Virginia artist travels country, painting murals in small towns

BUENA VISTA, Va. (WDBJ) - A local artist is bringing together small communities across the country, one stroke of her paint brush at a time.

Cheyenne Renee is on a mission to paint 50 murals in small towns in all 50 states. She calls it the 50 in 50 project.

The project started in her hometown of Covington in 2022. Since then, Renee has created beautiful murals in 17 states, hitting states as North as Maine and as far out West as California.

“Sometimes I work with towns and cities where they want to highlight something very specific in their town… Then sometimes it’s as open as somebody gives me a wall and they say paint whatever you want,” she said.

Renee’s goal is to bring small towns across the country together through each mural.

“To encourage people to travel to all 50, but also for these towns and organizations to work with each other to learn from each other and how to grow,” she explained. “Especially supporting small businesses and small artists and doing things like public art that enhance the area that people live in.”

Renee is back in her home state to wrap up a mural in Buena Vista. Although it’s not part of the 50 in 50 project, the art embodies the message she aims to create.

“We have been working with the City of Buena Vista to create this community space and to bring everybody together, and this just is like the topping,” said Brooke Dalton, President of Main Street Buena Vista, which is commissioning the mural.

Renee is off to Arkansas next and hopes to finish all 50 states by the end of this year.

You can follow along on Renee’s project here and even nominate your hometown for a mural.