Since January an artist named Sam Welty, of Hampton Roads, has been drawing detailed chalk murals on the Freedom of Speech Wall on the mall—including one of Thomas Jefferson, who practically invented Charlottesville. Welty hasn’t returned calls for comment just yet, but a search reveals that he is a professional muralist responsible for, among other things, this:
It’s an enormous battleship that painted on the side of a building in Hampton Roads.
A professional painter of enormous things, Welty’s been responsible for, by my count, four different chalk murals so far. (All of those are pictured below.) The ephemeral masterpieces have been immortalized in digital form, thanks to the efforts of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. Here’s a little slideshow:
Sup, Teej?
The Sistine Chapel.
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Celebrating another astounding human achievement.
As of this week, it’s been Mount Rushmore.
Feedback only noticed this yesterday, as his commute brings him to the office through the West end of the mall. But today, the Rushmore mural has been evolving with the help of chalk-wielding vandals. George Washington has been Rushmore’s whipping boy—now he wears lipstick, and has one of those pyramids from the back of the dollar bill on his forehead. And let’s just say that one enterprising piggybacker made it look like our founding fathers need some Visine.
Check it out before it’s gone. Or wait for the next one.
