SUFFOLK, Va. — More murals are popping up around Suffolk's arts and cultural district as W.A.T.C.H. continues to bring splashes of color to downtown.
WATCH stands for Welcoming, Arts, Talent, Culture and History.
Telesa "Lisa" Bleakley, Suffolk's Downtown Development Manager, said the effort is about more than aesthetics.
"We are looking to make a connection, right? And art can be used for that quite handily actually. So, this was the first art installation between these two anchors in downtown Suffolk."
One mural, created by the Suffolk Art League in partnership with WATCH Downtown Suffolk, sits between the soon-to-be new Suffolk Library and Festival Park.
More murals will come to life this Friday as part of WATCH's "Faces of Suffolk" rotating mural series, in partnership with the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts.
Tom Yannuzzi, Executive Director and CEO of the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, said the series is designed to grow alongside the center's programming.
"We have four spots here along this side of the building, every spring and fall we have an outdoor music series. So, we are going to coordinate a mural with each music series. The first one here is with our spring music series and the next one will be in the fall, then next spring then in the fall."
Yannuzzi said it's all about bringing people together.
"The artist is connecting with our community members we're bringing in a community member who has lived here all his life and then we want to bring in our community to actually watch the art getting created and interpretation and all that."
Artist Brian Sharp is the first to kick off the series. He will begin painting Friday at 6 p.m. during the center's Karaoke Night.
More community art projects are also on the horizon. A paint-by-number interactive mural is planned for the Juneteenth celebration, and a community mosaic piece is expected at the new Suffolk Library once it opens.
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