'Oliver, The World's Largest Tobacco Hornworm' - Wendell, NC - Murals on Waymarking.com

The Appearance Committee for the town of Wendell planned to have murals painted on buildings in downtown to improve appearance and draw visitors to the area. With input from the community it was decided that a tobacco themed mural would be appropriate since it was an important crop for economy in the area. Muralist Michael Brown was commissioned to create the mural and 'Oliver, The World's Largest Tobacco Hornworm' was created.

'Oliver is located on the side of a building on the corner of W. Fourth St. & N. Cypress St. in Wendell. This mural covers most of the side of this cinderblock building that houses Ritch's Gym and is painted over the gutter down spouts as well. The background is painted white. There are dark green leaves painted along the bottom of the mural. 'Oliver' is painted in various shades of green with darker tones on the bottom and lighter tones on top. The head has rounded edges and has one round, circular eye painted white with a small black pupil painted in the center. The pincher shaped mouth is painted a lighter color green. The body of 'Oliver' is billowy like a caterpillar. Six sharp, pointy gripper feet are painted in black with three white rings around each of them. There are eight round spots along it's body. These spots are outlined in dark green and filled in with yellow and have black centers. On the first seven spots there is a white line that swoops upward and is outlined in black. There are black circular spots along the top of each white line. From the top of the back is a brown horn projecting outward.

The name 'OLIVER' is painted in brown capital letters above the mid-section. 'THE WORLD'S LARGEST TOBACCO HORNWORM' is painted at the top toward the rear in brown capital letter and the scientific name 'Manduca sexta' with the added name 'Wendellensis' is below that in smaller brown letters.

The mural is signed in a vertical manner with the artist's web address - www.muralbymichaelbrown.com along with his phone number 919-270-1691 painted in brown.

To the left of the mural is a metal plaque from the Wendell Appearance Commission acknowledging the artist and the role tobacco has had in the community. The plaque has a QR code so visitors can scan the code on give their story on the town's dedicated page.

(visit link)

City: Wendell, NC Location Name: Ritch's Gym, corner of W. Fourth St & N. Cypress St., Wendell, NC Artist: Michael Brown Date: 2013 Media: paint on cinderblock Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and description of your visit. One original photo of the mural must also be submitted. GPSr photo NOT required.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/26/2024 momandthree visited it