If you drive along Oaklawn Avenue in west Charlotte, you may have noticed a large, outdoor mural attached to the wall of First Baptist Church-West.

The mural, done by Qcity artist Marcus Kiser, was commissioned by Verizon Wireless as part of its national “How Sweet the Sound” choir competition, which had a stop in Charlotte Sept. 30. The design is one of 12 such murals painted in 12 of the 14 cities that hosted one of the regional competitions. (No public murals were done in Los Angeles and Oakland.)

Kiser, who works as a graphic artist, said he was unaware of the choir competition until he got an email inviting him to compete with other local artists to create Verizon’s official Charlotte mural. He submitted three drawings and was selected.

After sketching out the image on 10 sections of plywood, he recruited two other local artists -- Ryan Williams and Antoine Williams – to help him paint it. The men worked mainly on weekends, and the entire project took about three weeks.

The mural, dominated in shades of blue and brown, depicts a gospel choir. At the center is a woman with hands clasped in prayer. Above her head is a set of angel wings, and the entire scene is punctuated with music notes.

Kiser said he hoped the mural, which measures about 20 feet across and about 16 feet high, would represent not only the spirit of gospel music but also capture some of the culture of Charlotte.

Kiser and his fellow artists are all part of a 10-person art collective called God City. The group is not faith-based but has its roots in the hip-hop culture. Kiser said he painted two previous murals but none as big as this one.

An earlier version of the mural, painted in a different color scheme, was made into posters and distributed during the local choir competition at Time Warner Cable Arena.

“It was one of the toughest projects we’ve had to do,” Kiser said.

Ricky A. Woods, senior minister of First Baptist Church-West, said the mural was particularly appropriate because the church operates a fine arts and academic afterschool and summer program for students.

"It really does depict the music, art and performance skills that we offer in our community programs for kids as well as our own choirs," said Woods.  

He added that the project became even "sweeter" when church officials learned later that Kiser was baptised at First Baptist-West when he was a young boy.

Woods said he appreciated Kiser's willingness to change the background color from green to blue to mirror the church's blue stained-glass windows in its small chapel and main sanctuary.

The mural is scheduled to be up at least a year. Officials at First Baptist Church-West said they have not decided what they will do with it after the year ends.

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