De QUEEN, Ark. - The Minority Affairs Council here invites the community to a mural dedication at 10 a.m. today with pastors and Sevier County leaders sharing a message of unity.
The mural was created by artist Darlene Taylor. It is on the backside of a storage unit building on East Collin Raye Drive near JitterBug Java, toward the eastern edge of town.
Taylor is a Texarkana artist who's worked on several outdoor and indoor mural projects. She was hired by the MAC to create the mural.
On Friday, Taylor was completing the final details for the mural.
"The idea behind the design is 'No Colors,' which is very hard to do when you're using colors," Taylor said.
What's important is people's centers, she said. The mural depicts butterflies, flowers, Taylor's Aunt Arlene and two hands fist-bumping. The flowers include cotton blooms, irises, marigolds, daisies and chrysanthemums.
"A flower for each little culture that lives in De Queen," Taylor said.
Her murals typically include three butterflies, which represent people (her mom, husband and grandmother) who've passed on but remain important in her life.
"Butterflies are my spirit animal," Taylor said.
She started this past Monday but had two days off because of the rain.
On Friday, she said she plans to add the faces of De Queen residents and the word "welcome" in different languages to the mural.