Honoring the Local Community with Public Art: Paulina Guajardo & Janna Watson the Old Lab Designs Murals

07/16/24 • 45 min

This week we are going to visit an historic section of downtown Hendersonville, NC where a beautiful new mural has just been completed. The 7th Avenue district of Hendersonville is undergoing a tremendous revitalization. For many years the area has been dominated by industrial buildings and warehouses that were strategically positioned near the main railroad terminal and depot. During those times, it was not a destination for locals or visitors who didn’t have some business to transact there. But that has been changing rapidly over the past few years as new businesses catering to the general public have sprung up. Restaurants, bakeries, cafes, bars, breweries, and even a distillery have opened to make the neighborhood a must-see stop in enjoying downtown Hendersonville.

In addition to the eateries, there are some very interesting retail shops new to the area. One of those stores is the Old Lab Designs and Mercantile, a beautiful and unique shop with quirky vintage items, high quality, high fashion women's clothing and accessories, gourmet kitchen and pantry items, and unique gifts for men and women alike. The owner is Janna Watson and she is realizing her vision of bringing rich texture to the streets of the town, not only in the items she sells in the store, but also the store building as well. When Janna first moved in, the building epitomized that industrial look of the area, with its rough and crumbling red brick walls with very little inviting character. She was determined to spruce it up and make it much more beautiful and help the area become more inviting.

So she decided to adorn both sides of the building with murals. She commissioned a talented artist from Miami, Paulina Guajardo, to paint the murals and she was able to finish it all very quickly over two short trips. Paulina is a Mexican-born artist and her mother is a renowned Mexican artist in her own right.

Paulina and Janna join us today to talk about the new murals and the inspiration for them.

Paulina and Janna join us today to talk about the new murals and the inspiration for them.

Previous Episode

Choreographing Community Connectedness With Public Art: Elizabeth Queen The Bee Line and Life Line Murals

This week’s guest is an artist who is passionate about using art as a communal activity by bringing people from all walks of life to collaborate on public art projects not only to beautify the local community but to inspire community service.

Our guest today is Elizabeth Queen, an artist who resides in Hendersonville, NC and has led several art projects in various media that accomplished that goal. She compares her directing of those projects as “choreography” which is a lovely way to think of getting people to work together to create something beautiful.

She is going to tell us about some of the projects she has coordinated in her little town in North Carolina and the stories that unfolded as the art projects came together. She will focus on two sidewalk murals called “The Bee Line” and “The Life Line.”

Next Episode

Restoring an Iconic Piece of Mural Art: Knox Crowell, The Jump Off Rock Mural & Laurel Park, NC

Our guest today is Knox Crowell, a trained graphic artist and illustrator with an interest in the local history of his hometown of Hendersonville, NC. A former director of the Henderson County Heritage Museum, he constructed and painted many of the museum's displays. He is a native of Hendersonville and his family has been in Henderson County for generations.

Knox has painted nearly half a dozen murals over the years in the area. And he restored one of the oldest and well-remembered murals in the town, the Jump Off Rock mural which adorns the Brooks Tavern building on 3rd Avenue. Jump Off Rock is a large stone outcropping on top of Davis Mountain which rises above Hendersonville just a few miles to the west of downtown. It has long been a tourist destination because of its beautiful views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. The mural advertised the site and encouraged visitors to make the short drive to enjoy the vistas.

He said it was a challenge to bring the iconic wall art back to its former glory and he will tell us about how he did it and the obstacles he faced.

Knox will also give us a lot of the history of Jump Off Rock and Laurel Park, the community where Jump Off Rock is located, and where he grew up.