Love Mural Revealed

Activate Selma and the Johnston County Arts Council will unveil downtown Selma’s newest mural at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Treasury Antiques, 102 S. Raiford St. In 2021, Activate Selma partnered with the Arts Council to create the mural as one of the Arts Council’s 50th anniversary projects. Selma resident Allyson Caison coordinated the project, whose theme is “Celebrating Love Through Art, Community and Culture.” The five artists who took part in the project were Judy Boyette of Four Oaks, visual arts; Sue Avera of Smithfield, music; Grace Brantley of Princeton, writing; Percilla Williams of Selma, dance; and William Strickland of Selma, theater. On the writing panel, Brantley painted the word “love” in nine languages: aejong, which is Korean; ai, Japanese; amor, Spanish; liebe, German; liefde, Dutch; love, English; mahal, Filipino; upendo, Swahili; and yeu, vietnamese. The mural will be on the West Anderson Street side of Treasury Antiques. Shop owners Albert Kensak, a long-standing member of the town’s Tourism Committee, and his wife, Cornelia, installed lighting so the mural will be visible after sundown. At the unveiling, Coffee on Raiford will serve coffee, and those attending are welcome to leave business cards or contact information at Selma’s many shops for a chance to win a Valentine’s Day basket. Basket winner will be drawn on February 12th at 2pm at Coffee On Raiford. Winner need not be present to win. For complete information, please call Allyson Caison at 919-961-4130