“The lines that connect us”

Downtown Raleigh topography mural

The purpose of this street mural is to draw attention to the bicycle parking spaces on the busy S Wilmington St in the Go Raleigh bus station block. Road safety is very important in the crowded downtown and street murals have proven to be effective in slowing down traffic. The brief for the project specified that no shapes should be used that resemble existing road markings, but otherwise carte blanche.

This project was a rendezvous with a familiar city block. The design is based on the topographic lines of the downtown Raleigh area. Downtown is a very diverse place where so many people from such vastly different backgrounds come together, walk the same streets, eat at the same cafes, and share experiences. “The lines that connect us” depicts contours that are different, yet are influenced by each other. I hope the mural will inspire the viewers to ponder the subtle connections we all share.

The first part of the mural on the West side of the street took 6.5 hours from start to finish. I used customized rollers to cut the lines and fill in the color. Since this mural is expected to last for about 2 years, the city of Raleigh provided me with acrylic porch and floor enamel from Sherwin-Williams.