Barbour County America 250 Mural Celebrates Local History & Natural Beauty
Governor Morrisey honor
s town with attendance at dedication ceremony
BELINGTON, W. Va. – The Barbour County Commission hosted a public ribbon cutting in Belington for the new mural “Cerulean Sky” on the Golden Rule Building on the evening of Friday, June 19th. Governor Patrick Morrisey was present to cut the ribbon, and the community had the opportunity to celebrate the project and meet the artists, Kylie Proudfoot- Payne and Zoë Brielle Payne. Emilee Goodman, the third artist to have participated in creating this piece, was not present at the ceremony.
The large 14’ x32’ mural was completed in only two weeks, from March 15th to April 1st, and it shows the Tygart River, Laurel Mountain, and the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley train under a bright sunset. Artist, Kylie Proudfoot-Payne, conceptualized this piece while her daughter, Zoë Brielle Payne, and artist Emilee Goodman assisted with production. Commissioner Bob Richardson was instrumental in locating the mural at the prominent Golden Rule location.
For this piece, the artist mentioned having first painted a serene sky, but then pivoted to painting a colorful sunset to better represent the beauty of Barbour County. “When I think of Barbour County, I think of the experiences with the land, the water, and the flow of the river through the County. Most of our communities are along rivers, and we engage with the water and the sky… and I feel like this mural depicts a dramatic point of interaction between those things,” Proudfoot-Payne said. David Strait, President of the Barbour County Commission, explained that, “Rather than highlighting landmarks, we wanted our mural to make you feel the way that being in Barbour County makes us feel.”
The ribbon-cutting took place during Belington’s West Virginia Day festival, when the community came together to celebrate with live music, vendors, and activities for the entire family. Governor Patrick Morrisey was present to give a speech addressing the celebrations: “When I come up here, I think about West Virginia history and how much it’s been shaped by the railroad. It carried our coal. It carried our timber, our workers, our families, but also carried opportunities.” The governor added that, “Railroad track connected communities like Belington to all across WV and ultimately, our country… [This is] such an idyllic small town, and we have a chance to look and assess where we’ve been, celebrate where we are today, and look ahead to where we are going”
Funding for the mural was made possible by West Virginia’s America 250 Mural Project, with support from the Barbour County Commission and Woodlands Development and Lending.
Woodlands Development and Lending works to develop affordable housing, drive downtown development, increase community capacity, and provide affordable small business support and lending services to the communities in our service area. Woodlands Development and Lending is an Elkins, WV based Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) and Financial Institution (CDFI) that serves Randolph, Barbour, and Tucker Counties.
Please contact Katie Wolpert (kwolpert@woodlandswv.org, 304.404.2991) for high-res images or further information
(attachments: Attached photo courtesy of Kylie Proudfoot-Payne of the ribbon cutting of the mural “Cerulean Sky”/ From left to right: Artists Emilee Goodman, Kylie Proudfoot-Payne sand Zoë Brielle Payne with the mural “Cerulean Sky”. / The band Stalnaker Hill performed fast picking bluegrass outdoors in front of a large crowd).
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