Nick “Nack” Morris founded and curated the commonly known School Bus Graveyard in Alto, Georgia. Morris’s unique graffiti style is all over the greater Demorest area, with both murals at the Clarkesville Copper Pot being Morris’s creations.
Professor Rebecca Brantley scheduled Nick Morris to have an exhibition at the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art, to open on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. During their discussion, Brantley proposed the idea of a permanent piece on campus while Morris’s exhibit was open. Their final decision was a mural on a blank wall on College Drive just before the bridge to the Swanson Center.
“It was a natural fit with Nick Morris here, so the administration was very open to having a mural on campus,” said associate dean and director of Arts Chris Kelly.
The art club has been working alongside Morris to develop a design that will best fit the space and represent the fine arts department at Piedmont. The students have come up with ideas and sketches. Morris will create a design utilizing his style to complement the students’ ideas before proposing the final plan to send to the school before students begin painting.
The fine arts Piedmont 1101 students will be assigned times to come out and paint the mural in mid-to-late October. Other students are welcome to come out and help, but they must contact Chris Kelly at [email protected] to be assigned a time that fits best with their schedules. The official dates for painting will be announced shortly after the final approval from the school.
“We are hoping to create something the students will be proud of, and at the same time, be a little timeless so that the future students may also feel connected to it,” said Morris. “I’m looking forward to helping them learn the process and getting more appreciation for what we see daily.”
Until the mural is complete, Morris’s work will be showcased at the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12, for his “Single File Consciousness” exhibition. The exhibition will be open to the public for viewing until Nov. 16.
