Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Last Wednesday was a perfect evening for the official reveal party of the mural on the side of the Durbin town office. The sun was shining at just the right angle to illuminate the vibrant colors of the mural that looks like a giant postcard welcoming visitors to Durbin and the Monongahela National Forest.
The mural was commissioned as part of the Allegheny Trail’s 50th anniversary, and artist Heidi Nisbett, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was selected as an artist/ hiker in residency to hike the trail and paint the mural to commemorate the trail and Durbin.
Allegheny Trail outreach coordinator Nicolle Flood-Sawczyszyn welcomed the crowd to the reveal celebration and explained that the mural project was a collaborative effort between the ALT, Mon Forest Towns, the town of Durbin and Nisbett.
“This literally came out of a series of questions,” Flood-Sawczyszyn said. “Who is Durbin? Who have they been in the past? Who are they in the present, and who do they want to be.
“So look at that. This is what she came up with. We just wrote down words and she came up with this. Pretty amazing.
“If you think this is special – and it is, obviously it is – this is the catalyst,” she continued. “This is the precipice. This is the beginning of where we’re going in Durbin with this positive energy.”
Flood-Sawczyszyn hand-ed over the mic to Nisbett, who shared her experience hiking the 311 mile Allegheny Trail and the process she took in creating the mural.
“I spent 28 days hiking the trail and almost two weeks painting,” she said. “I really enjoyed my experience hiking through on the Allegheny Trail and spending almost a whole month – on foot – walking through West Virginia and seeing these back corners I wouldn’t have seen if I had taken the interstate through or going to the top highlights of the state that Google says you have to go through.”
During her hike, Nisbett made sure to catalog what she saw and experienced so she could include it in the mural.
“All of the wildflowers that you see are all flowers that I saw a lot of on the trail,” she said. “That really stood out to me when I was hiking here in June.
“The little beaver that you have in the front – I actually saw him on the West Fork River on the rail trail about two or three miles from here.”
West Fork and she noticed a beaver dam. She made a comment that it would be fun to see a beaver while they were there and sure enough, a beaver came out, swam across the river, gathered some greens in its mouth and went back to the dam.
Now that beaver is immortalized on the mural, complete with greens in his mouth.
Nisbett explained that she designed the mural on her iPad and was able to make changes easily until they came to the final decision of what it would look like.
Once the design was finalized, she was ready to start on the real thing. She projected the image onto 10-foot by 30-foot aluminum sheets that were used as the base for the mural and then traced all the elements.
“I know a lot of you guys have come by and stopped and chatted with me,” she said. “I think that’s one of my favorite parts about working on murals in public spaces, engaging with the community and hearing feedback.”
In fact, while Nisbett was painting, she said an individual suggested she include the Cheat Mountain Salamander because of its importance in the county. Although not in the original design, Nisbett agreed and was able to insert the salamander, sunning on a rock by the river.
This is not Nisbett’s first foray in painting murals related to trails. She has three murals in Damascus, Virginia, that were commissioned by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy – one on the trail and two at the Farmers Market in town.
She also has several murals in North Carolina and will be creating a mural for Whataburger which is opening a branch of its franchise in North Carolina next year.
The Durbin mural is her first in West Virginia, but Nisbett said she hopes it won’t be her last.
“I’ll paint your whole town if you want me to,” she said, laughing.
Sam Canary with Mon Forest Towns and Durbin businessman Buster Varner also spoke and shared their appreciation for the collaboration that went into the mural project. Canary also had a tent set up with information about the Mon Forest Towns collaborative.
After the reveal and dedication, the crowd retired to the Bartow-Durbin-Frank fire department for refreshments.
As part of the mural reveal, those in attendance participated in a mural scavenger hunt where they were given a list of 10 items that are featured in the mural. Those driving by or stopping to take a closer look at the mural can try their own hand at finding the following items: Allegheny Trail mark-er, beaver, Cheat Mountain salamander, dragonfly, Dur-bin Days banner, moonshine still, mushrooms, pig, Sasquatch and skidder.