trail and the magic spreads. Stretching from the Great Smoky Mountains up into the Shenandoah Valley National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway offers grand vistas. Spilling over onto Skyline Drive in theShenandoah Valley the views continue as the Appalachian Mural Trail adds to its expanding exhibit of cultural public art: a new Shenandoah Valley showcase of outstanding mural art.

Doreyl Ammons Cain
Artist
Mural Art Blogger