Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
As part of the 50th anniversary of the Allegheny Trail, artist Heidi Nisbett, of Charlotte, North Carolina, is doing a special Artist/Hiker in Residency program with the trail organization to document her time walking the entirety of the trail and create murals in several towns along the way.
The residency was inspired by the National Parks Artist in Residency program in which an artist is commissioned to create artwork for parks and during their time working on the project, the park would pay for accommodations, meals and recreational passes.
“We were approached by Heidi about doing this,” Allegheny Trail outreach coordinator Nicole Flood-Sawczyszyn said. “With the hiker in residency program, we would employ her to hike our entire trail – 311 miles, 86 of which are in Pocahontas County.”
When it came time to choose where the murals should be located, Durbin was an obvious pick. It is a Mon Forest Town and the trail runs right through it.
“Durbin is a base camp of the Mon, it’s at the center; kind of dead center of our trail, so all things point to Durbin,” Flood-Sawczyszyn said. “We had a couple meetings with the town council, looked at agreeing on a package where we’re able to help reduce some of the pricing with the Allegheny Trail assisting with accommodations.”
A generous donation from a former West Virginia resident, who is also an artist, paid for the entire hike and Durbin businesses and individuals have made donations that took away the stress of funding the project.
The mural is 10 feet by 30 feet and is located on the side of the town office. Instead of going directly onto the building, the mural is painted of sheets of aluminum that are mounted on the wall.
The design process included input from the town and its residents, as well as Nisbett, who has also painted several murals along the Appalachian Trail.
“We went to the town council and said ‘who is Durbin? What is Durbin?’” Flood-Sawczyszyn said. “Think past, present and future. It’s going to be a compilation of those things in addition to what the board feels is who we are. The town was fully involved. We kind of started from nothing. I’m pretty excited about it.”
The mural looks like a classic postcard, emblazoned with “Welcome to Durbin,” and a landscape that includes the train, farming, fishing, hunting and the carnival from Durbin Days Heritage Fair.
“What we want to do as the town – and something the Mon Forest Towns are constantly engaging and try to promote – is not just outdoor recreation in all facets, but what about the person who has grandkids and doesn’t have time to hike twenty-five miles in the woods or mountain bike or go kayaking. They can start engaging with the Mon Forest Towns on a mural tour. Each of the towns is working hard to get something where we can also create a passport concept with murals.”
The mural will be unveiled with an official reveal party Wednesday, September 4, at 6 p.m., but Flood-Sawczyszyn said Nisbett is comfortable with people experiencing the process and watching her work on the painting in the meantime.
“We’d love to have people see it,” she said. “She’s going to be working, but this isn’t new to her. She’s used to people watching her work. She’s just a talented human and it’s been a beautiful journey to be a part of it.”
