Originally published in The Sylva Herald
Aaron Harris is making his vintage postcard mural a reality in downtown Sylva after a brief hiatus due to a hairline fracture in his right forearm.
The vintage postcard mural in downtown Sylva. Photo by Gavin Stewart.
The first two weeks of the project were spent prepping and priming the side of Ward Heating & Plumbing on Mill Street, which required Harris to stand on a scaffolding two stories high. Progress on the mural ceased when Harris fell 3 feet from a stepladder when he began tracing and sketching.
The unveiling of the mural was originally scheduled during the Greening Up The Mountains festival according to town Manager Paige Dowling, and has now been pushed back to the first week of June.
But Harris is back thanks to surgery, fast recovery and help with tracing and sketching from town board member Greg McPherson and other community members. WCU art students might have the opportunity to lend Harris a hand when the semester ends.
“I’ve found that I’m able to paint more than I expected with this setback,” Harris said.
He is working on the bigger, basic shapes and filling with his non-dominant side. He should be able to use his right arm by the end of the month.
Harris said working on a community rather than a business project separates this one from others.
“The process of researching the history of Sylva and finding what needed to be celebrated and what people wanted to honor makes this project most interesting,” he said.
The community has given Harris positive feedback since he started over a month ago.
“People will yell sometimes as they are driving by here without realizing the wall amplifies that,” Harris said. “It sounds negative, but I think they’re cheering me on.”
Harris believes the Sylva Public Art Committee approached the project correctly, and that it’s important to keep these projects going.
“The selection process and working with me to hone in on what they wanted was really helpful,” he said. “These projects are worth celebrating, and they elevate the character of the town.”
The 22-foot-tall, 53-foot-long mural “portrays the new side of Sylva while honoring its history,” he said. Each letter of “Sylva” will represent important landmarks that make Sylva, Sylva.
