Want to make a positive mark on downtown Macon? Artists seek help with new murals

Willie James Williams rides the bus through Macon nearly every day.

He waited for his bus Thursday with a bunch of shadowy characters behind him on Fifth Street in downtown.

Along the wall of the Macon Transit Authority transfer lane at Terminal Station, a new mural depicts silhouettes of regular passengers like Williams.

“I think it’s great. I love it,” he said.

Macon artist Christopher Logan visited the transfer station over a number of days to take photographs of those willing to be part of his artwork, which is done in black with the transit authority’s signature blue and green.

“The community of riders, the people who ride the MTA every day, I wanted to put them on the wall and elevate them because they’re the ones who keep it going,” Logan said. “I would take the pictures of the volunteers and from there, project them at night, draw the silhouette of the person, and then I would come back and paint it.”

Logan, who has a master’s in fine arts from New York University, is one of three professional artists bringing to life the once-blank, beige wall.

Marlon Baldwin and the Macon Arts Alliance pushed for and secured a Downtown Challenge grant from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to pay for the project.

In the wall’s midsection, Georgia College scene design professor Isaac Ramsey wanted something fun and vibrant that can be seen from a distance.

He will be highlighting Georgia’s birds of prey in a colorful painting.

“I was looking at Georgia and thinking about positive imagery and things like that and all of our sports teams are birds of prey,” Ramsey said. “I kept coming back to the hawk and in flight.”

Mary Frances Burt, the creative director and co-owner of Burt and Burt Graphic Design in Macon, will recognize three cultures that have influenced the community: Native Americans, African-Americans and European descendants.

Burt is about to start painting her design, “A Celebration of Grace,” which will feature three matriarchs surrounded by local flowers and trees, with the center figure crowned with cherry blossoms.

The women are fashioned after mythology’s “The Three Graces,” Zeus’ daughters who presided over celebrations, Burt said.

“It’s about reconciliation and coming together to be whole. It is essentially a prayer for our city.”

Burt welcomes high school art students looking for community service projects and others who want to help paint the project.

Those interested should contact the Macon Arts Alliance at www.maconartsalliance.org or call 478-743-6940.

She will be using a color-coded painting system for the volunteers, who may embed their names in their work.

Although Burt’s section of the wall closest to Poplar Street is still a blank canvas, riders are already excited.

“It looks a whole lot different,” bus passenger Mandy Gladden said. “So far, they’re doing an excellent job.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2017 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Want to make a positive mark on downtown Macon? Artists seek help with new murals."