Business Profile

By definition, according to our pals at Wikipedia, a mural is “any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.”

As you can see, we are stepping outside of the box, as we are want to do on occasion, and taking a different path with the Business Profile this month. I have always loved the whole concept of murals on otherwise boring buildings; especially on those structures that are in somewhat of a state of disrepair, however, the murals printed here are on very viable businesses located in the Del Ray section of Alexandria. There are others around our fair city that are not.

The first local mural that I remember seeing in our area was on the side of the former King Street Blue’s Restaurant in Old Town Alexandria. It has since been painted over but another original is still hanging in there on the side of the Walgreen’s on Mount Vernon Avenue. I lived in Del Ray at the time - I believe it was at least 25 years ago (maybe longer) – when the building housed a fantastic antique and collectible store. Since that time, murals have popped up all over Del Ray as well as in Old Town.

All that being said, the intent of this piece is to encourage you all to take a drive, bike or walk around our fair city and not only check out these amazing works of art, but maybe think about patronizing those businesses that provide the canvas for them.

There is only so much room for images in this space so we want to give you some more incentive to go on a mural search. We will be conducting a monthly contest on our Facebook and Instagram pages beginning June 1st. An image of a “portion” of a local mural will be posted with an obscure hint and the first person to respond correctly to the post will receive a $50 gift certificate to a local dining establishment of our choice. In order to participate, you will have to like and follow us – Facebook @ oldtowncrier Instagram @otcregionalmag. We will contact the winner each month via personal message to arrange for prize delivery.

From the Publisher: The inspiration for this piece came from a friend of the Old Town Crier and exceptional amateur photographer, Lee Moody. Her photos have appeared in other Alexandria based publications as well as local Facebook and Instagram pages. Lee has an incredible eye for interesting takes on ordinary settings. She and her faithful black lab, Taylor, make their rounds almost daily snapping shots from sunrises to sunsets and all interesting things in between.