Muralist Pam Manz is back in town after five years away, and she’s staying busy. After volunteering to paint murals on four windows at the Mathews Museum, she started on a commissioned piece at the Cobbs Creek Arts Center—a mural to represent all of the arts supported at the center.
Manz said the mural began as a sketch that she showed Josie Thorpe, owner of the arts center, but the wall-sized mural is all being done free-hand.
The mural includes the drama faces, comedy and tragedy; ballet shoes to represent “something children can identify with”; a large hand holding a paintbrush; and music—a saxophone player “because they’re so striking” and a keyboard floating through in the background “to tie everything together.” Because the building is sometimes used as a church, a dove and a cross are included, as well.
The surface of the wall is rough brick in varying levels, but Manz said, “I just paint around things as I go.” When she’s finished including all the elements in the mural, Manz w...