The Asheville Mural Project, a program of Arts 2 People, exists to beautify and diversify Asheville’s urban landscape, providing artists and local community members with the opportunity to implement their own public art. AMP believes that murals enhance quality of life and create an artful metropolitan experience through the transformation of conventional architecture. The murals are both the testimony and celebration of a lively local arts culture.
AMP is making Asheville a city where the mural arts are celebrated and has joined forces with local professional muralists to create the highest quality art which will serve as lasting monuments. This is testified to in a recent article from Kent Ohio point directly to inspiration from AMP’s Lexington Gateway Mural for the making of their own city mural. Read below for more info a new mural that was just comissioned by The Cotton Mill Studios in Asheville!
A Case using Murals to Beautify and Revitalize: AMP hired to paint a Mural on the Historic Cotton Mill Studios:
The Historic Cotton Mill Studios, located in the River Arts District of Asheville, NC is what remains of the Cotton Mill Complex which was destroyed by a devastating fire in 1995. The building was purchased by potters Eileen & Marty Black (The Potter’s Mark Ltd.) in 2002 and is the home to nine artists.
The North side of the building indicates where the fire stopped, burning up to the wall. The building was saved both by an operating sprinkler system and a shift in the winds away from the building.
pre-mural &post-fire view of the old Cotton Mill's north side
Unfortunately, this was the view [Left] of the River Arts District to passersby’s on the Smokey Park Bridge over the French Broad river. It made the River Arts District look like a burned out slum. After Purchasing the building Marty & Eileen began a facelift to improve the image and Identity of the River Arts District. They started by cleaning and painting the burned out side wall so the view from the bridge would be more appealing, hopefully attracting more visitors to the area.
Symbol for the River Arts District and view of the north side of the Cotton Mill now
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Front of the Cotton Mill Studio now. Site for the new AMP Mural
Investigating many possibilities the Blacks decided on a mural, but not just any mural, they wanted a “Trompe l’oiel”. Trompe l’œil, (French for ‘deceive the eye’, pronounced [tʁɔ̃p lœj]) is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the impression that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.
Ian Wilkinson the Mural Program Director of the Asheville Mural Project, a program of Asheville’s non-profit Arts 2 People came up with the ideal solution. This mural [rendering shown below] should be completed by mid-October 2010.
Projection of what the new AMP Mural will look like on the Cotton Mill Studio
Eileen and Marty hope that this will become a landmark and the beginning of many similar murals on the old buildings of the river Arts District (RAD), resulting in attracting many more tourists to Asheville and the RAD.
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AMP Director Ian Wilkinson hard at work on the Lexington Gateway Mural
About AMP’s Director: Ian Wilkinson has been a professional muralist for fifteen years. He was the lead mural artist for the Holocaust Museum of Virginia. Ian painted murals depicting the Ipsen Family’s escape from the Holocaust, and worked directly with other Holocaust survivors to make detailed drawings that would be used to recreate key points in the museum. Ian went on to earn his BFA in painting from Adams State College in Colorado. Ian shows his personal work in Santa Fe and private collections across the country. Ian specializes in portraits, realism, and large format work. He is currently the Director of the Asheville Mural Project (AMP), which is a program of Arts 2 People. Ian lives in Asheville with his wife Angeline, daughter Ella and son Augustus.
It is AMP’s goal to make murals an affordable and lasting solution for beautifying and revitalizing buildings, homes, and businesses. The AMP team works closely with clients in the proposal phase of the project. AMP works hard to meet budgetary requirements and navigate the permit processes. All works are created using state-of-the-art materials. The AMP team offers a number of different service agreements for clients to assure our works will stand the test of time and weather. AMP also specializes in child directed murals and offers free lectures and workshops. To find out more about AMP, please visit http://www.arts2people.org/amp.html or email Ian Wilkinson at info@ianthepainter.com.
Dreamspider's Blog 
What a wonderful way to beautify Asheville!
My husband and I spent this past Sunday enjoying the wonderful studios and great weather during the River Arts District Stroll. Most impressive was the unbelievable mural on the Cotton Mills Studios. We had a great chat with the artist and ended up buying several Asheville Mural Project t-shirts. I was so excited about the way this area has been transformed by restoration of these nostalgic buildings and most of all the beautification of this area through murals and community support that I passed on the project info to one of our art teachers in Brevard. I can’t wait to see this project continue in Asheville and maybe even come to Brevard!