CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Osiris Rain’s phone started “blowing up” last Tuesday afternoon, and he didn’t know why.
Then he received a video showing red paint being splattered over one of the Charlotte muralist’s most popular pieces.
“It was a shock because apparently it happened within an hour, slowly rolled over and nobody said anything,” Rain told the Observer on Thursday.
His now-covered mural “Bloom” mural, at the corner of North Davidson and 35th streets — and what used to be a piece symbolizing NoDa’s growth — has become a solid red wall.
“That whole piece led me to a lot of my involvement in bringing public art and murals to NoDa and elsewhere in the city, so it was a big punch in the gut,” Rain said.
The mural leasing company hired local painters, who mistakenly covered it up on Tuesday, Rain said. The painters were hired to cover up a DC Comics mural on the opposite side of the building, but they accidentally painted over “Bloom.”
Rain drove by the the mural that same day and saw a scissor lift, but he thought it was being used for building maintenance. It wasn’t until he called Teresa Hernández, owner of Pura Vida Worldly Art, that he learned the lift was used to cover up his mural.
“It’s a shock that someone could make such a mistake,” said Hernández, whose shop is in the same building as Rain’s mural. “That mural has so much history for the neighborhood, it’s been up for several years.”
‘Rebirth and renewal’
Rain, who’s lived in Charlotte for about 26 years, painted the mural in 2017 after being commissioned by Belgian beer company Stella Artois for an ad campaign. After the company’s six-month lease ended, Rain edited the painting to include lotuses, which symbolize “rebirth and renewal,” he said.
“I repainted the entire thing on my own dime, so that it could be a neighborhood piece as opposed to an advertisement,” he said. “It’s become a staple.”
Hernández said Rain painted “Bloom” days after he broke his leg in a skateboarding accident.
“It took him a whole week to get it done, and he killed it,” she said.
DJ Morales moved to Charlotte from Miami two months ago and quickly realized how much the mural meant to the NoDa community.
“I went to throw out the trash and someone was driving by and their jaw was literally dropped,” he said. “I was like ‘Man, a lot of people really care about this.”
Morales is a barber at NoDa Barbers, which is also in the same building as the mural.
“I think it welcomed people into the neighborhood,” Hernández said. “You see something big, you automatically know you’re coming into an artsy creative area.”
New mural coming soon
By Thursday afternoon, someone had painted a message over the red wall.
“Nice mural, shame if someone painted over it,” the message read.
Rain says he didn’t leave the message but plans to cover it with a different one: A new piece is coming soon.
To remedy the mistake, he has been commissioned by the mural leasing company, the same local paint company and the building’s owner to either reproduce “Bloom” or create an entirely original piece.
“I’m still a little bit upset about it, but it’s alright,” Rain said. “It’s going to be an opportunity to create something new for the neighborhood.”
The work could be done in April, he said.
A collaboration with other local artists who are still building their careers is a possibility, Rain said, because it would create something more “intimate for the community.”
The piece will still be centered around lotuses, he said.
For now, Rain and muralist Kristi Kirkpatrick will finish a piece on the side of a wine store at Parktowne Village Shopping Center on East Woodlawn Road. The shopping center’s owners commissioned them last year to “bring some color to the area.”
“Hopefully soon you’re going to see a lot more color on this side of town,” Rain said about the Montford area.
