For Immediate Release: 
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Contact:
Meg McGurk
Assistant Director, Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership
 
Ernie Dollar
Director, Chapel Hill Preservation Society
Chapel Hill, Tuesday, August, 25, 2009: Chapel Hill artist Michael Brown is currently restoring a third mural as part of the Painted Walls Project in Downtown Chapel Hill. The Blue Mural (also known as The Starry Night Mural) is located on East Rosemary Street, and was the very first mural Brown painted downtown in 1989. The Painted Walls Project, a joint effort of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, Chapel Hill Historical Society and the Town of Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission, is cataloging and restoring the much-loved murals by Michael Brown in downtown Chapel Hill.
 
Funds to restore the Blue Mural were raised at a mural fundraiser party in March. The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership is donating funds to pay for the lift that Brown needs to restore this two-story mural.
 
Brown will spend nearly two weeks restoring this mural and then will work on the Hands Mural, on West Franklin Street, that was recently destroyed by graffiti.
 Blue Mural - restoration 8.25.09
Brown's murals are an important part of the vitality of the downtown area, attracting visitors, marking a place to meet, or enhancing an evening stroll bringing art into everyday life.  The murals are cultural fixtures of our community that make the downtown come alive in colors, figures and patterns. Some murals are tucked in alley ways while some are sprawled across vast building walls; collectively they have helped define a distinctive character that belongs only to Chapel Hill.
 
To make a contribution to the Painted Walls Project and help restore your favorite mural please visit www.chapelhillpreservation.com/mural.htm.
 
Please contact the Preservation Society at 942-7818 or the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership at 967-9440 for information about the Painted Walls Project.
 
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Photo Opportunity -
Beginning Tuesday, August 25 Brown will be working on the mural every weekday for approximately 10 days. The mural is located on the backside of 109 East Franklin Street. It is visible from the East Rosemary/ Columbia Street Municipal parking lot (formerly known as Lot 2).