InstaGraham
Art Walk
Tag your pictures with #Instagraham to be featured!
The InstaGraham Art Walk is a self-guided tour to all the public art in historic downtown Graham. Click on each of the links to learn about each art piece and find where it's located!
Love, Graham Mural
World Wide Wings Mural
Love Always Wins Mural
Greetings From Graham Mural
Pepsi Mural
Wildflower Lenticular Mural
Pre-WWI Coca-Cola Mural
O.V. Yonder Mural Collection
My Happy Place Mural
Butterfly Praise Mural
You Belong Here Mural
9/11 Together We Rise Monument
Love Graham Sculpture
Bee Cool Mural
World Wide Wings Mural
Location: 104 E Elm St, Graham, NC 27253 (wall facing the adjoining parking lot and Graham Amphitheater)
World-renowned mural artist Andrea Ehrhardt (Art by Andrea) painted this Monarch Butterfly at Colonial Hardware on May 15, 2021. Andrea created this mural as part of her #WorldwideWings project, as seen in locations as far as New Zealand, Thailand and South Africa. Her large-scale murals are recognized all over the world and we are excited for her to bring her amazing work to downtown Graham. You can also view more of Andrea's work at www.ArtbyAndreaE.com or @artbyandreaehrhardt on Instagram. Her podcast is The Artist Academy Podcast
Love, Graham Mural
Location: 103 N Main St, Graham, NC 27253 (located on the N side alley of HiFi Records)
This is a community mural that was created at the Love Graham Festival held in May 2018. It features drawings of hearts, initials, and symbols all painted by the community and is to represent the giving of their hearts to the community of Graham. Molly Feudale and Audrey Garton of The Independent Artist Movement were artists that organized and designed this community mural event.
Love Always Wins Mural
Location: 101 N Main St, Graham, NC 27253
This mural was painted by Brian Collins, a local artist who specializes in pop art paintings but creates in various mediums. This mural depicts a small girl “street painting”. This mural was painted in September 2019. This mural was painted in the same theme of many of the Love Graham murals and promotes community and a coming together message.
@_briancollins_
Pepsi Mural
Location: 105 E Harden St, Graham, NC 27253 (located on the E side of building)
This mural was created early 1900s by Talmadge Paris Nelson (1906-2011) and was restored by Chuck Talley and his son Carson Talley in April 2018. Mr. Nelson was a retired commercial artist for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Burlington, and he painted Coke signs on buildings in Alamance and Caswell counties. He was 105 years old - the oldest World War II veteran in Alamance County, and believed to be the oldest WWII veteran in the state. In 1929 he painted "Graham, N.C." in giant letters on the roof of Travora Mills in Graham.
Wildflower Lenticular Mural
Location: 200 North Main Street, Graham, NC 27253 (the alley between the CoOperative & Frank's Jewelry)
Mural by David Nance & Beth O’Bryant
This mural was installed September 2022. A lenticular wall display is a custom fabrication utilizing a concept that originated in the 16th century when they were referred to as “tabula scalata” or “turning pictures.” Now in the 21st century, the basic principle of lenticular displays remains the same. It is comprised of two images that are separated into vertical strips and applied to a corrugated substrate. This allows for the wall display to show two entirely different images from different viewing angles.
This lenticular mural features a meadow of wildflowers in Spring and was sponsored by the Cooperative and the City of Graham.
"The fact that I can be moved by art has always fascinated me, the way I can be drawn into more than what I am seeing. It is like when a piece of music takes me to a time or place.”
Greetings from Graham Mural
Location: 114 W Elm St, Graham, NC 27253 (wall between entrance to Alamance News and Alamance County annex building)
Mural by Courtney Talley. She is a recent graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts
#the_talley_mark
This mural was installed June, 2023.
The Greetings From [city] murals is a nationwide mural project which creates or re-creates postcard-inspired murals as destination landmarks. These murals are inspired by local vintage postcards from the 1930s to 1950s. These murals typically use classic large letter postcard style fonts and incorporate colorful local landmark features, history and culture within the letters. This mural features the city clock, the historic Paris Building, the pre antebellum W. J. Nicks building, The Wrike Building, the Elmhurst Building, the Main St trolley from the turn of the century, the historic Graham Cinema and the historic court house. It features a cardinal, dogwood tree blooms which are the state symbols for NC and features a hot air balloon and antique car cruise-in which are local favorite events in the area.
Bee Cool Mural
Location: 20 SW Court Square, Graham, NC 27253 (exterior wall on West Elm St)
Mural was created by Erick Davis of Davis Davis Murals
This artist Studied at School of the Art Institute of Chicago and lives in Mebane, NC. He creates public art pieces across different mediums. This mural is entitled “Bee Cool” and was created in August of 2019. It is a mural that celebrates the symbolism of the honey bee: community, hard work, and productivity. The bee has a spiritual energy that used the wisdom of cooperation, reminding us that together, we can achieve extraordinary feats.
The muralist other works can be found at @Nonperishable
O.V. YonderMural Collection
Location: 22 SW Court Sq Graham, NC 27253
These murals are all in the family and were designed and painted by Courtney Talley, Carson Talley and Chuck Talley.
This local outfitters store located in a beautifully renovated historic building serves as not only the best place in town to get all the brands you want (Kuhl, Birkenstocks, On Cloud shoes, Free People, Toad & Co, Columbia, North Face, Katin, Salomon shoes, etc.) but it also is a hub to educate locals on how to enjoy the outdoors. They hold monthly educational events on hiking, backpacking, paddle boarding, etc. along with sponsoring a local run and hiking club.
The name of the store is based on a folklore character named Oliver Vast Yonder. Oliver is an avid explorer, constantly seeking new adventures and connections with people. Together with his adventurous partner, Olivia, and their faithful companion, Rusty Bucket, they go on adventures and document their journey. The murals in the store are to chronicle their adventures and the history of the town. No other building is filled with re-used, repurposed materials that embrace green sustainability. There are doors, fixtures, shelfing, window casing, seating, etc. that all have their own individual origins and stories as to how they ended up OV Yonder (“over yonder”)
Come visit beautiful historic downtown Graham and stop by the new OV Y... | TikTok
My Happy Place Mural
Location: 11 SE Court Sq Graham, NC 27253
This mural was created by Courtney Talley and is located in the covered patio located beside Things Above on the SE corner of Court Square. This mural is inspired by Graham being a destination where all your friends and loved one gather together and makes us most happy. Come enjoy a wonderful lunch with a friend here or read a book.
#the_talley_mark
Butterfly Praise Mural
Location: 15 SE Court Sq, Graham, NC 27253
This mural was commissioned by Jane Albright and painted by Courtney Talley. It is located in her front retail space of Things Above, the only Christian bookstore in Alamance County. Jane Albright has always called Graham “home” and after 40 years as a women’s basketball coach and over 500 NCAA Division I wins and countless championships including gold medal wins, Jane retired back to her home town and opened this book and gift shop.
The verse reads, “Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” Philippians 4:8 and inspires us to dwell and focus on things that are true, honorable, right, pure and good.
#the_talley_mark
Pre-WWI Coca Cola Mural
Located: 21 SE Court Square (in the natural area on the north side of Whit’s Custard)
This mural was originally created pre-WWI and used to be the exterior wall of the adjacent building. When the existing building was built in 1927, the builder just stucco’d over the exterior brick wall and covered up the Coca Cola mural for nearly 100 years. In 2019 while renovating the space, Chuck Talley the general contractor found the mural while he was removing the stucco from the wall. For days, Chuck and his son worked painstakingly on removing the mortar from the wall while also not damaging the original paint. Then once all the mortar was removed, Chuck applied a restoration cleaner to the mural and it brought out all the original color. The mural has never been repainted but rather simply the pigments restored.
The first ever Coca-Cola mural was painted in 1894 on the side of Yong Brothers Pharmacy in Cartersville, GA. The marketing idea spread, particularly throughout the south. By 1910, ghost signs accounted for 25 percent of The Coca-Cola Company's total advertising budget and by the 1920s, the murals had become so popular (believed to be over 16,000 across America) that they were given a standardized design. These ghost murals represent a century-long obsession with this brand and is symbolic of the American way of life and recognized world-wide as historical Americana public art.
9/11 Together We Rise Monument
Located: 21 SE Court Square (in the natural area on the north side of Whit’s Custard)
The memorial is called “Together We Rise”.
Description: The beam is located in the middle of a circle and is constructed with the beam being held vertically together between an outline of the Twin Towers which is then encircled by life size figures in the images of first responders cut out of steel and powder coated.
The memorial was dedicated to the nearly 3,000 victims who perished on September 11, 2001 and to the first responders who were willing to sacrifice their lives to save others. May we NEVER FORGET the sacrifice made that day.
In January of 2021, David Nance, a local sculptor and artist was commissioned to design the memorial for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Several years earlier Chuck and Jennifer Talley had purchased at auction a large steel beam that had been recovered from the debris of the World Trade Center bombing. They had always wanted to turn the steel beam into a memorial. Several local business owners pitched in and donated time, materials and funding to construct the memorial which was installed on September 11, 2021 to honor the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
The original beam was recovered in an interesting way. A local veteran sponsored a local fireman from the area to go and work on the recovery efforts following 9/11. The beam was brought back to Alamance County by the fireman as a token of appreciation for the support. The veteran held an auction because he was moving and needed to downsize. This particular auction item located way back in a garage caught the eye of Jennifer Talley. It has strange markings on it and symbols cut out in the beam. One of the scribblings read, “I’m an old man who found a quiet place in the city that he loves”. The cut-out symbols looked similar to those of the Mohicans Iron Workers who helped build the twin towers. The writings perhaps made by the original construction crew that commonly signed and wrote graffiti on the internal beams of the structure. It was an interesting beam and once she learned its origin, she knew exactly what to do with it. You see back in 2001, right after 9/11, the Talleys had organized several fund-raising events to help the families of 9/11. The 9/11 room located in the back of the Graham Soda Shop was dedicated to honoring those first responders and as a reminder that we should never forget the ultimate sacrifice made that day. She had through the years always remarked to her husband, they Graham should put up a memorial to those that were lost that day. She enlisted the help of local sculptor; David Nance and a model was created and then everyone got to work building the life-size first responder cut outs. These figures encircled the twin tower cut outs which hold the original beam up and this symbolizes the memorial’s name “Together We Rise”.
You can watch a re-creation of the making of the 9/11 memorial installation here: 9/11 Dedication Video. The memorial is used to educate the public on the events that day. You can listen to the audio about 9/11 by clicking here 9/11 Memorial Audio
Sometimes it’s a difficult thing for us to remember 9/11 and for us to speak about the events that day but it is our obligation to do so. Teaching school aged children about the 9/11 attacks has always been difficult but with the passing of time has brought on a new challenge. Students today have no memories of 9/11 because none of them were even born in 2001. They don’t remember the news reports etched in our minds from that day. We hope that this memorial will be used as a learning tool for teachers and our community so that this story of bravery and patriotism can be told.
Great appreciation and thanks to David Nance, Chuck and Jennifer Talley, EP Gates Construction, Cameran and Jilian Moracle from Moracle Metalas and CM Mobile Welding, Ronnie Stallings from Carolina ChemStrip Advanced Powder Coatings, and Paul & Paula Crotts from Graham Furniture for making this memorial a reality.
Love Graham Sculpture
Located: 21 SE Court Square (in the natural area on the north side of Whit’s Custard)
This mural was built in May 2018 and revealed at the Love Graham Festival that same year. It was created and painted by David Nance a local sculptor and artist. Initially it was painted with flowers and then later it was repainted in celebration of the 20 year anniversary of 9/11 and 9/11sculptor dedication that was dedicated September 11, 1021. The Love Graham sculpture will continue to be repainted in the future with various designs in order to keep a fluid piece.
You Belong Here Mural
Location: 125 E Elm St, Graham, NC 27253 (located in the parking lot on W side of building)
This community mural was created by Audry Garton of Independent Artist Movement and was created by local festival goers that came out to paint their initials and hearts with a simple message of “You Belong Here”. This colorful image is a local favorite and this unexpected graffiti mural brightens up a once dull canvas.