Bella Cook grinned back at herself across Danville’s Memorial Drive on a sunny morning Friday.
It’s not weird to see her face, airbrushed in paint, on the side of the concrete wall. Actually, “it’s pretty cool,” said the 14-year-old.
A new mural, called “The River’s Radiance,” depicts Bella with her arm stretched out, reaching toward dragonflies and river reeds, with a blue heron flying behind her.
Bella and her family joined artist Jon Murrill on a trip from Roanoke, where they live, to Danville for a dedication ceremony introducing the mural, the newest piece of public art in the city.
Public art may seem less important than other city responsibilities, but it plays a big role in economic development and growth, said Lee Rainboth, Danville’s arts and culture director.
Conversations about a new mural first began about a year ago, and when the city put out a call for artists, Rainboth said some residents questioned the value of the artwork.
“People in this community might see art and think, ‘Why are you putting money into that when my utility bills are so high, and when we have so many people struggling with homelessness?’ Things like that,” he said.
But as the Danville area grows, quality of life and arts and culture have become increasing priorities.
The city researched peer localities and found that investing in public art helps business growth, education and other sectors by bringing residents and visitors alike to the downtown area, Rainboth said.
Previous public art, like the Danville Art Trail, a temporary exhibition of sculptures along the city’s Riverwalk, and the JTI fountain in the River District, have been well received by existing residents and new visitors, according to a 2024 master plan for the Danville parks and recreation department.
“We have to walk and chew gum,” Rainboth said. “Hopefully the art does help bring a sense of life and vitality that creates those ripple effects to improve some of the other areas that the community is struggling with.”
Questions about the mural investment have subsided now that the work is done, he said.
“Now that it’s done and people have seen it, we’ve had positive responses across the board,” Rainboth said.
Murrill, who was one of 29 artists that applied for the project, also said that the response to the mural has been overwhelmingly positive — even during the painting process.
Community members were invited to help Murrill with the art, using roller brushes, paint brushes, and air brush cans to bring the formerly plain concrete wall to life.
“It makes a big difference when you can share ownership with the people that actually walk by and see and interact with the piece on a daily basis,” Murrill said in an interview after the ceremony.
Ashlyn Wheeler, one of the residents who helped paint the mural, said she heard about the opportunity online and was eager to participate.
“He taught us different techniques and tips to use the airbrush cans,” Wheeler said. “I did the wings over on the left side, and my brother and his wife got to do some of the grass and greenery. It was really enjoyable, and it also helped him [Murrill] with the labor aspect.”
The city didn’t dictate any specific imagery when it began searching for artists, Rainboth said. The request for proposals suggested that the mural be related to the river somehow, and be a “welcoming gateway” into the River District, but otherwise it was open-ended, he said.
“Naturally, a lot of the artists gravitated toward the same inspiration of the heron, the water, the dragonflies, the nature that is associated with the river,” Rainboth said. “But the selection committee really liked the ones that involved people too, because we wanted this to be a mural that would reflect the people of the community, as well as the nature, and how people can interact with nature and find joy in the beautiful natural resources that we have.”
That’s what the mural is all about, Murrill said. He wanted the piece to stand apart from other murals in the River District by including a portrait alongside river imagery, he said.
Bella said Murrill is friends with her dad, and that he’s done her portrait before.
“I wanted to bring something fresh and new, something that represented youth and the relationship to nature,” Murrill said. “Representing Bella, who is a young girl from our region, was a great choice because it brings conversations back to what’s really important, which is youth being outside and this love of nature.”
The mural was sponsored by the Riverview Rotary club, which covered the $30,000 cost, including artist fees, equipment and materials and preparation of the wall, Rainboth said.
Rainboth said he hopes the positive reception of the mural inspires more such projects.
“This is sort of a starting point for us, but we’re hoping to do much more in the community, seeing how positive the response was,” he said. “I’ve got a long list of other locations where I’d like to see public art, and it’s just a matter of securing the right support from all the different stakeholders, whether it be the owners of the buildings or other outside funders to help support it.”
