Where can you find a well-concealed sculpture garden in the woods of the Duke campus? Hidden behind…read morethe college of law! The parking lot required a pass of some kind that I did not possess. But, I can't be stopped! I parked out on the street and just walked to the back of the building and found my way! The labeled sculptures are found along a circular path that meanders in a vague circle through the woods. Each is definitely unique and worth seeing! Life is good with a unique sculpture garden in the woods!

This is a statue of Wallace Wade. We came across it and found it while we were in North Carolina…read more I'm not really sure who Wallace is. I have not looked him up, but he has his own statue.

Can you find these three public art exhibits in Durham? We did! They were designed by artist Mary…read moreCarter Taub after she was chosen from 27 applicants for a city sponsored art project. It's a blend of Art Deco and Pop Art inspired by Rice Krispies! Parking was a major challenge to take pictures at each location but we didn't get any tickets! Just be bold and be safe! The locations are at the corner of Blackwell and Vivian, near the Marriott City Center and The Bull Statue, and at the Durham Central Park on Foster Street. Life is good with unique local art!

This is not named after the rice crispy treats. This is the snap crackle and pop public art…read moredisplay. We are walking around and I came across this and thought it was pretty cool.

Located in front of the Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough, this 15 foot tall sculpture…read morelooks like a ribbon to me. Titled "Embrace the Moment", it is by artist Wayne Trapp. I was able to find some information about the artist, "Wayne Trapp was an American Postwar & Contemporary artist who was born in 1935." He died in 2016. Some of his works were recently displayed at the Appalachian State University Turchin Center. https://tcva.org/event/wayne-trapp-a-life-in-the-arts/ I don't get "Embrace the Moment" from it, but I did appreciate the artistry and certainly the effort it would take to achieve such an artwork. [Review 17988 overall - 3312 in North Carolina - 1509 of 2022.]

Sometimes in life, you just have to embrace the moment. Sit back relax take a breath and realize…read morewhat you're doing. And that is what this is representation of.

The Danny Mason Mural was painted by Scott Nurkin and is in Chapel Hill. I don't think this one is…read morepart of the Mural Trail. It is located off Granham Street on the side of Lapin Bleu and behind Local 506. This mural is another done in color rather than black and white. This mural is also different in that there are three in the mural and Dex and Sara Romweber are in black and white but Danny Mason is in color. I'm not sure what the connection is between Danny Mason and the Romweber Duo. Mason was a Chapel Hill legend. He played the drums, guitar and piano. It was hard to find any details about Danny Mason or his music.

The Floyd Council Mural was the hardest of the 25 murals to find as there is not a list of all the…read moremurals or addresses for all of the NC Musicians Mural Project. I've been adding them to Google as I go so others don't have as much trouble. This mural is located on the side of Franklin Motors and it just happens to be on the side with a paid parking lot so parking was very convenient. Floyd Council is the "Floyd" of Pink Floyd. Pink Anderson is the other blues musician in that group's name. Syd Barrett liked those two musicians and used part of their names to name his group. This mural pays tribute to that with the pink color for Floyd. Floyd Council was known as "Dipper Boy". He was a Piedmont Blues singer and guitarist who had his own intricate fingerpicking style. He was in a group called the Chapel Hillbillies, then met and played with Fulton Allen aka Blind Boy Fuller. Council's style was serious and soulful as he sang about his struggles. He released just 8 singles and only recorded 27 songs so his music is hard to find. Council suffered a stroke and couldn't really play or sing after that. But he sure did inspire other musicians.

The Elizabeth Cotten Mural honors the Blues legend. Scott Nurkin painted the mural as part of the…read moreNorth Carolina Musicians Mural Trail. This mural grabbed my attention right away. I see Cotten and her guitar, but the closer I look I see how remarkable this mural is with all the windows and the window AC units. This mural was not on a solid wall so that was likely more challenging. So who is Elizabeth Cotten? She was born in Chapel Hill back in 1893. She taught herself how to sing and play her brother's banjo. She was left-handed, and the guitar was for someone right-handed, so she learned to play the guitar upside down. The distinct sound of the guitar playing became her trademark, known as "Cotten Picking" She wrote "Freight Train" back when she was 11 or 12 years old as she could see and hear the railroad from her home. Her musical talents were not discovered until the 1940s when she was living in Washington, DC. Mike Seegar recorded some of her songs, and she started singing her own. She released her first album at age 65 back in 1958. Her songs are about her early life in NC. In 1984, she won a Grammy Award at 91 years of age for her album "Elizabeth Cotten Live!". She was inducted into the North Carolina Musical Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, both posthumously. It is a shame they didn't do this while she was alive, but at least she got the recognition she deserved..

Scott Nurkin used his talents again for a mural for Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray. This mural is in…read moreHillsborough on the side of the side of the Orange County Sportscomplex. There is plenty of parking but the sports complex is busy so be mindful of the traffic. Murray was born in Baltimore but later moved to Durham, NC. She was denied access to getting a Ph.D in Sociology at University of North Carolina because of her race. But that didn't stop her, from becoming a Civil Rights Activist, advocate, legal scholar, author and priest. She was first in her class at Howard Law School. The first African American to earn a JSD from Yale. She co-founded the National Organization for Women. She also was the first African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest. Murray was ahead of her time and wanted the 14th Amendment to protect everyone and include women. Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Murray was one of her heroes and was influenced by Murray's work with Jane Crow to Ginsburg's Reed v. Reed at the Supreme Court in 1971. Make sure you stop here while in Hillsborough, NC as the Rev. Pauli Murray is an activist to learn about.