Blind Boy Fuller mural on hold

WADESBORO — The Blind Boy Fuller mural is on hold due to inclement weather and logistics issues.

The mural was supposed to be displayed in downtown Wadesboro on the blank white side of the Belk building with painting starting back in December. But according to painter Scott Nurkin, the painting will now have to start in March.

The designated building has no drainage and is on an incline so the soil is always damp, causing ladders and scaffolding to sink into it. Painting also needs to happen in temperatures 45 degrees or above which is hard to do during the winter months.

Nurkin is renting a lift to paint the wall and the Town of Wadesboro is providing him with some support, but it is a very expensive process. He is meeting with Town Manager David Edwards and the rental company soon to reevaluate the situation.

“It’s going to happen; it’s just a matter of dealing with the very annoying logistics of getting a lift up and running and having to battle cold weather,” Nurkin said.

The mural will be part of the North Carolina Musician Murals Project honoring musicians born in North Carolina. The project started when Nurkin painted a silhouette of North Carolina with portraits of musicians for Chapel Hill’s Pepper Pizza. Other murals include one of John Coltrane in nearby Hamlet, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack and Thelonious Monk.

“North Carolina just happens to be a state that has produced some of the greatest musicians in the history of human civilization, and we were lucky enough to have done so. It’s just been very important to me to showcase because a lot of people who grew up in North Carolina don’t know about this part of our history.”

Blind Boy Fuller is one of those greats.

“He was a legendary blues musician who was super influential to many people down the line,” Nurkin said. “We’re going to put this beautiful mural of him in downtown Wadesboro honoring this man and his legacy because that’s the town he came from and more people should know about him.”

Nurkin has a Bachelor in Fine Arts in painting and drawing from the University of North Carolina, has attended the Lorenzo di Medici School of Art in Italy, and apprenticed with muralist Michael Brown at Brown Fine Art Studios. Nurkin currently owns The Mural Shop in Chapel Hill.