Public Art
Onancock is home to a growing number of murals that depict the town's rich history, along with its natural and physical assets. Onancock Main Street has worked with the Town of Onancock to bring this public art to the community.
“THEATRE OF DREAMS”
Artist, Curtis Goldstein
Location: 34 Market Street – West Wall
A celebratory portrayal of Onancock’s performing arts tradition, Theatre of Dreams is a fanciful montage of symbolic and real theatrical performers who populate a transitioning vista. It starts at the Onancock wharf, passes the Historic Onancock School, and moves on to the North Street Playhouse stage where spotlights shine, smiles are made, and dreams come true. Finally, the viewer reaches the Roseland Theatre where fantasy and reality mix and glow on the silver screen.
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The major elements:
In 1665, the nearby Fowlkes Tavern hosted the first play in America, Ye Bare and Ye Cubbe, referencing Mother England and the Colonies, but here represented by constellations Ursa Major and Minor (nickname “Momma and Baby Bear”), visible year-round in the Virginia night sky.
The James Adams Floating Theater, which brought performances to Chesapeake Bay ports from 1914 to 1941, arrives at twilight under the Virginia dogwoods. Above, seated among the stars, is the theater company’s leading lady Beulah Adams Hunter, framed by a brilliant glowing moon.
A procession into town of performers—a mix of patterned silhouettes of a Renaissance actor, a waltzing couple, a juggling harlequin, and real community members exiting the Historic Onancock School’s auditorium en route to the North Street Playhouse, where the evening’s entertainment is about to begin.
On the stage, a variety of actors, dancers, and musicians are featured —selected images of actual North Street Playhouse performers.
Finally, we transition from live theater to film, crossing the Roseland Theatre ticket booth, and into a world where light, sound, lens, and celluloid bring dreams to life on screen. One of the theater’s two original carbon arc 35mm sound motion projectors project a montage of iconic movie images and actors that range from 1951, the year the theater opened, to the present. Above curls a strip of film referencing a sign above one of Roseland’s doors; “SMILE AS YOU GO BY”. For artist info, visit https://curtisgoldstein.com/section/310683.html
“WILLIE CROCKETT”
Artist, Willie Crockett / ‘Chesapeake Bay Trawler’ Recreated by Muralist, Seth Lubaton
Location: 39 Market Street – East Wall, Second Story
A tribute to a much-loved artist whom Onancock was proud to call its own. Willie C. Crockett was born on Tangier Island in February 1939. He painted with a lifelong intimate knowledge of the creeks and marshes where he grew up fishing and hunting waterfowl. For years, Crockett could be found nearly every day at his studio and art gallery on Market Street in Onancock. His paintings are recognized as being among the most honest portrayals of the drama and beauty of the Chesapeake Bay.
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While best known for his glowing watercolors, he had great talent with oils and acrylics.
In addition to his art, Crockett was known for his storytelling, and recitations of his original poetry, as well as classic works by Shakespeare, Robert Frost, and other authors, which he did from memory. “I saw myself in minnow ditches, on the surface of the tide, looking down to someone who was looking up at me. And I’ll guess I’ll always be there; no matter what success or failure fates may bring, I’ll be linked to those green waters, to a sunburned face and the salty beginnings of my youth,” Crockett said in lines from one of his poems. He died in March 2021. For more info, visit https://iris-crockett.pixels.com/#sectionDivAbout
“A VIBRANT TAPESTRY”
Artist, Michael Ferrarell
Location: 151 Market Street – East Wall
Portraying the multifaceted efforts of generations who shaped Onancock, the mural complements the nearby mural of a vintage postcard, Onancock Greetings. Together they welcome drivers entering Onancock.
Ferrarell, a professionally trained artist and experienced muralist, excels at painting visual narratives of towns and places that demonstrate a unique sense of their past and present.
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As America commemorates 250 years next year, and Onancock’s 350th birthday approaches in this was an appropriate time to recognize the people contributing to our town’s evolution. The mural celebrates the people who shaped Onancock from its earliest settlers to its modern community.
“BUTTERFLY DANCE”
Artist, Seth Lubaton
Location: 9 North Street – West Wall, Rear of Building
Muralist Seth Lubaton was invited to create a mural that would bring attention to Onancock’s agricultural surroundings and the crucial role of pollinators. His artwork was inspired by his initial visit to the town where the natural beauty and wildlife stood out to him. He conveyed the impact this visit had on his imagination by portraying oversized plants with beautiful pollinators dancing above them in bright colors.
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This mural transformed an unassuming alley into a high-impact tribute to Onancock’s beautiful public and private gardens, lovingly cultivated by passionate local gardeners. They, like the farmers in our surrounding agrarian community, depend on pollinators to support this fragile yet crucial ecosystem. For artist info, visit https://lubatonmurals.com/murals and https://www.pollinator.org/pollinators#:~:text=Birds%2C%20bats%2C%20butterflies%2C%20moths,move%20from%20spot%20to%20spot.
“ONANCOCK GREETINGS”
Artist, Matt Lively
Location: 61 Market Street – East Wall
Special places and events are featured in a vintage post card style that welcomes visitors and residents to the town. Lively, a highly accomplished artist from Richmond VA, was selected from several applicants for his vibrant, colorful style. The mural captures the small-town warmth of Onancock in a large-style format.
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Its highly visible location in the primary entrance corridor to Onancock was intended to capture everyone’s attention as they drive into Onancock and give the larger business community of Onancock a pride of place as did those installed in our historic downtown.
“CREEK VIEW”
Artist, New Ravenna
Location: 38 Market Street – West Wall, Side of Building
Aptly titled Creek View, this light-infused glass mosaic was created by local artisans at New Ravenna and brings the beauty of Onancock Creek to life.
The piece celebrates the spirit of the tidal creek—complete with a sailboat, heron, dragonfly, barnacles, periwinkles, seagulls, and an osprey feeding its young on Buoy 20—framed by shoreline and pine beneath a cloud-strewn blue sky. Flora and fauna depicted in the mosaic are typical native plants, birds and aquatic creatures that thrive along the shores of Onancock Creek.
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Onancock Main Street (OMS) collaborated with New Ravenna, a world-renowned custom stone and glass mosaic company located in nearby Exmore, VA, to design the custom mural, working through several iterations before settling on the final layout.
After OMS’s mural committee approved the design, New Ravenna’s artisans used a full-scale printed pattern as a guide. Individual segments—such as the heron and channel marker—were crafted separately and then assembled. Four artists completed the panel in about three weeks, once the design was finalized.
Onancock Murals In The News
OMS pitched this exciting news story that is part of WTKR's series on murals. OMS coordinated and funded this mural through a Virginia Main Street grant.