A local painter completed a new veterans mural in downtown Byrdstown that serves as a living piece of art where local service members are invited to autograph the wall.
Artist Ronald Sweeney said the project was designed to be a positive tribute to the country and its military history ahead of the 250th anniversary of America. Sweeney said his own background as the son of a military father and the nephew of a Vietnam helicopter pilot inspired him to create a work that specifically honored the sacrifices of the veterans of Pickett County.
“I thought, you know, ‘How do you really say happy birthday America?’ And I sort of felt like you know the only real sense of saying happy birthday to America is you can’t, you can’t do it without including a veteran and or thinking about a veteran,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney said the mural is located on Main Street at Logan’s Heating and Cooling. Sweeney said the business owner, Gary Logan, donated the wall space for the project to show his own support for the veteran community.
“It’s it’s a living piece of art because I developed a a vision of having live signatures on it and I wanted to include as many people in it and let them feel like they were a part of that mural,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney said the invitation to sign the mural extends to any living veteran, and those who served can also sign the names of friends who died in combat. Sweeney said the veterans who have participated in the project have been punctual and eager to add their names to the display.
“I believe it’s the true fact that it involves people and it made it literally made people cry all over the country when they saw it,” Sweeney said. “And I believe I touched hearts, I touched people with it. Like I said, I wanted to do something that was bigger than me.”
Sweeney said the project took three days to paint, though he has been a muralist since his youth. Sweeney said he previously painted a 50-foot by 25-foot mural of “The Lord’s Supper” at Little West Fork Baptist Church in Clarksville when he was 19 years old.
“I sort of feel like my mom and my dad would be proud,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney said the community response has been overwhelming, with many veterans telling him the mural is one of the first times they have felt truly recognized. Sweeney said he hopes the project encourages people to embrace their sense of patriotism.
“I’d love to see millions of people be so happy and think about their patriotism and be able to say it’s okay to feel patriotism,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney is also the creator of the ‘Welcome to Byrdstown’ mural located on Gulf Station downtown. For him, Sweeney said his artistic journey is also a spiritual one.
“I’m just trying to do things in the town that I love and where my roots are and I just want to have a part of me there,” Sweeney said.