PHOTO: JOHN COLETTI / AWL IMAGES
Chapel Hill artist Scott Nurkin is best known for his nine North Carolina Musician Murals saluting where legends were born.
They are scattered across the state and include Thelonious Monk, Rocky Mount, 235 SE Main Street; John Coltrane, Hamlet,Vance & Raleigh St.; Nina Simone, Tryon, 2960 Lynn Rd.; Roberta Flack, Black Mountain, Black Mtn Brewery; Earl Scruggs, Shelby, Ningrass Brewing; Randy Travis, Marshville; Betty Davis, Durham, University Apartment walls, Mayfair St.; Elizabeth Cotten, Carrboro, 111 Merritt Mill Rd., Chapel Hill; Don Gibson, Shelby, Miss Molly’s Boutique.
The original murals featured musicians he idolized as a drummer growing up in Charlotte.
His Dean Smith mural on the back of a convenience store on 15-501S at Smith Level Rd. was painted a few days after Smith’s death in 2015 but the building was demolished last year. His Chapel Hill mural on the back side of He’s Not Here on West Rosemary is a popular spot for graduation and family photos.
Nurkin’s Chapel Hill-based Mural Shop continues covering the state one mural at a time. Check them out on Instagram.
J.B.