Duke Arts Annex Satellite Mural
404 Gattis Sreet, Durham NC - April 2018
In 2018, during the Mural Durham Festival, eight artists were tasked with painting their unique designs on satellite dishes. Each artist was assigned a specific dish to express their creativity. The once mundane and inoperable satellites were transformed into vibrant works of art, infusing the area with a burst of color and earning it the name Satellite Park. The murals, including Calva's, grace the front and back of these satellites, situated at 404 Gattis Street, Durham, NC.
“The mural represents that while satellites persevere to connect us with what we want, this may be corrupted by the weather conditions, including heavy rain. The rain drops represent our hardships, but we can rely on the brightness of the sun to clear our problems.”
The satellites, initially installed in 1991 by Tel Com to deliver educational programming for Duke Cable TV, found themselves relegated to obsolescence in the late 90s with the advent of the Internet's rise. For two decades, they lingered on the side of the hill, overlooked and forgotten. Recognizing an opportunity for transformation, Mural Durham decided, after 20 years, to repurpose the satellites into captivating works of art instead of disposing of them as scrap.
