Through 2024, we are creating murals in Morganton! With the guidance of the Community Mural Institute (CMI), 24 emerging artists will get the chance to create community-engaged murals in Burke. Check out our teachers and collaborators in this work: GoodSpace Murals & Common Wealth Murals

Join Us!

What’s Coming Up

  • Sign up to Host an Artist - March 15

  • Artists are selected - March 29

  • Public Listening Sessions - Week of May 19

  • Designs are finalized - July 12

  • Paint Parties July 21& 22

  • Ribbon Cutting - Oct 11 and/or 12

Project Updates

Theme Selection

During the fall of 2023, TOSS collected 284 votes from the community to help determine the focus for the next three murals. We collected this feedback from the Historic Morganton Festival and through an online survey. The top themes were: Deaf and otherly abled community (27.55%), Woman in Burke (16.96%), Native Americans (16.9%)*, Industries ( 13.16%), Cornerstone businesses (11.51%).

In conversation with our planning partners and consultants we decided to narrow our focus to:

  • The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community

  • Women in the Workplace (focusing on small business, civic - engaged jobs, and the arts)

  • Pathways to Work (featuring trades)

Once the Steering Committees are formed in the early spring, the focus will be even more narrowly defined and public “listening sessions” in May will lock in more specifics.

*After much consideration, we decided not to pursue a mural featuring Native Americans since a big part of our project requires active participation and guidance from the community featured in the mural. With only 1.0% of our population in Burke identifying as Native American, TOSS doesn’t currently have a network of community members who identify as Cherokee or Catawba. This would be an essential component in our project and prohibited us from moving forward. If you know a resident in Burke that identifies as Native American, connect us! We’d love to start the conversation.

Our murals

Realidades del Sur
212 Avery Ave, Morganton, NC
Design by Alexa Eliana

Title: Our Legacy
101 S. Green Street, Morganton, NC
Designed by Kiana Mui

Mural Title: Reflections of Legacy
205 Sterling Street, Morganton, NC
Designed by Darlene McClinton

Title: You Build Our Community
647 Hopewell Road, Morganton, NC
Designed by Ian Brownlee

Background

During a summer camp in 2021,  high school students created a “wish list” for future public art projects after completing a public art audit. We walked around Morganton and discussed what we saw (or didn’t see). While we can’t make a mural for everything on the wishlist, we want to do our part in creating more inclusive public spaces. Inspired by our campers, TOSS has been building a database of projects, resources, and public art that highlight some of our less represented communities in Burke. You can see the research and interviews we’ve conducted here.

Other Ways to Help

Why do we care about murals? About public art? A study called the Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) demonstrated that communities with “vibrant cultural life” experience “spillover effects.” Those communities experience stronger community and civic engagement, better health, schooling, personal security, and economic revitalization. This is called a thriving cultural ecology.

🎤 Help with our Oral History project! This is foundational research for the murals. The mural steering committees use the data and stories from local interviews to guide the artists along with the listening sessions. Email us if you'd like to conduct an interview or be interviewed: kathryn@tosstudio.org

🗳 Donate to the mural fund! These murals are about $34K EACH and we would always appreciate your support raising da monies. (Email Kathryn if you have a fundraising idea!)

🏪 Donate a WALL. We need three more spots for next year. 👀👀
(email - kathryn@tosstudio.org or call @ 828-448-1734)