Christiansburg leaders and artist Dave Mann (flannel shirt) stand near a new mural on the front of the town’s police department along Main Street. The art symbolizes the diversity in local community policing.
Marty Gordon
A one of a kind mural is now hanging on the outside of the Christiansburg Police Department building.
Friday, local leaders revealed what they hope will be the beginning of art throughout the town. Police Chief Mark Sisson said the piece was a perfect example of what his department hopes to project around the community.
Dave Mann is the artist of “Uni-Diversity.” He spent almost a month working on the project on what he called a representation of the racial and ethnic makeup of the community.
Mann received a $1,000 stipend from the town as part of the commission to paint the mural. He then turned around and donated the funds to two of his favorite entities—the Christiansburg Institute and New River Stage.
Mann caught the art bug at a very young age, growing up in a small town in West Virginia.
“I soon found that I enjoyed the positive comments which I received as I tried to copy the Peanuts characters of Charles Schultz from the Sunday comics. I continued drawing cartoons through high school and was even voted ‘most talented’ in my senior class,” he said.
Once he was hired by the U.S. Postal Service in his mid-twenties and began to raise a family, he only occasionally picked up a pencil or a brush.
But after a discussion with the town’s special events coordinator, Casey Jenkins, about plans for public art, he decided to paint a mural that could make a statement to those who saw it.
The police department emerged as an obvious choice since the town already owns the property, and the composition of the mural instantly led to the theme of diversity.
He submitted a smaller version of the design, as did another local artist, but Mann was ultimately chosen for the project.
“I love that the mural represents an ideal with regard to how the police department works best when it receives united support from our diverse community in Christiansburg. The reciprocal responsibility also exists given the duty of the police department to serve and protect every member of our community without regard to race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. In some ways, the mural suggests more questions than it answers,” Mann said.
Christiansburg Mayor Michael Barber is excited about the possibilities that the mural represents. “We’ve had private businesses in town sponsor art projects and sculptures, and their outstanding contributions made us realize we should also be chipping in to beautify our public spaces in this way and encourage creativity,” he said. “Public art creates a sense of community and welcomes visitors to our home, and these inexpensive projects—that also highlight our local talent—go a long way in helping to revitalize our historic districts.”
Councilwoman Merissa Sachs, a member of the town’s Central Business District Committee, is also excited about the possibilities. She hopes the mural will be a catalyst for more pieces in the future.
The Christiansburg Arts Council has been meeting with artists and organizations for close to a year, with the hope that more public art projects will be placed throughout the town. The hope is that such projects will not only help promote the town but provide a sense of belonging to people that call Christiansburg home.