{Everybody who worked on this mural thinks JANNA IN THE SPRING OF 2016, Dr. Janna Robertson of the University of North Caro-lina
Wilmington took a sabbatical to spearhead the creation of a mural that would
transform the dull wall into a lush forest. To fund it, she had the idea of offering a
unique creature to anyone who donated $50 to the cause and submitted a design. The
mural now includes 76 special creatures, each representing a different community
group or sponsor. They include the referee/bumblebee of the Police Athletic League, a googly-eyed
furball from the NAACP, and an exotic rainbow bird from the Cameron Art Museum.
Robertson had to wear many hats during the semester-long project. She not only oversaw the
artistic direction of the mural, but also was present at every Wilmington City Council meet-ing,
making sure progress was not delayed. A project of this scale could take over two years to
complete, but Robertson simply didn’t have that kind of time. Her ability to work through the
red tape while also leading more than 600 volunteers was not only impressive but necessary.
And yet, Robertson will be the first to say this isn’t her mural.
“I do enough of my own art to satisfy my ego,” she says. “Everybody who worked on this
mural thinks of it as their mural. And they’re right. It belongs to everybody who had a part
in it.”
Rather than being stressful, running such a large project was a labor of love.
“I get more back from the relationships I have with all these people than I have ever given
them,” Robertson says. “Every great change in the world started with a small group of
people who had relationships with each other. All change comes from relationships, and all
change is local.”
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WBM january 2020
ROBERTSON
MURAL DETAIL PHOTOS BY ALLISON POTTER