Sixteen years ago, in 2002, Chip Holton painted the mural at the entrance to Lucky 32 at Westover Terrace. The above photo features an iconic scene of the Greensboro Sit-Ins, a non-violent protest at the Woolworth on Elm Street. In the mural, David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr. and Joseph McNeil are seated waiting to be served a cup of coffee at a lunch counter where the wait staff was refusing to serve them. The floor to ceiling 14' mural, along a curved wall, is full of scenes from Greensboro's history. Some of the scenes in the mural have playful twists like the square hamburger bun next to a railroad underpass, an obvious nod to Greensboro's Hamburger Square. All of the imagery features scenes from Greensboro's history.*
The artist, Chip Holton, is from down the road in Lexington, North Carolina; however, his Greensboro influence is far-reaching. Chip produced all of the artwork in the O. Henry Hotel and the Proximity Hotel. ** His artwork can also be found in places like the North Carolina Zoo, the North Carolina Natural History Museum in Raleigh, and Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.
* Reference and more information can be found in this 2002 article by Jim Schlosser, back when Jim worked at the News & Record.
** Read more about Chip Holton at his website, here.
Wow, this takes me back...those were not the "good old days," they were scary and horrible. I remember this event well. I can't imagine the courage it took for these people to sit at that lunch counter!
Posted by: Lowell | Monday, April 02, 2018 at 10:52 AM
Vividly done.
Posted by: William Kendall | Tuesday, April 03, 2018 at 05:03 PM