News Flash

City residents are invited to join in celebrating the restoration of the “Memory Wall of Peace and Love” at a ceremony at noon on Monday, Aug. 2, at the wall’s location on Trade Street behind the Clark Campbell Transportation Center.

A team of artists recently restored the wall by cleaning it, replacing missing elements and rebuilding sculptures that had broken off or were damaged. The restoration was funded by the city and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.

Artist Gregory Warmack, also known as “Mr. Imagination,” created the wall in 1999 by covering most of the wall’s surface with cement and embedding hundreds of objects, keepsakes and artifacts donated by local citizens. The top of the wall included a series of hand-made concrete sculptures of birds and figures. The wall is 50 feet long and four feet high. 

In the ensuing 20 years, the wall deteriorated from exposure to the elements and suffered from vandalism. Some sculptural elements crumbled and others were removed.

Warmack died in 2012. However, using photos of the wall taken after it was completed in 1999, a team comprising David Brown, Aaron Gibbons, Derrick Monk and Duncan Lewis recently restored the wall. They repaired damaged sculptures and recreated those that were missing, replaced other missing elements, repainted as necessary and made subtle modifications to ensure that rainwater does not collect in voids. 

Members of the restoration team will be at the Memory Wall to discuss their project from 7 to 8 p.m. during the August Arts District Gallery Hop on Friday, Aug. 6.