While no one will confuse the streets of downtown Raleigh with the wide avenues of Paris or Madrid, alfresco diners in all three cities will concur: Outdoor dining is just better.
Scattered across downtown Raleigh, visitors can find nearly a dozen streeteries – small, corralled dining areas – offering the joys of alfresco dining with the bonus of doing it in a parking spot.
While providing a welcome addition for outdoor diners, the streeteries are also a canvas for local artists. Last spring, local artists began painting murals across downtown streeteries as part of a program through the Office of Special Events and Raleigh Arts. On Friday, June 20, the final installation of public art was installed at the streetery located outside of Raleigh Times. The ten other streeteries can be found throughout Downtown Raleigh.
Reflecting the businesses former presence as Raleigh’s afternoon newspaper, the artwork is a tribute to more than a century of covering events. Artist Sean Kernick created a collage of historical newspaper elements and local events that reflects the past, present, and future of the physical location. Mr. Kernick’s work is familiar to downtowners. He produced the Lavelle Moton tribute mural on Salisbury Street. Another mural covers the side of one of the bonded warehouses just north of downtown on Capital Boulevard.
Mr. Kernick said that he wanted to pay homage to the unique stories and the storytellers that combined to make Raleigh what it is. There were multiple starts and stops, going through several drafts before finally settling on a final design.
“The way I do mural work is similar to the way people tell stories,” he said. “I feel more like a middleman rather than a megaphone promoting my own artwork. I see myself as a storyteller. Wherever I paint, I answer the space fully-knowing and enjoying the fact that I’m a guest there.”
Funding for the streeteries and public art was provided from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. While there is no more available allocated funding, a business can still opt to build or paint a streetery at their own expense.
Interested businesses can apply for a streetery permit on the Permit and Development Portal and submit a design for proposed construction. The design will be subject to review and approval through multiple City departments. The design standards are included in the Outdoor Seating Guide.
