New City Hall Mural Honors AC’s Past, Present
The City’s first Black Mayor James L. Usry, as well as former mayor, assemblyman and senator Jim Whelan, are both immortalized on the wall. The mural also pays homage to the Miss America Pageant, the Steel Pier and the historic Diving Horse of years long past.
ATLANTIC CITY — Artist Kelly Prevard saw a lifelong dream come true when the city unveiled the mural she painted on the 7th floor of City Hall.
“I pour so much of my love into what I do,” said Prevard. “So, I spent my time making it beautiful so you can see what art means to me and what this community means to me.
The artwork unveiled during a news conference on Wednesday, May 3, honors the city’s future as well as its past and present.
“My vision was simple,” said Mayor Marty Small, Sr. “I wanted to embrace old Atlantic City and shine a light on where the city has come and where we are going, because it’s important to embrace the past to understand where you’re going in the future.”
The City’s first Black Mayor James L. Usry, as well as former mayor, assemblyman and senator Jim Whelan, are both immortalized on the wall.
The mural also pays homage to the Miss America Pageant, the Steel Pier and the historic Diving Horse of years long past.
“When I first took office as Mayor of the great City of Atlantic City, I said we needed to change the culture here inside and out, starting within City Hall and spreading it out throughout the city to change the mindset,” Small Sr. said. “With it being an older building, the building needed some character.”
The seven-week project celebrated the arts as the City partnered with the Atlantic City Arts Commission, Small said in a prepared statement. To augment the mural, the city improved lighting in the hallway and installed new flooring with the city’s emblem in the center.
“I wanted to make sure I left nothing on the table and you got all of me,” Prevard said. “Thi is not work, I love this. I hope that I am an example of what it means to go after your dreams, because they can come true.”
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