Photo by Jon Anderson
201222_Bluff_Park_Mural
Bluff Park artist Jayne Morgan and Toni Kennedy, the daughter of Charles and Carol Pilleteri, display the design for a mural that will go on the side of the building behind them. The building at 815 Shades Crest Road is owned by the Pilleteri family and contains businesses such as Mr. P's Deli and the Bluff Park Ice Cream Shoppe.
A group of Bluff Park residents and business people is planning a mural to welcome people to the community.
The mural will be painted on the side of the building that contains Mr. P’s Deli and the Bluff Park Ice Cream Shoppe at 815 Shades Crest Road and greet people as they drive up Shades Mountain into Bluff Park.
It will include a picture of the scenic view from Shades Mountain and a tribute to Carol Pilleteri (Mrs. P), who died in April 2018. The mural also will include the words “Bluff Park welcomes you.”
The idea for the mural came from Bluff Park resident Brett Shaw, who saw a mural in Homewood and wanted to create something like that for his community. He and fellow Bluff Park resident Heather Skaggs formed a committee, and the committee approached the Pilleteri family, which owns the strip shopping center that contains Mr. P’s, about using the side of their building.
Charles Pilleteri said he loved the idea for the mural.
“Bluff Park’s been great to us,” he said. “We’ve been here 45 years. When the people come in here, they’re like family and friends.”
His daughter, Toni Kennedy, said the mural will not only represent the beauty of Bluff Park and welcome people to the community, but also hold special meaning for the Pilleteri family.
The mural will include a pair of angel wings that represent Mrs. Pilleteri, red roses (which were her favorite flower) and seven cardinals representing the seven grandchildren of Charles and Carol Pilleteri.
Kennedy said she was glad that artist Jayne Morgan, who developed the design for the mural, worked with the Pilleteri family to make it special for them, too.
Morgan said the angel wings are special to her, too, because her brother died last year, and she hopes the mural can help other people find a way to keep the memory of loved ones alive, too.
Skaggs said committee members hope the mural will become a popular spot for people to stop and take photographs with it.
Morgan said the idea to include the scenic view on the mural was easy. “Everybody that lives here in Bluff Park knows about the gorgeous sunsets we have,” she said.
Shaw said he is excited to see how the mural turns out and hopes it will become a focal point for the community. “Just another step towards the evident revitalization of the area,” he said. “Lots of great things are coming Bluff Park’s way, and it’s just really fun to see the idea come to life.”
The mural will take up the entire span of the wall on the northeast side of the building, which is roughly 51 feet long and 14 to 16 feet tall.
The committee is asking the community to donate money to pay for the supplies to paint the mural. Skaggs estimated it would cost about $2,000. People can make donations through Venmo @BluffParkMuralProject. Any amount is greatly appreciated, she said, but donations of $400 or more will receive a limited signed and matted 8x10-inch print of the mural image.
Morgan said, depending on how fundraising goes and the weather, she hopes to actually paint the mural on the building in January. She thinks it could probably be done over a three-day period.
She plans to involve the community in the painting. She will draw the outline for the mural, and people can help paint different parts of it, sort of like paint by numbers, she said. She will providing finishing touches to make sure the different sections flow together well, she said.
The Bluff Park mural committee includes Shaw, Skaggs, Morgan, Kennedy, Darla Williamson and Amy Anderson.
Skaggs said the committee hopes that this project will spur other murals in Hoover. This particular building technically is in the Birmingham city limits. Hoover’s sign ordinance may need adjusting to better accommodate murals, Skaggs said. But people do have the option to request a sign variance through the city’s Board of Zoning Adjustment.
The Bluff Park mural committee also has created a Facebook page called Bluff Park Mural Project.
