Paducah welcomed a new mural to it’s floodwall this week that highlights the city’s identity as a town for artists and quilters.
The mural displayed Caryl BryerFallert-Gentry’s quilt “Corona II: Solar Eclipse” and was painted by local artist Char Downs.
The mural was the idea of former Paducah mayor Gayle Kaler. She said using Paducah’s local talent to paint the murals should be satisfying for the whole community.
Kaler said the mural is painted to look as close to a real quilt as possible.
“Oh, it looks like the real thing. You feel like you can go up and touch it. It’s a Trompe-l'œil style of painting. So you know you can see the puffiness of the material as well as the stitching.” She said.
Kaler said the mural was painted on parachute material and applied to the floodwall like wallpaper. She said this kind of painting will last longer and require less upkeep than the other murals on the floodwall.
She said it’s the first of many potential quilt murals on a section of the floodwall she calls the ‘million dollar wall’ because each mural costs around $20,000. She said that section can hold up to 40 murals and development is contingent on funding, which comes from a variety of sources including grants and a GoFundMe page.
