Restoring an Iconic Piece of Mural Art: Knox Crowell, The Jump Off Rock Mural & Laurel Park, NC

Our guest today is Knox Crowell, a trained graphic artist and illustrator with an interest in the local history of his hometown of Hendersonville, NC. A former director of the Henderson County Heritage Museum, he constructed and painted many of the museum's displays. He is a native of Hendersonville and his family has been in Henderson County for generations. Knox has painted nearly half a dozen murals over the years in the area. And he restored one of the oldest and well-remembered murals in the town, the Jump Off Rock mural which adorns the Brooks Tavern building on 3rd Avenue. Jump Off Rock is a large stone outcropping on top of Davis Mountain which rises above Hendersonville just a few miles to the west of downtown. It has long been a tourist destination because of its beautiful views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. The mural advertised the site and encouraged visitors to make the short drive to enjoy the vistas. He said it was a challenge to bring the iconic wall art back to its former glory and he will tell us about how he did it and the obstacles he faced. Knox will also give us a lot of the history of Jump Off Rock and Laurel Park, the community where Jump Off Rock is located, and where he grew up.