It's monsoon season in the Shenandoah Valley and it hasn't stopped raining for more than a few hours in a month. I was waiting for sunshine to continue this project, but it might rain forever, so I bit the bullet and took pictures in the rain. I started at Clementine Cafe and had planned to hit
Ruby's Arcade while I was there, but it was closed. It seems like a pretty cool place full of murals where you can play darts or duckpin bowling.
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The restaurant formerly known as The Artful Dodger (47 Court Square)
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This chalkboard wall is a lot like the "Before I Die..." walls I talked about in
this post. Behind that tree is the prompt "My Dream Is..." so I guess it's a little less morbid.
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The Artful Dodger (47 Court Square)
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The Artful Dodger (47 Court Square)
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The Artful Dodger (47 Court Square)
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I had to take a picture of Larkin Arts while I was there, because it's so darn cute and I have a fondness for it after participating in two of their shows.
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Mural by James "T.J." August Warsing Jr. & Greg Ballou (91 N Main St #11)
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This is possibly the best mural ever painted, in case you were curious. I wasn't able to find anything about this mural or the artist. There was a snippet from a local newspaper that has since been removed that mentioned him owning a studio, but the website is nonexistent and the address listed for that studio is a house.
(update 2021: Greg Ballou runs
Ballou Studio & Gallery from a home on Main Street in Harrisonburg, Virginia. An article in
The Citizen Takes on Harrisonburg mentions the dinosaur mural: "
In 2011, James “T.J.” August Warsing Jr., painted the fantastical mural outside what was once his art gallery and tattoo parlor, next to the Indian American Cafe. He partnered with a friend named Greg Ballou, and the duo funded the soaring pterosaurs out of their own pockets." The 3-dimensional pterodactyl is no longer part of the mural.)
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| Mural (detail) by Greg Ballou, T.J.'s Dermagraphics (91 N Main St #11) |
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But the mural is spectacular and it has a sculpture attached to it of this little guy riding a dinosaur.
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Elizabeth Street Parking Deck (Corner of Elizabeth Street and N. Federal)
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Born into slavery, Lucy Simms became a dedicated educator who taught for 56 years and has a school named after her in Harrisonburg. City Council approved this piece by Andre Shank and others early last year after locals voted on their favorite designs. This mural was really difficult to photograph because it spans the entire length of the parking deck and there's another building right next to it.
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Elizabeth Street Parking Deck Mural (Detail)
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The Kline's Dairy Bar sign fits into the following Jessi's Favorite Things Categories: Signage, Junk Food, and Vintage Roadside Things.
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| Shen-Valley Band Instruments (144 N. Liberty Street) |
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Right next to the Shen Valley Band Instruments building was the strangest tiny park. Because it's been raining for a month straight, everything was heavy and green with overgrowth. There was a little foot bridge over a stream, mildly neglected planters, arches, walkways, and a little pavilion. It was really quite lovely and mysterious.
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Old High Street between Bruce Street and Water Street
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| Old High Street between Bruce Street and Water Street |
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Edith J. Carrier Arboretum at JMU
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Apparently there's a huge mural in the Bioscience building at JMU, but I got really lost trying to find it and ended up in the Arboretum where I admitted defeat and spent the rest of the day wandering around the woods, looking at flowers, and trying to take pictures of koi fish without falling in the water.
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| "Sierra in September" (1996) by Trudy Cole, her fundamental design students, and the United Way, (The Corner of MLK Jr. Way and the little tail of Ott Street that's actually a parking lot) |
More street art content can be found
here.
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