Stone Mural Project

Ribbon cutting of the 4th mural in the Stone Mural Project series

In 2014, the first mural appeared - this one on the Rite Aid building at 1 East Stone Avenue, at the intersection of North Main and Stone. “Sunday in the Park a la Reedy River” was directed by Stone art teacher Eric Benjamin, and was modeled after Georges Seurat’s 19^th century "Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande-Jatte" but with the inclusion of several well-known Greenville figures such as Shoeless Joe Jackson. The unveiling of the mural included the Stone Academy fifth-graders who helped paint the mural, as well as Mayor Knox White.

The following year a mural was installed on The Scout Hut, a West Earle building owned by the Earle Street Baptist Church. “Be the change you want to see in the neighborhood,” urges a boy scout looking through the aquarium. The artist, Calista Bockenstette, used interferon paint that changes color depending on the viewer’s perspective, bringing the aquatic seascape to life.

Then last year, the Stone Mural Project gained its third member, flower and plant-themed mural “Whatever you are, be a good one.” A group of North Main area artists, college students and fifth-graders painted the vibrant floral tableau on the blue-gray background of 217 E. Stone Ave. The mural was based on Stone Academy’s theme “Live Big,” and was directed by guest artist Jean Wilson Freeman.

This year’s theme is “New Beginnings,” and what more appropriate subject than the life cycle of the butterfly? Local artist Sunny Mullarkey Studio designed the mural depicting the life cycle of the SC state butterfly (the eastern tiger swallowtail), which has also been painted by the 5^th graders and Furman University art students. 233 Stone Ave, what used to be WESC-FM Greenville’s country radio station, today houses Hammack Law Firm.

“Every day is a new beginning” marks the 4^th in the series of 12 murals that is the brainchild of Stone Academy parent and North Main resident Stephanie Burnette. Speaking of new beginnings, the first group of 5^th graders that participated in the Stone Mural Project will be graduating college when the 12^th mural is being painted, resulting in a dozen Stone graduating classes that will have left their mark on Greenville.

The artist with the mural she designed at the unveiling

The ribbon cutting of this year's mural was today, Wednesday, May 31^st at 11am.