Pantana Bob's, 2005

300 W. Rosemary Street

My last annual downtown mural was painted in 2003. It is on Pantana Bob's bar and restaurant facing Rosemary Street. The painting shows a number of young student volunteers working on a mural of huge football players. They are using a "Paint by Numbers" method.

These "painted painters" are about halfway through their project, so the mural becomes a painting about making a painting. I think it is a nice tribute to all the school kids who have helped me each spring for 18 years.

I must have somehow sensed that this might be the last mural. The painted painters will never finish their mural, and I didn't want my program to be finished either. The Downtown Commission (which sponsored most of my activity in town) was soon afterward re-organized as the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership. We have not yet found a way to resume the mural program. We are however, beginning to work along with the historic preservation folks on the upkeep of some of the older murals.

I have always wanted to paint a colossus (a giant). When I finally got my chance the wall I was given was the wrong shape. I decided to paint football players in a crouch so my giants would fit. Although I do not follow Carolina football as closely as many people, I feel an unusual sense of loyalty to the program. As a kid I made almost all my income selling sodas and programs at the stadium, or by babysitting for people going to the game. I've even played football in Kenan (a hole in the fence; lucky we didn't get caught).

I like all the different numbers in the picture. Numbers on the jerseys, numbers on the field, numbers in the grid the painters are using to lay out the mural, numbers in their paint by numbers drawing. All those different uses of numbers seemed to blur the distinction between different realms of endeavor in a way that I found philosophically very satisfying.

Michael Brown

Courtesy of The Chapel Hill News

This mural is in good shape. The colors are slightly faded and a small amount of grime could easily be retouched. Also a small bit of unobtrusive graffitti would be covered up. The mural would be washed and adding a UV protective clear coat would go a long in protecting the colors in the future.

Total cost for restoration: $800.00

Amount raised to date: $0.00