Regression

Last week Birmingham lost some of its color. See for yourself.

Now I realize and respect that it is fully within the rights of the owners of that building to paint over “Geo-Chromatic Progress.” I’m sure they did it because the paint had faded on the mural, which is probably not the best curb appeal for a building on the market, but with a little work, they probably could’ve found artists and others to restore the mural for little or no money–or at least equal to what they paid their painters to cover it up.

I hope that the owners of downtown buildings realize that the murals and old painted ads on their walls add character and color to our cityscape–and I have talked with more than one person from out of town who has praised downtown B’ham’s number and variety of examples of wall art. It’s one of the things that makes us unique and un-Atlanta. It seems that pieces from the Birmingham Mural Project are very much endangered–there don’t seem to be that many still around. (The giant tree on the back of Jemison Flats is probably the best example from that initiative.) That’s too bad, because the mural project sounds like a fascinating but forgotten part of the city’s history–like our own small-scale version of the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project.

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