Cover image: Mock-up of one of two murals planned for the historic Seminole-Hartzog Pharmacy building in Seminole County by Color the World Bright. Source: https://www.donalsonvillenews.com/2022/10/28/grant-awarded-for-two-down…

Drawing and Painting Professor Joseph Norman will be painting two murals funded by a Georgia Council for the Arts grant in Seminole County, Georgia alongside students and alumni involved in his mural team Color the World Bright.

Earlier this year, Georgia Magazine featured Colored the World Bright in a piece titled “The Mural of the Story.” The article states that  “murals, signs, and historic advertisements painted by Color the World Bright can be found in more than two dozen, mostly rural, communities across Georgia, and they are completing new work all the time.” The project is composed of a team of “a dozen UGA students, while more than 70 alumni remain in touch with Norman and even help out on projects when they are able.”

Donalsonville News in Seminole County has reported that the local government has received a Vibrant Communities grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts for two murals on the historic Seminole-Hartzog Pharmacy building. Read more below:

The Development Authority of Seminole County and Donalsonville in Seminole County was awarded a Vibrant Communities grant from Georgia Council for the Arts, a strategic arm of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, for fiscal year 2023. The Vibrant Communities Grant supports a variety of arts programming opportunities throughout the state. As part of this year’s Vibrant Communities awards, 44 entities in 38 counties will receive almost $200,000 in funding.

The local project for which the grant was awarded is for two murals to be painted on the historic Seminole-Hartzog Pharmacy building located in downtown Donalsonville at 111 East Second Street.  To attract tourists to our downtown area, and provide a vibrant backdrop for photo opportunities, the project would first start with a larger, postcard style mural spelling out the town name Donalsonville.  Inside the lettering of this mural would be images that reflect the history, local culture and quality of life of the small town of Donalsonville.  The second, smaller mural, would feature a  vintage style advertisement for Seminole-Hartzog Pharmacy’s original namesake, Seminole Drug Co. with its original logo.

“Rarely has arts funding been more needed than it is today, so Georgia Council for the Arts is particularly grateful for the support that the Georgia General Assembly is providing for our arts communities to help them carry out their mission,” said Georgia Council for the Arts Director Tina Lilly. “We hear firsthand about what this assistance can mean to an organization and a community, and we’re pleased to know that it will touch the lives of so many Georgians.” 

Georgia Council for the Arts received applications from schools, libraries, cities, historical societies, community theatres, Boys & Girls Clubs, and arts and other related organizations from across the state. Entities that previously received a fiscal year 2023 Project, Bridge, or Arts Education grant, which were announced in August, were not eligible for Vibrant Communities grants. 

Color the World Bright is the artist group that will be involved in the mural project, and is led by Professor Joseph Norman of the UGA Lamar Dodd School of Art and Katie E. Brannen, Project Manager.  The crew is made up of students from the Lamar Dodd School of Art. 

“We feel that each mural we are working to have painted would positively impact not only the look of our small town community, but it will bring in tourists as well,” commented Chamber of Commerce President Sarah Avery.

Artist Bio

Joseph Norman earned his M.A. at the University of Illinois and an M.F.A. at the University of Cincinnati in 1986. Afterward, he moved to Rhode Island to launch his career. It was at that point that he began teaching and exhibiting at the Newport Art Museum.

Norman serves as a professor of art specializing in drawing and painting at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, where he has also served as the area chair of the drawing and painting department and was founder of study abroad programs in Latin America, namely Cuba, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands. A world-class draftsman and printmaker, he has works of art in museum collections around the country, including the MoMA, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the RISD Museum, among others.