Debuting in Summer 2016, Mural Will Cover Southwest Wall of Hotel 

The Graduate Charlottesville hotel will be the site of the third and largest mural installment in the Paint & Poetry Series by the Charlottesville Mural Project and New City Arts, with support from the Office of the Provost and the Vice Provost for the Arts at the University of Virginia. Set to debut in August 2016, the mural will be created by two world-class artists: poet Rita Dove and muralist David Guinn. The goal of the project is to promote the vocation of artists, poets, and musicians by featuring their artwork in public spaces while beautifying the city of Charlottesville, Virginia.

“I am excited to be working with the Charlottesville Mural Project, Graduate Charlottesville, and Rita Dove to bring this mural to the community,” states David Guinn. “In the design I wanted to express the emotion that I felt in Rita Dove’s Testimonial with its beautiful exuberance and optimism, its enthusiasm for, and wonder at life. This is the spirit that I wanted to communicate to the UVA community. The design creates a space for the viewer’s mind to enter and connect with that spirit.”

The mural was inspired by one of Dove’s poems, Testimonial, chosen by both Dove and Guinn for its positive and encouraging message. They felt the theme of optimism and enthusiasm for life is an encouraging sentiment for University of Virginia students and faculty, Charlottesville locals, and visiting guests of the city and hotel. The project site was first approved with Graduate Charlottesville in February 2015.

“We’re thrilled Graduate Charlottesville was chosen as the site of this mural. It’s a huge honor and another way we can connect with the local community and be the home of something truly unique and inspiring,” says Yolunda Harrell, General Manager of Graduate Charlottesville. “We appreciate the message of Rita Dove’s Testimonial and are excited to see how David Guinn brings it to life.”

Abstract, elemental shapes, sweeping brushstrokes, and the rich, bright colors of a sunrise are just some of the design elements that will be found in the mural. The poem, featuring lines such as “Back when the earth was new and heaven just a whisper” and “Back when everything was still to come,” will be printed in full at ground level so that all can read the powerful message of positivity and exuberance.

The mural will be located on the west and south-facing facades of Graduate Charlottesville. A portion of the original wall color will remain in place along the left side of the wall, thus framing the artwork by un-touched aspects of the architecture.

Graduate Charlottesville opened in May 2015 and is inspired by the sophisticated, artistic style of the city and its community. The hotel’s interiors feature a warm color palette of pine greens, warm rose, cream and burgundy. Guest rooms, Sheepdog Coffee, the Game Room and the new rooftop bar and lounge feature subtle nods to some of Charlottesville’s most famous citizens, as well as its folklore, history and contributions to the world.

For more information about Graduate Charlottesville, please visit www.graduatecharlottesville.com and follow on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

For more information about the Charlottesville Mural Project, please visit http://charlottesvillemuralproject.org. For more information about New City Arts, please visit https://newcityarts.org/. For more information about the Arts at University of Virginia, please visit http://uvart.vbtk.co.

Graduate Charlottesville
1309 W Main St
Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 295 – 4333

About Rita Dove | Poet
Rita Dove served as Poet Laureate of the United States and Consultant to the Library of Congress from 1993 to 1995 and as Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. She has received numerous literary and academic honors, among them the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and, more recently, the 2003 Emily Couric Leadership Award, the 2001 Duke Ellington Lifetime Achievement Award, the 1997 Sara Lee Frontrunner Award, the 1997 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, the 1996 Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities and the 1996 National Humanities Medal from President Clinton. In 2006 she received the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service, in 2007 she became a Chubb Fellow at Yale University, in 2008 she was honored with the Library of Virginia’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2009 she received the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal and the Premio Capri. President Barack Obama presented her with the 2011 National Medal of Arts, which made her the only poet with both the National Humanities Medal and the National Medal of Arts to her credit. Dove holds the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

About David Guinn | Muralist
David Guinn is an artist based in Philadelphia, Penn. A graduate of Columbia University in New York City, he was originally trained as an architect. Since 1998 David has painted over 35 murals throughout Philadelphia and other cities worldwide including Amman Jordan, Montreal, Quebec, New York, Washington DC, and Chicago. His work has been noted in books, newspapers, magazines, on television, and radio, including, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Spin Magazine, La Presse, Montréal, and WHY TV Philadelphia. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants including and being a finalist for the prestigious Knight Arts Challenge 2013, a finalist for the Pew Foundation fellowship in the Arts 2012, and being awarded an Independence Foundation Fellowship and a MidAtlantic Arts Foundation Fellowship in the Arts.

About AJ Capital Partners
Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners, based in Chicago, is an accomplished team of hospitality and real estate investors whose innate passion is to create a one-of-a kind portfolio of timeless assets. The company’s mission is to achieve optimal risk adjusted returns for its investors who are seeking long-term capital investments. The group develops, owns, and operates commercial and hospitality assets and businesses throughout the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. In fall 2014, AJ Capital Partners launched the Graduate Hotels brand. AJ Capital Partners continues to grow its portfolio of lodging investments, firmly establishing the group as visionary leaders in the lifestyle-driven investment industry. For more information, please visit http://www.ajcpt.com.