New Mural and Chapin Art Trail in the News
WLTX featured the new Chapin Mural and Chapin Art Trail in a recent story:
New mural, Chapin Art Trail concept in Lexington County town
"It’s just important for me to release that creativity," local artist Nicki Peeples said.
Author: Rachel Ripp
Published: 3:39 PM EDT September 23, 2023
Updated: 3:42 PM EDT September 23, 2023
CHAPIN, S.C. — The town of Chapin just got much more vibrant with the addition of a new mural and a new interactive art trail. "This one is going to be all about Lake Murray. Chapin is known as the capital of Lake Murray, so I really wanted to highlight that in this mural," Nicki Peeples, a local artist, said. Peeples is the face behind the paintbrush of Chapin's newest mural at 115 Clark Street. She began this project at the end of August and said she hopes to finish it in the next month or two. She said she's always needed to create art. "It's just important for me to release that creativity. For years my mom owned a cookie store and we hand decorated cookies and after that closed, I really just needed that outlet, I needed that way to express myself," Peeples said. Peeples said each of the letters that spell out Chapin will have a unique scene inside.
The mural and the Chapin Art Trail, which includes other murals and art forms in town, are made possible through a grant from the Central Carolina Community Foundation. An interactive brochure and guide to the trail are available at the town hall, local art studios and the chamber of commerce. Visitors can scan a QR code for clues to a scavenger hunt on different art plaques around town. They're entered into a prize drawing if they finish the hunt successfully.
"There's tons of research that shows that artistic presence in a community adds richness to the community. And when you think about people going to visit somewhere, the things that they talked about when they come back are the things that drew them in emotionally or aesthetically. So, that might be natural beauty, but very often it's things that are art things," said Crooked Creek Art League Community Arts Manager Barbara Teusink.
There's still more painting to go, but Peeples said she hopes folks come by to watch the progress and enjoy the finished product.
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