From its sculptures to murals, Durham’s vibrant art scene has no shortage of public art. Several of these artworks commemorate the city’s centuries-old history and the people who helped build it into the flourishing place nearly 300,000 people call home. I spoke with two Durham-based artists, James Keul and Gabriel Eng-Goetz, to learn more about how their murals tell the Bull City’s story.

James Keul 

Keul is a visual artist and muralist whose studio work primarily focuses on environmental causes, specifically climate change. He has created three murals in Durham: “Roots of Braggtown,” one of a taco truck at First Presbyterian Day School and another titled “Chutes and Ladders” for the school. Keul is currently working on a series of oil paintings depicting his studio.

Roots of Braggtown, 602 Martin St. (2023): Keul, in collaboration with David Wilson, another Durham-based public artist, honors the history of Braggtown, a historically-Black neighborhood founded by formerly enslaved people from the Stagville Plantation, according to the Braggtown Community Association. The association came up with the ideas for the images depicted in the mural, which include a restaurant, formerly Miles Restaurant, a white snake with a pattern of chains on its skin and a guinea fowl egg. Keul said the restaurant is a nod to the neighborhood’s growing Hispanic population, the snake represents the bondage of slavery and the egg represents the promise of education and the passing on of knowledge to the next generation. He said the story of Braggtown’s founding is traumatic due to the history of enslavement there, but it’s also one of resilience and pride, which he was honored to be a part of telling.

Gabriel Eng-Goetz

Eng-Goetz is a Chinese American multidisciplinary artist who describes his public artworks in Durham as “Durham-centric.” Whether through people, nature or history, Eng-Goetz aims to tell the story of an area and place, and as a Durham native, he said it feels natural to do so in his hometown. He has completed between 8 and 10 murals in Durham and is currently working on a faux stained glass window treatment for Durham County at Stanford L. Warren Library. The work commemorates the legacies of Warren, a prominent businessman who helped, among other accomplishments, establish the largest Black-owned business in the United States for a large part of the 20th century, the North Carolina Mutual Life and Provident Association, and the Hayti community. After being closed since August 2021 for renovations, the library will host a reopening celebration on Dec. 12.

Tribes of the Piedmont, 501 Willard St. (2021): This mural, which Eng-Goetz said is his favorite and the largest of the murals he has created in Durham, explores the city’s Indigenous history. Before any European settlement in the 1700s, a number of groups of the Sioux nation, including the Eno, Shocco, Adshusheer and Occaneechi Indians, lived in what is Durham today. For this project, Eng-Goetz received the blessing and guidance of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation tribal council. The natural symbols depicted in the mural honor the land and its first inhabitants, such as the large, striking Indigenous red-tail hawk whose wings span across the mural, which is the symbol of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation.

Leading the Charge, 105 W. Morgan St. (2019): Eng-Goetz celebrates the history of Black Wall Street, a prosperous hub of Black-owned businesses during the late 1800s and early 1900s in this mural. He said the mural’s imagery of a young Black girl represents the ushering in of a new generation of minority entrepreneurs downtown.

Public Art Opportunities for Artists

Over the past couple of years, Rebecca Holmes, the cultural and public art program manager for the City of Durham, said the city has commissioned over 90 artists to complete public art projects. She said there are many paths artists can take to apply for public art calls, and below are some resources she recommends for finding projects.

City and County

• City of Durham Calls for Artists 
• Durham County Calls for Artists

Regional and State 

• Triangle ArtWorks 
• North Carolina Arts Council

National

• Americans for the Arts