Local business fights to keep colorful mural

CONOVER, N.C. – A mural in downtown Conover is stirring up controversy. City leaders want the business owners to remove a mural because it violates the town’s color scheme.

The mural is painted on the side of a Evexia Wellness Store on 1st Street South.

“It’s really just all the natural elements making something that wasn’t political bias, nothing that we thought anyone could get offended by, just something beautiful to look at,” says Evecia owner Billie Barringer.

Barringer says she got permission from the building’s owner and searched city code before commissioning a known artist. She and her husband say they first reached out to the City of Conover to learn the process to install a mural back in April. At that time, she says the city did not have a formal policy for murals. “We paid the design fee,” Barringer says. “We wanted to make sure that we were doing our due diligence in every way that we could, and so we kept getting kind of the run around with the city, and not a clear answer,” she says.

Barringer says the artist was on a time crunch, so they decided to move forward with the project. She says it took four days to finish the work. Shortly after it was completed, Barringer got a notice from the City of Conover saying the bright colors violated the city’s muted palette.

“This is art and it’s in freedom of expression, so it falls under the First Amendment,” Barringer said. “We considered ourselves safe. We’re not painting the whole building or anything like that,” she says.”

The business has until July 4th to paint over the mural or they would face fines up to $50 a day.

A Change.org petition with more than 1,600 signatures asks the City of Conover to let the mural stay.

In a statement, a city spokesperson said the city communicated that the mural would violate existing ordinances. The spokesperson also says, “(The) City of Conover fully supports the arts, creativity and innovation but also recognizes that public art must be rooted in collaboration and community input.”

“Don’t know what they’re gonna say as far as, like, keeping it or covering it, we’re trying to open up a business here. So we’re not trying to create enemies here,” Barringer said.

Some residents hope the mural controversy will lead to clear policy.

City leaders reached out to the business owners to schedule a meeting to talk about a resolution. The business owner is hopeful for a resolution to keep the mural up and they also want some kind of formal policy to apply to murals for the entire City of Conover.