It’s no secret that Durham, North Carolina, is rich with murals. But there are eight large, colorful murals that might have escaped your attention.
Satellite Park is on the grounds of the Duke Arts Annex, 404 Gattis Street, Durham. Since April of 2018, it’s been home to eight decommissioned satellite dishes that have been repurposed into works of art.
Satellite Park is free to visit.
History of Satellite Park
In the late 1990s, Duke University decommissioned eight satellite dishes when their cable TV service was discontinued.
In 2018, at the Mural Durham Festival, eight artists painted their designs on the satellite dishes, with the help of some Duke students.
Mural Durham is a project of Artstigators and Duke Arts that connects Durham through creativity, one mural at a time.
Satellite Mural Artists
This is the list of artists, and their own descriptions of their work, that was provided before the mural festival in 2018.
Julienne Alexander
Mars Hill, NC / Durham, NC
“My design asks viewers to decide whether two birds are making a nest or eating a big bowl of spaghetti.”
Bethany Bash
Durham, NC
“This cardinal is new life taking off from old technology, and more personally, it is representative of the boldness required to share my art.”
Sarahlaine Calva
Raleigh, NC
“The mural represents that while satellites persevere to connect us with what we want, this may be corrupted by the weather conditions, including heavy rain. The rain drops represent our hardships, but we can rely on the brightness of the sun to clear our problems.”
Cornelio Campos
Cheran, Mexico / Durham, NC
“This design represents different symbols used by the Purepechas people in Cheran, Mexico, to describe clothing and pottery. I was inspired to share this artwork to expose our community in Durham to the indigenous community where I was raised and let them know that we exist.”
Gina Franco
Greensboro, NC
“I created a bright tropical inspired design in hopes to bring the satellite dish back to life!”
Rachel Goodwin
Durham, NC
“I hope my mural, Sungazing, will add more mystery and connection to a world that can sometimes be so flat, frayed, horrid and easily explained. This design is an enigmatic, dynamic image in a constantly changing outdoor environment and on a nice day, it will gaze back up at the sky from within its tilted concave satellite as if to say: ‘I am only a titled concave mirror projecting and reflecting what I see: a beautiful, mysterious universe of suns connected by circles.’”
J Massullo
Raleigh, NC
“I like my work to explore the balance of life and death inherent in nature and the resiliency of life to persist.”
George Mitchell (with HappymessART)
Durham, NC
Staff artists of HappymessART, an art supply store near Durham’s 9th Street neighborhood, are painting a satellite with a work from Durham artist George Mitchell’s 1998 The Olympic Series. Mitchell was among the first group of African American artists to receive their MFAs from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His career was cut short due to a paralyzing assault committed by a family member in 2003. Holly Phelan Johnson, founder of HappymessART, is donating the mural funds to support local young artists to work with Mitchell in completing The Olympic Series.
Duke Arts Annex
Duke Arts Annex houses studio arts, including ceramics, screen printing and visual arts. Admission and materials is free to current Duke students.
Duke Arts Annex also occasionally holds arts events that are open to the greater community. Follow them on Facebook to see when events are announced.
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More Art Events in the Triangle
Check out a calendar of art events in the Triangle or look at a few of them here:
