HAMLET — Downtown Hamlet will soon be graced with a portrait of famed jazz musician and Hamlet-native John Coltrane.
The city was contacted in February by The Mural Shop, an art studio founded by Scott Nurkin that specializes in murals and, with the help of a grant, has committed to painting 15 murals of famous musicians in their hometowns in North Carolina. Coltrane was born in Hamlet on Sept. 23, 1926, and died on July 17, 1967 in Huntington, New York.
The Mural Shop has received approval from the Coltrane estate to produce the mural but needed the city’s blessing, according to City Manager Jonathan Blanton. Blanton said the studio has been “very aggressive” in pursuing the project. In the studio’s proposal to the city, the mural would be on the Raleigh Street side of the Opera House. The total cost of the project is $12,000, but the studio already has a sponsor who will cover $6,000 of that cost, leaving the city to cover the rest.
The city council came to a consensus that they would accept the studio’s proposal in a special meeting on Tuesday. Blanton said the project would begin by July. The mural would have a 10-year life expectancy, and the studio would have other obligations to maintain it.
“We guarantee a 10-year lifespan of the mural after proper preparation of the wall and clear-coat sealing,” reads the proposal. “We retain a standing contract to correct any issues that may occur to the mural (graffiti, external damage) within that lifespan which covers up to 3 independent returns for corrections.”
“I think it would be great,” said Blanton. “The Opera House is sitting there.”
The NAACP building on Hamlet Avenue was also considered as a location for the mural.
Councilwoman Abbie Covington agreed with Blanton, saying, after looking at a rough draft of the mural, that it “picks the whole city up.”
Covington said Coltrane was “very much a part” of Hamlet’s culture. She said she had a friend that worked on a dining car at the train station and that Coltrane would play music for the staff.
Gerard A. Morrison, founder of the John Coltrane Music Edu-tainment Festival and a strong advocate for commemorating locals who went on to achieve greatness, said he feels “loud and resounding joy” that the mural is coming to Hamlet.
“I’m glad to see that his memory is finally being recognized and appreciated,” Morrison said. “This is long overdue.”
Morrison’s festival, which will be held at noon on the first Saturday of October at 1935 Ghio Osborne Rd. in Hamlet, includes musical performances as well as cultural education.
“We highlight Coltrane because he was born here. Just like he breathed across the world in a positive way, we can use that as inspiration for those in a rural, depressed area,” Morrison said. “We can do that too.”
The Mural Shop is producing a mural of country music star Randy Travis in Marshville and a mural of singer Roberta Flack, who won the 2020 Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement, in Black Mountain. The studio was also in talks to produce a train mural on the side of the Birmingham Drug building that faces the depot. This project would be dependent on getting permission from the property owner.
Mayor Bill Bayless said he’s “always thought we need something” on the side of the pharmacy for people to see as they come off the train.
“It’s just a big blank wall down there,” Bayless said.
