Glen Morgan Bridge Pier Project

How the Bridge Pier Murals will be created

The two artists we have contracted, Melissa Doty and Nichole Westfall are experienced muralists who have been painting for over 20 years.  They have painted murals on both concrete and brick buildings, bridge piers, wooden siding and more.  Although they have painted directly on the surface of structures for years, they have more recently moved to a process where the artist paints indoors on a polytab fabric.  Polytab has traditionally been used in men’s suits, but is also a popular choice for murals. The fabric comes in huge rolls, and once primed, can be painted. Once the mural is completed on the polytab, it is basically hung like wallpaper in sections, and can be covered with the same anti-graffiti coating as a regular “wall-painted” mural. It’s extremely durable (more so than a traditional mural) and the benefit is that you can work on it anywhere, anytime. By using this method, the artists can paint the mural indoors (all winter) and the project will not be delayed by weather which can be a huge challenge in Beckley, WV.  The other advantages are 1) that the polytab can last over 30 years which is much longer than a traditional painted mural and 2) the only time scaffolding or a cherry picker would be needed would be on installation days which would be about one week long.  This will be safer for the artists and prevent most of the staging of the area that would be necessary otherwise.   Without a doubt, the project will go much faster and will save money on travel costs.