5 Norfolk Murals to Look Out For

One of the goals of the proposed Norfolk Arts District is to promote displays of public art -- such as murals -- around town. The Arts District is still a ways off, but in the meantime, Norfolk already is home to some pretty amazing murals, which we always spot when we're out and about. Here are five of our favorites around town -- have you seen them all?

1. The USS. Renova (129 W. Virginia Beach Blvd.)

Directly across from the Virginia Opera House is the USS Renova, painted on the side of the Renova Center building. The whimsical display integrates the building's windows into the design and features a submarine swimming through schools of colorful fish and three-dimensional mermaids and sea turtles. Take your time with this one -- there's a lot to spot hidden in those depths.

2. The Canvas at Zedd's Auction House (776 Granby Street)

Hampton Roads: The Canvas is a public art project that allows for artists to decorate abandoned buildings in the area. Their first project was the old Zedd's Auction House on downtown Granby Street. Four local painters transformed the building's boarded up windows and walls into dazzling panels featuring everything from cartoon animals to social commentary on beauty and capitalism. It's a wonderful (and free) mini-art gallery that makes what should be a sign of urban blight into a sign of the city's forward progress.

Update (9/4/13): Zedd's was torn down last week. The murals went with it. See what I'm saying about the impermanence of public art? I'm so glad we had a chance to take a look before the walls came down, and we hope you did, too. 

You can watch a short (~12 minutes) documentary on the painting of the Zedd's mural here.

3. Sunflowers (22nd Street and Colonial Ave.)

J., A. and I pass these sunflowers, painted on the side of Yorgo's Bageldashery, almost every weekend when we go for our Saturday morning breakfast. A solid two-story wall of flowers and buzzing bumblebees, it can be seen for blocks and provides a sunny spot in even the most dreary day. We've noticed that it's often referred to as a navigation point in the area -- "turn left when you see the sunflowers," and so forth.

4. Babe Ruth at Bain Field (702 W. 22nd Street)

Artist John Hickey painted this mural, which depicts Babe Ruth playing at Norfolk's Bain Field against the Norfolk Tars on June 29, 1934, on the front of Norfolk Baseball Academy on 22nd Street. (Hickey has also done several other iconic murals in the area). The photograph on which the Babe Ruth mural is based was projected onto the wall and then traced in the original newsprint colors. There is a wonderful sense of movement and you can almost hear and feel the excitement of the crowd when you look at it.

5. Enchanted Garden at Coleman Place Elementary (2450 Rush Street)

The giant animal and plant shapes on the Rush Street side of Coleman Place Elementary aren't painted, but cut out of giant sheets of aluminum that glitter in the sun. The mural, created by Garth Edwards, really sets the stage for what a school should be: a place where the world is discovered and explored, where imagination is valued.

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I think the thing I like best about murals is how transient they are. Buildings rise and fall, and the art goes with them -- it wears and tears in the weather or is replaced by something else. It gives a sense of lightheartedness to the act of making them, and also reinforces the idea of art purely for art's sake.

What do you think? Are there any other cool murals you've seen around Hampton Roads that we should check out? Or where you live, if you live outside the area? Tell us your favorites!