Bridging the Gap
By Billy Eye
The downtown underpass at Spring Garden and Edgeworth is getting a colorful makeover following the yearlong, painstaking refurbishing of its rusting bridges.
A decade ago, the pylons were boldly adorned with primary colored geometric shapes. While it was a nice effect, my beef with the project was that artists from Miami were commissioned to do job. Why? Because we don’t have artists here in Greensboro who can create murals? We all know that isn’t true!
This time around, I’m thrilled to discover, a local team of artists led by Darlene McClinton are slinging paint. I happen to catch one of the artists in action: James Raleigh Jr. of Victorious Visions, a Greensboro native and graduate of North Carolina A&T State University who went on to teach art at Ben L. Smith High School.
Previously in the downtown area, James lent his talents to the LeBauer Park stage for National Dance Day; the historically accurate, weathered lettering atop the Christman Company building; and the “Black Lives Matter” and “Say It Loud” street murals on South Elm Street and Lindsay Street, respectively.
After 11 days, the mural was completed last week. James describes the artistic approach as abstract and colorful. “Something that can be interpreted in many ways, as art is.”
Local artist Darlene McClinton was commissioned for this privately funded project, “Bridging the Gap,” which she designed and installed. Other members of the “Creative Minds” mural team that Darlene assembled include Neidy Perdomo, Jennifer Meanley and Marsharee Neely, who were joined by volunteers from A&T and UNCG.
Eye have to say that, as a central hub of The Greenway, these groovy graphics on Spring Garden are a major upgrade from the previous incarnation.
For more information about the Downtown Greenway, visit downtowngreenway.org.
