New mural unveiled this weekend at First United Methodist Church. The new mural, title “Harmonious Love”, was painted by local Redding artist Lura Wilhelm.
REDDING, Calif. – The First United Methodist Church is unveiling a new mural on Sunday for the community to enjoy.
“We wanted to show something that would convey love in action, putting beliefs into action. And so we wanted a mural to share with the community, but also to show one of our values,” church member, Kimberly Ross, said.
“Love in action” — that’s the message behind the new mural, titled “Harmonious Love”. “Do you think that this is a message that people need right now?” Action News Now reporter Taylor Helmes asked. “Oh, I think there’s no question this is a message for today. It’s probably always been a message, but probably now more than ever,” church member Lynne Wonacott replied.
As you walk or drive by, you can see doves circling in various, vibrant colors. And something like this doesn’t happen overnight.
“It’s been on our minds for more than ten years because it just seemed like it was something that would be really great to add to the community,” Wonacott said.
The painting process took about 18 days from start to finish. Local artist Lura Wilhelm said she got the gig earlier last spring, but it wasn’t until last month that she was able to start working on it.
“I started out with a really, really bright design. And then I kind of decided to try to match some of the colors that you see… So we got some of the monotones from the church, so there’s this color here to match that one there … I tried to get some of this blue, gray into the composition, too,” Wilhelm said.
Artist: Lura Wilhelm
By: Taylor Helmes
Wilhelm said the mural is inspired by people coming together, depicted by doves circling and being connected to each other.
Pastor Charles White said this mural represents who the Redding Methodists are as a church family. He added that their congregation believes love is an action word and hopes that this new mural inspires the community to put love into action.
Pastor White and the church’s children will lead the congregation in a musical procession Sunday after the 10 a.m. service and meet outside at the corner of South and East streets for the official unveiling of the new mural.
