New Mural livens up South Wayne Street, represents diversity in Milledgeville

Published 5:39 pm Friday, April 14, 2017

The corner of South Wayne and Franklin is getting a shot of life this weekend.

This Saturday at 10 a.m., a group of yoga instructors, volunteer artists, and (presumably) passers-by will converge on Good Karma Center for Yoga and the Healing Arts for an ambitious project — a mural covering the entire southern wall of the building. The mural, which is a collaboration between Good Karma, Georgia College Art student Adam Crawford, and the GC Office of Inclusive Excellence, will be visible for hundreds of yards down the South Wayne Street thoroughfare, and promises an eye-catching spectacle for anyone entering Milledgeville’s historic district.

“Last year, I think when we had done the first art show here, Adam exhibited,” said Clark Heindel, owner of the Good Karma studio. “We ran into each other [afterword] and he said ‘I’d like to do a mural’. I thought it was a great idea, but I didn’t have the capitol because we’re a new business. I thought if we could just get the money, it would be great.”

Although Heindel didn’t have the money to paint a mural at the time Crawford approached him, he knew the local artist would be the perfect man for the job. Recently, the accomplished 22-year-old did a sidewalk piece for the Macon Arts Alliance’s East-West Art Walk, and on Thursday submitted his final portfolio for his GC undergraduate program. Although Crawford’s vision for the wall had been temporarily put on hold, eventually undergoing a few tweaks from the Milledgeville Historic Preservation Commission, GC master’s student and Good Karma instructor Ryan Loveeachother received some help from the university’s Office of Inclusive Excellence to turn the artist’s vision into reality.

“We had a Kickstarter, which we Kickstarted about $200 from, which is all from, students, GC faculty, and local people,” said Loveeachother of the online fundraising site. “Six hundred seventy-five dollars has come from Georgia College in two chucks. One is a $500 grant from the Office of Inclusive Excellence for a project to celebrate diversity in the community, and we’re waiting on another $175 because we low-balled how much money we would actually need, and they were kind enough to help us out with the remaining funds.”

With approval from the HPC and the other funds in hand, Crawford intended to set up a projector screen in the CVS parking lot across the street on Friday night, where he will project an image of the planned mural onto the wall and begin the painstaking work of tracing the outlines with chalk. The artist said the mural’s subdued but diverse color scheme represents the wide range of people and perspectives in Milledgeville, and hopes his mural will be a welcome addition to the southern edge of downtown.

“I think it just makes everyone a little bit happier, and a little bit more engaged and involved in the setting they’re in, because it’s not just a blank wall anymore,” Crawford said. “Turning it into a piece of art that can be seen from multiple angles and vantage points, especially the way the wall is laid out, the patterns and the way it wraps around the wall is an important part. No matter what side you’re coming from you’ll get a vantage point and be able to see the design wrapped around, and it will be interesting to see how the community reacts to the piece.”

This Saturday morning, 11 volunteers in four 30-minute time slots will report to fill in the mural, with many others expected to simply take in the spectacle. Crawford said it is not uncommon for people walking by to stop and watch when painting a mural, and Heindel and the Good Karma staff plan to have a few light refreshments on hand. In painting such a vivid mural on such a prominent place on the side of his business, the Good Karma owner said he simply wanted to bring a bit more life and color to his small corner of town.

“Some people had mentioned to me that we could put up the [Good Karma] logo because really it’s just a big beige wall, but I wasn’t really dying to do that,” said Heindel. “I think this really works out because I really like Adam’s design: It’s modernistic, but yet acceptable for most people …  I think people will enjoy that.”

The Good Karma Center for Yoga and the Healing Arts is located at 361 S. Wayne St. in Milledgeville.