Artists, locals meld at Macon Mural Festival

The Macon Mural Festival is returning for its third year this weekend, giving artists from across the country the opportunity to make their mark on downtown Macon.

For three days, community members will have the opportunity to meet the artists or even help out while they paint murals at spots across downtown Macon. This year’s locations include 240 2nd St., Hotel 45 and Petals, Flowers and Market.

Fabian Williams, an Atlanta-based artist, painted the Albert Billingslea mural that appears on the side of the building at the intersection of Forsyth Street and High Place during last year’s festival.

He was asked to do a mural of Billingslea, a prominent Black businessman known for his philanthropy, and had to “piece together his history.”

Even after his research, Williams couldn’t come up with any high-resolution photos of Billingslea — until his grand-niece walked up to him while he was painting and gave him a clearer photo.

The new photo helped finalize the mural, which is composed of a towering black-and-white portrait of Bilingslea enveloping a smaller portrait of the adjacent Steward Chapel. Williams said he wanted the mural to have the two symbols: the man and his faith.

Murals like the one he created, Williams said, serve as another way to show history in a way that’s engaging to the public.

Although he didn’t get to put in everything he wanted — the painting took longer than expected — he said he was happy with how the mural turned out. 

“Public art serves several purposes when done correctly — mainly to stimulate people’s visuals and community,” Williams said.

People can find the murals using maps provided by the Macon Arts Alliance, allowing viewers to move at their own pace. 

Colin Penndorf is the organizer for the mural festival. He said the festival is a good way to pull in national artists who the Macon Arts Alliance wouldn’t otherwise be able to attract.

This year’s class of four “fantastic artists” come from cities across the country, including Denver; Destin, Florida; Culpepper, Virginia; and Tucker, Georgia, Penndorf said.

More than 90 artists applied to be matched with local sponsors, and festival organizers had the task of whittling it down to four artists to meet the needs of businesses wanting a mural. 

“We do have to run this line between what can this artist accomplish in the two to three days they have … that is both going to suit the business owner and the wall sponsors, while also giving some creative reign over to the artist,” Penndorf said.

He said the mural festival helps contribute to Macon’s attractiveness as an art destination while also supporting artists and giving them more exposure. Macon hosts a wide variety of public art, including statues, alley exhibits and photography showcases, he noted, many of which are “for Macon and by Macon.”

Locals will have a chance to add to a community art wall, which will remain open for weeks after the festival’s conclusion.

“Watching artists try and revive downtown and beautify the city itself — it kind of gets into the semiotics of the space and your situation,” Penndorf said. “To put color in a place where there wasn’t color makes people feel happier and brighter about the space.”