Town Hires Local Artist for Public Art at Library

Town officials have hired local Illustrator Jim Brown to design and produce Clayton’s second piece of public art---a mural at the Hocutt-Ellington Memorial Library.

The Johnston County Community College art instructor, known for the Carolina Hurricanes mural at Duke Children’s Hospital, rose to the top from several area artists who expressed interest in the job.

Brown was recommended by the Public Art advisory Board, which considered proposals from thirteen local artists. Gina Moreland, Chairperson of the Board, told the Town Council recently that “all were impressive,” but “we found Jim Brown’s experience and artistic talent to best fit this project.”

In recent years, Brown has produced box cover art for Rules of the Game and a Scooby-Doo computer game, as well as Disney illustrations for Norwegian Cruise Lines. He has also contributed to the permanent exhibit on the Centennial Campus at NCSU.

Town officials want a painting "that will acknowledge and celebrate the library as a historic point connecting past and present."

The proposed site is a hallway adjacent to the Library's Reference Room. The hallway is part of the spine connecting the primary collection, the History Room and the south wing.

The project will have a budget of $12,000.

Officials want to have a design by the end of January, with work completed by June.

The Library enjoys a historic setting along a tree-lined street in downtown Clayton. It includes a wing dedicated to an extensive children’s collection, public computer/internet access, special programming for children including a summer reading program and the Clayton History Room, which houses reference materials, family histories, and artifacts significant to the people and culture of Clayton. Although the Library had humble beginnings in a single room of the old "Town Hall" building, it now supports a circulation exceeding 12,000 books per month.

Town officials unveiled Clayton's first public art project, a mural by artist Dorothy Demboski of town scenes called "Clayton Patchwork," in January, a 10-foot by 10-foot painting on an upstairs wall of the Clayton Center.