Carolina Beach Mural Project beautifies town and honors its history, one wall at a time

In Carolina Beach, tooling around town in a golf cart is the way it's done these days.

Plus, it's probably the best and most efficient way to see the dozen or so murals the Carolina Beach Mural Project has installed in less than two years.

"I'm constantly looking for places to put them," said Maureen Lewis, who heads up the mural project as the head of its board of directors.

When Lewis and her husband, Bill, drove a visitor on a golf cart tour of the murals recently with the couple's dog, Braxton, in tow, she regularly pointed out spots that would make for good mural walls.

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Before the Lewises moved to Carolina Beach in 2018 from Hermosa Beach, California, next to Los Angeles, she coordinated a similar mural project there. The relative dearth of murals in Carolina Beach prompted the former project manager for such corporate giants as Virgin Entertainment, Mattel, Neiman Marcus and Belkin to put her skills to use beautifying her new home town.

Now, the number of murals in Carolina Beach rivals that of Wilmington, which restricts them in its historic district downtown.

The first two murals for the Carolina Beach project — Susan Nuttall's "Welcome to Carolina Beach" by the town hall, which is a contemporary take on an old-timey postcard, and Carla Garrison-Mattos' "Surf & See," a visual ode to surfing culture at the Veggie Wagon, which is located in a former surf shop — were completed in the fall of 2020.

A new mural has gone up on average every other month or so since then.

Thanks to various grants and fundraising efforts, Lewis said, the project has spent about $90,000 putting up murals so far.

On Sunday, May 22, the mural project is hosting the Fancy Pants Croquet Tournament fundraiser at Mike Chappell Park on Dow Road, which is home to the most recently completed mural, "The Kid in All of Us." Artist Mar'Emilia Borja painted the mural with the help of dozens of local schoolchildren and a grant from the Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County.

On Tuesday, May 24, Borja, along with fellow muralists Jimmy Dean and Jenna Rice — the three artists who had work go up most recently — will be at another fundraiser, an artist meet-and-greet, at the Carolina Beach Arcade on the Boardwalk.

Of course, Carolina Beach had murals before the project got going in 2020, notably one of Robert E. Harrill, better known as the Fort Fisher Hermit, on the back of the Last Resort bar.

But the mural project has taken things to the next level, placing murals everywhere from high-traffic areas like the Boardwalk, where there will soon be three, to more out-of-the way spots.

Gina Franco's wildly colorful "This Must Be the Place," for example, stands out on Carolina Beach Avenue across from the iconic Joy Lee Apartments, while Sharon Dowell's beach-music-inspired "Record Weekend" is on the side of the SeaWitch Cafe & Tiki Bar, which is also a bustling music venue.

"Anything that makes our town more beautiful is good," said LeeAnn Tluchowski, who owns Malama Cafe in Carolina Beach and is on the board of directors for the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce. "People are doing (mural) tours and stopping into the shops."

As much as possible, Lewis said, they like to match the mural's theme to its location, although town ordinances don't allow the art to serve as a sign or advertisement for the businesses whose walls they adorn.

"Summer on the Boardwalk," for example, by Scott Nurkin, a prolific muralist who has work all over North Carolina, is located on the Boardwalk itself, on the side of Hurricane Alley's, with a small Ferris wheel mirroring the newly installed and giant Ferris wheel that sits just a few feet away.

"The hardest thing to do," Lewis said, has been convincing landlords to give their walls over to murals. They've been turned down a few times, she said, but convincing people has gotten easier as the mural project has taken off. Volunteers will maintain the murals for at least five years after they go up.

There is a process to getting a mural up, as well as parameters. Artists, who must be based in North Carolina, submit proposals for the murals they want to do. Lewis said they typically get more than a dozen proposals for each project.

Artists must adhere to certain themes — nothing controversial or political — most of which complement the town's beachy vibe or reference its history or attractions.

To wit: "Indigenous Fly Feaster," a pastel take on the Venus' flytrap by Tiffany Machler, whose muralist name is "Nugget" (and who, with partner Jimmy Dean, aka Manix, has several murals in Wilmington). Located on the side of Kate's Pancake House, the flytrap mural pays homage to the native carnivorous plant that can be found in Carolina Beach State Park.

Then there's the new, in-progress "3D" mural by artist Jenna Rice that was recently started on a wall of the Boardwalk's arcade. It will pay tribute to the annual Kite Festival at Fort Fisher.

People depicted in the murals reflect the diverse population of folks who either live at or visit the beach, and Lewis said the project also has a "mission to celebrate Carolina Beach history."

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The town has lost historic buildings in recent years, and future murals could celebrate the "Shoo Fly Train," which brought visitors to Carolina Beach in the 1880s, or the days when Seabreeze, on the other side of the Snow's Cut Bridge from Carolina Beach, and the strand known as "Bop City" (present day Freeman Park) were destinations for Black people who weren't allowed on "white" beaches in the days of the Jim Crow South.

The Lewises said they've started to see even more murals popping up on the sides of business walls locally. Even if they're not "official" stops on the Carolina Beach Mural Project tour, businesses owners have "realized it's a real crowd pleaser," Lewis said.

Though all are less than two years old, some of the murals, like Jason Parker's "Carolina Dreamin'" on the Boardwalk have already become local landmarks.

"We'll keep doing it," Lewis said, "as long as we have funding and walls, and as long as people are excited for it."

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.

Want to go?

What: Fancy Pants Croquet Tournament supporting the Carolina Beach Mural Project

When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, May 22

Where: Mike Chappell Park, 501 Dow Road, Carolina Beach

Info: Tickets are $20 (spectator only) and $125 (teams of two). With live music, food and beverages.

What: Artist meet-and-greet

When: 4:30-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 24

Where: Carolina Beach Arcade, on the Boardwalk

Info: Tickets are $12-$20.

Details: CarolinaBeachMurals.org.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Carolina Beach Mural project aims to beautify town one wall at a time