Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes County, North Carolina

Benjamin F. Long, IV Frescoes of the Apostle Paul in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Wilkesboro

In 2002, a beautiful partnership was formed between the Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes, St. Paul's Episcopal Church and the world renowned artist Benjamin F. Long, IV to paint two fresco scenes of the Apostle Paul in the commons area joining the chapel and the sanctuary.

These classically beautiful frescoes are open for viewing by the public on Monday-Friday, 9a-5p, Sat. 10a-4p, and Sun. 12p-5p. Free.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
200 Cowles Street
Mail to: P. O. Box 95
Wilkesboro, NC 28697

Directions: From Hwy 421, take Exit 285 (Brushy Mtn Road), turn north (road becomes Oakwoods Road) and continue for 1.2 miles to the first traffic signal at NC 18/268. Turn left. This is Main Street. Continue past old coourt house, now
Wilkes Heritage Museum, go one block and turn right on Cowles Street and continue up the hill. The church is at the top of the hill on the right. The frescoes are in the
Commons between the old chapel and the new sanctuary.
Phone: 336-667-4231

Views of the Frescoes installed in St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Apostle Paul on the road
to Damascus

Apostle Paul in prison as he writes his Epistles to different churches

Benjamin F. Long, IV grew up in Statesville, NC, and studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Art Students' League in New York. He later lived in Florence, Italy, where he studied with master artist Pietro Annigoni and learned the art of painting frescoes. His many works, created in churches and public buildings throughout the world, have garnered immense praise and recognition.

The fresco process is a long and tedious one. Hand-ground pigments suspended in water are applied to a freshly plastered wall. As the plaster dries, a chemical reaction takes place and crystals of calcium carbonate form, locking the molecules of pigment in place. The lime in the plaster provides each fresco with a built-in source of illumination, ending a subtle glow to the work of art. This technique found new life during the Italian Renaissance, when some of the most famous works were created, including Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper in Milan and Michelangelo's ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

For more than 150 years, St. Paul's Episcopal Church has been home for those seeking to study and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in the Anglican tradition. Since the consecration of the church in 1849, when faculty and students from the Divinity School at Valle Crucis walked more than 45 miles to Wilkesboro, many more pilgrims have made the journey to St. Paul's. Since then, many changes have been made to accommodate significant physical growth in order to nurture the spiritual growth of parishioners and this community.

L to R: Bill Wilson, Executive Director of CoMMA/Morganton; Cathy McKenzie, Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes, Executive Director; Laura Laughridge, Compliance Officer the Crossnore School; Lee Cauble, Executive Director, Statesville Civic Center; Craig Greene, Wilkes Community College Art Instructor & CAC board member; Benjamin Long, Master Artist; Teresa Price, Executive Director of the Chapel of the Prodigal in Montreat. Click here for a larger version of the above image.

Posted July 5, 2006: The Benjamin F. Long Fresco Trail Consortium members recently visited with fresco artist Benjamin Long in Crossnore, NC. Long is in the process of creating his most recent work, "Suffer the Little Children" (shown in the background) in the at the Sloop Chapel at the Crossnore School.

More than 120,000 Benjamin Fresco Trail brochures are being distributed to area convention/visitor and travel/ tourism bureaus, as well as, Chambers of commerce and various businesses in North Carolina. Bus and educational tours to all the NC fresco sites are being promoted through the Trail project. The Fresco Trail project is supported by a grant from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. The local Wilkesboro Tourism Development Authority provided the Cultural Arts Council $3000 to promote this project. Visit the Benjamin F. Long Fresco Trail website at http://www.benlongfrescotrail.org/.