New Public Art Mural in Old Town at Kerbobble Toys!
Posted by Patricia Kouttab on
ANNOUNCING!
“Welcome to Historic Manassas - Bee City USA”
Manassas, VA -- Theresa Coates Ellis, Patron Manassas City Council Member of Manassas Bee Festival (June 22); Patricia Kouttab, Owner of Kerbobble Toys; Sherry Day, building owner of 9216 Center St.; Mark Olsen, Chair and Kristen Keifer, Executive Director, Historic Manassas Inc. announce the creation of a new wall mural at an entrance to Historic Manassas on the wall of Kerbobble Toys celebrating the Bee City USA designation for the City of Manassas.
On May 2021, the Manassas City Council voted unanimously to become a Bee City USA, initiated by Council Member Theresa Coates Ellis, a trained master gardener and beekeeper. With that designation, the City must hold public awareness activities to plant native and to save our pollinators, including bees. The 4th annual Manassas Bee Festival fulfills this requirement with a free family fun and educational event held on Saturday, June 22nd from 10am to 2pm.
Coates Ellis said, “We started a nonprofit organization, Friends of the Manassas Bee Festival, so we could give back to the community. Our goal was to contribute more public art and education with the plants and pollinator theme. Since 2019, we have visited many schools and hosted workshops and demonstrations at our apiary at Liberia House and Grounds. This year, we are thrilled that a plan came together and we will be donating funds to the creation of the wall mural on Kerbobble Toys, to welcome visitors to our Historic Manassas and Bee City USA.”
Patricia Kouttab, owner of Kerbobble Toys, is also an artist and designed the mural and will be painting her original work of art on the wall of her business. The building is owned by Sherry Day, who submitted her consent for the project to Kouttab.
Day said, “This will be a beautiful greeting for anyone entering Old Town.”
Coates Ellis had been scouting for a wall for months for the Bee City USA designation. She had visited Kouttab at Kerbobble Toys (toys, books, and collectibles) during the annual Christmas Parade who said she was interested in painting a new mural on the wall herself and loved the theme.
Kouttab said, “Kerbobble Toys is honored to be a part of this exciting art project for the community. It is going to be a vibrant new addition to welcome all to the Historic District."
Coates Ellis and Kouttab consulted with Mark Olsen, Chair, and Kristen Keifer, Executive Director, Historic Manassas Inc. to make this idea a reality. They advised Sherry Day, the building owner, to apply to the Architecture Review Board (ARB) for the mural rehabilitation. The current mural is a beloved depiction of Manassas as a railway town and was a collaboration of artists from the local high school many years ago.
Keifer said, “HMI is honored to be a part of this exciting collaboration. This new, vibrant mural is important to our City because this building is a gateway into our Historic downtown district providing one of the first impressions that visitors see and is representative of Manassas’s identity as a designated Bee City.”
Last week the new mural design was unanimously approved by the ARB with Coates Ellis and Olsen present for support. The ARB expressed optimism that the new mural will be a welcome and popular spot for visitors.
Olsen said, “Historic Manassas, Inc. is thrilled to further its mission of engaging our Main Street community to highlight our appreciation of the arts and influence beautification initiatives, like this mural, to ensure a welcoming historic downtown district.”
The preparation of the wall started this week with power washing and cleaning up the landscape. Kerbobble Toys will be releasing videos on the YouTube Channel showing the progress of this art project until the final mural is ready for an official ribbon cutting in a few months.
Contact: Theresa Coates Ellis, Manassas City Council Member
M: 571-247-6729
Email: ManassasBeeFestival@gmail.com or TheresaCoatesEllis@gmail.com
W: https://www.ManassasBeeFestival.com