Kernersville to study sign-ordinance changes after mural festival sponsors withdraw

Kernersville Board of Aldermen members on May 28 directed town staff to research whether and how the town could allow small "sponsored by" placards on public murals after organizers said businesses had withdrawn $17,000 in pledged funding when told the plaques would be treated as off-premise signage under the town's sign ordinance.

The request came from Christina Parrish, who identified herself as a former educator and a full-time mural artist organizing the Kernersville Mural Festival featuring Ladies Who Paint. Parrish told the board she had raised private funds through the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County as fiscal sponsor and had committed to paying artists directly for murals planned downtown. She said several business sponsors withdrew when told their names or logos could not appear on small donor placards next to painted walls.

Parrish said the project had 44 artist applications and about 15 potential wall locations and that she had planned sponsorship levels including a bronze package at $1,500. "The majority of that money goes directly into the hands of the artists that are executing the murals," Parrish said, and she added the Arts Council will take a 5% fiscal-sponsorship fee. She told the board that sponsors…