Ava Gardner Museum completes mural and rose garden project

Submitted by JOHNSTON COUNTY VISITORS BUREAU

SMITHFIELD — This year’s Ava Gardner Festival will include a multitude of exciting events, new exhibits and the debut of numerous projects through the remainder of 2022 and into 2023.

The first two projects are already open to visitation by the public. The Ava Gardner mural, located on the side of the museum and visible to westbound traffic on Market Street in Smithfield, is the culmination of nearly a year of work by the Ava Gardner Museum.

Greensboro artist Brian Lewis (aka Jeks One) was selected to bring the Ava Gardner mural to life. Lewis was chosen by the board for his stunningly realistic portrayal of many famous film stars, politicians and musicians around the world. Getting Gardner’s face and expressions just right was the most important criteria for the board when considering an artist.

The mural portrays her life from her dscovery photo, three selections from her career and her later life in London with her beloved Corgi, Morgan. “In our opinion, Brian was the perfect and only choice for our project and we are thrilled with the mural,” said Lynell Seabold, executive director of the museum.

Visitors to the Ava Gardner Museum and to downtown Smithfield can view the massive and incredible life-like mural now as the backdrop for the second project, a rose garden. The museum is billing this as an “outdoor exhibit,” and visitors will be prompted with a QR code to visit the museum’s website about the project, with more information on the artist, the garden and video documentation.

The idea for the rose garden was proposed to the museum board of directors by Carmen Vargas, Gardner’s housekeeper and companion. Vargas first requested to import a rose variety named Brighton from Ecuador, however, the North Carolina climate was not suitable.

“Yellow roses were Ava’s favorite and very special to her,” said Seabold. “After their divorce in 1957, Frank Sinatra and Ava remained very good friends. Every year on her birthday Frank would send her a huge, beautiful bouquet of yellow roses and Ava would keep them on her dressing table till next year’s arrangement arrived.”

The garden was recently installed by Witherspoon’s of Durham and includes 18 Hotel California Yellow tea roses with boxwoods and hedges surrounding the roses in a bed that lies beside the museum and directly under the mural. Funding for this project was provided by Vargas and grants from the Joy W. Pope Memorial Foundation and the Johnston County Arts Council. Site preparation was sponsored by Piedmont Pump and Tank, LLC and BSG Stump Grinding.

As part of October’s festival schedule, the dedication of the Ava Gardner Mural and Rose Garden will be held Saturday, Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. to share the story behind the project and thank all those that contributed to its success.

The Ava Gardner Museum hosts an annual festival in honor of the legendary actress, fashion icon, and humanitarian Ava Gardner, a North Carolina native who grew up just seven miles east of Smithfield.

This year’s Ava Gardner Festival, scheduled for Oct. 7-9, kicks off Ava’s Centennial Celebration. The Southern starlet would have celebrated her 100th birthday on Christmas Eve, and the museum plans to make the entire year all about marking the occasion.

The Ava Gardner Museum is located in Downtown Smithfield at 325 E. Market St., convenient to hotels offering special rates for the weekend and nearby local shops and restaurants also planning to celebrate the weekend with special offers.

For more information, visit www. avagardnerfestival.com, call 919-934- 5830 or email avainfo@avagardner.org.