Paint the town: Lively paints new mural in downtown Edenton

EDENTON — Matt Lively is already known in Edenton for his mural on the side of the Chowan Arts Council building on Water Street. That work emphasizes historic structures and features whimsical unicycle-riding bumble bees.

The Richmond artist, who is well known for his murals in public spaces, has created a new mural the corner of Broad and King streets highlighting the town’s image as a premium freshwater fishing and historic tourism destination.

The new mural features a bass striking a lure as a teapot pours water into the Albemarle Sound, a nod to the town’s 250th-anniversary celebration of the Edenton Tea Party. Herons wade in the water, and the town’s 1886 lighthouse stands silhouetted in the mural’s bottom right corner.

Lively says he started his career in sculpture and then moved into paintings, which he marketed through art galleries.

“I did sculpture for 20 years. Then I saw people doing murals, and it looked like fun, so I thought I’d try it,” he said. “Now, for the last decade or so, I have done a lot of them. I still do paintings for galleries and public sculpture as well.”

The mural and Lively’s process have greatly interested locals who stop to ask about the work. He has made it a point to answer questions about the project from passersby.

Like most similar works, the mural at the corner of Broad and King streets is put together from a grid system, but Lively uses his own unique notations on each grid, identifying where different objects will be depicted.

Lively said Bryan Vazquez, the young artist responsible for the window murals that adorn the storefront windows on the vacant Gordmans and Sears buildings on Broad Street, assisted him with the project. He said he encourages Vazquez and other young artists to paint murals.

“I think that a lot of people say it’s very difficult, but in my experience, it’s no more difficult than trying to become a dentist or anything else,” Lively said.

“You put in the work and connect with people — real people, human beings — instead of relying on social media,” he said. “I think many young people think they can have a big presence on Instagram and become professional artists as a result. The real way to do it is getting out in the world and showing people what you can do.”

Lively said he’s grown to love working in Edenton and seeks opportunities to come to the town.

“I love Edenton; I rarely go out of town when it comes to doing murals. I don’t like traveling. I have a good thing going where I live,” he said. “Before Edenton, the farthest away I went was Norfolk, but I came to Edenton because I liked it. When I was asked to come back, I just said yes and packed up the van.”

Chowan Arts Council Director Meredith Timberlake said inviting Lively back was an easy decision, given the reaction to his last project.

“Feedback has been amazing on that,” she said of the CAC mural. “ People come and get their picture taken in front of the mural, and I think it is a big deal for Edenton to have this public art going up.”

Timberlake noted that the Arts Council’s mural is small, while the new one on Board Street is much larger.

“The feedback on it has been fantastic so far,” she said. “I think Matt has been really great at answering a lot of questions, and people have been really interested in understanding the process. It really helps to educate the public on the importance of public art and its significance.”