Note: Authored by David Menconi, this piece has been produced in partnership with Raleigh Arts. Menconi's latest book, "Oh, Didn't They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music," was published in the fall of 2023 by University of North Carolina Press. His podcast, Carolina Calling, explores the history of the Tar Heel State through music.

One of downtown Raleigh’s coolest ongoing public-art initiatives in recent years has been its Streeteries project—street-level mini-murals, usually integrated into outdoor seating areas outside restaurants and businesses. Envisioned by Rachel Bain, hospitality and nightlife planner for the city’s Special Event Office (and funded with money from the 2021 American Rescue Plan), it consists of 11 murals across downtown.

This past summer, the Streeteries project concluded with its biggest and most ambitious mural of all. Painted by local mural artist Sean Kernick—who you can follow on Instagram at @seanorock—it’s a microcosm rendering of Raleigh’s history stretching along nearly 100 feet of the south side of E. Hargett St., outside the Raleigh Times and Morning Times restaurants.

^{Sean Kernick's mural on the history of Raleigh; photo via Raleigh Arts}

The building used to be the site of the Raleigh Times newspaper that closed in 1989 after 110 years in existence, so the mural has a journalistic focus. Among those depicted are former News & Observer publisher Frank Daniels Jr. and longtime columnist A.C. Snow, alongside North Carolina State University basketball coaches Jim Valvano and Kay Yow.

“Everyone involved wanted to strike a balance of public art and history that spoke to the city’s history, as well as the Raleigh Times,” says Jenn Hales, public art coordinator for the City of Raleigh. “We tried to make sure there were nods to other aspects, too, like with the coaches. I think Sean did a fabulous job of synthesizing it all into something great to see as you walk past.”

An artist of national stature, Kernick has done mural projects as far away as Seattle and Chicago. His work can be seen elsewhere around Raleigh, too, with murals at North Hills, Village District and right around the corner from the Raleigh Times—where Kernick painted a mural of another key local sports figure, North Carolina Central basketball coach LeVelle Moton, on a wall overlooking a parking lot on Salisbury Street.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Sean Kernick (@seanorock)

Those are just a few of the many murals around Raleigh, which is fertile territory for murals and other public art.

“In terms of talent, Raleigh is an oddly high-level place that punches way above its weight,” says Kernick. “It still has a lot of spaces to explore, canvases that are ready to be worked with. And the town is a unique overlay of transplants with locals, plus more money than people realize around here. You can do events in Raleigh and get enough support for it to work. People want to help here, which is not the case everywhere.”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Sean Kernick (@seanorock)

For the Raleigh history mural, Kernick was among the artists who applied to the city’s open call for the Streeteries project. Once selected, he collaborated with the city and Greg Hatem, whose Empire Eats owns the Raleigh/Morning Times. There were some political issues to navigate as far as who to portray. An early version was to include a scene of former President Barack Obama drinking a beer at Raleigh Times (something that actually happened while he was running for President in 2008), but it ultimately did not make the cut.

[Scroll left to right on the image below to see more detail shots of the mural]

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Empire Properties (@empire1792)

“There were a lot of stakeholders with issues to navigate,” says Kernick. “The idea was for it to speak to the narratives of the city’s life over the years, especially through newspapers—stories, photos, reporting.”

Another issue was the size of the piece, which is far larger than any of the other Streeteries murals. Kernick painted it in his backyard on eight-foot segments of aluminum and plastic dibond panels before moving them into place over the summer. It joins an impressive landscape of murals around the city, as part of the city’s “Outdoor Mural Trail.”

“Murals can help create a sense of identity,” says Hales. “We’ve got a lot of great local artists, and a lot of buildings that might seem a little boring. But put murals there and they can make a place feel more vibrant, fun and even safe. They can be specifically about community history, too.”

Follow Sean Kernick on Instagram at @seanorock; or visit his website at seanorock.com.

^{Header image of Sean Kernick via the artist/manley's Photography}