‘Common threads we share’: Wilmington mural for America’s 250th features birds on a wire and subtle tribute to Bob Marley

What are journalists missing from the state of Delaware? What would you most like WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

Long after the parades, parties, barbecues and other events for America’s 250th birthday become distant memories, Wilmington’s birds on a wire will remain.

The large colorful fowl, including one majestic eagle, dominate a new 108-foot mural that’s taking flight on a drab concrete wall on one of the city’s northern gateways.

Located at Concord Avenue and Broom Street, the mural, whose height reaches 15 feet, also features depictions of two iconic Wilmington landmarks — the Rockford Park stone tower and the cupola of P.S. duPont Middle School.

One section has three birds in green, gold and red, the colors of the Rastafari movement. Artist Christian Kanienberg said the trio of birds honor reggae luminary Bob Marley, who once lived in Wilmington, and his renowned song, “Three Little Birds.”

Another 35-foot concrete panel set to be painted by fall will feature even more birds, including a red, white and blue cluster in what Kanienberg calls “a patriotic nod to the 250th.” That swath will also include an image of Howard High School, once the only public secondary school Black city students could attend.

In the future, if authorities can obtain funding, the mural would also extend along another 300-foot stretch of wall that leads to a highway on-ramp, perhaps with the birds lifting off the wires and soaring airborne.

So what does the bird-themed mural that brightens up a long-blighted intersection in the largest city of the nation’s second-smallest state have to do with the semiquincentennial celebrations that mark the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence?

Kanienberg urges viewers to focus on the wires on which the birds — including a pairing of a white one and a black one — perch.

“The most interesting part of the design are the strings that the birds are connected by. It is a comment on the literal common threads that we share, despite our differences,” Kanienberg wrote in his artist statement for the as-yet-untitled piece.

“The winged creatures are choosing to hold part of the string in their beaks, representing connectedness, teamwork, burden sharing, or simply love. It is quirky and thought provoking, as a conversation starter that could be maintained for years.”

Kanienberg told WHYY News that despite the mural’s eagle and coming splash of red, white and blue, he didn’t want residents and the thousands of drivers who pass the intersection on a daily basis to instantly think of the country’s 250th birthday.

“I’m not a fan of smacking people over the head with obvious nods to things,’’ said Kanienberg, who has done several other murals around Delaware and the region. “I’m not interested in creating postcards of the city. I’m more interested in creating pieces of art that just happen to be murals that are conversation starters.”

He noted the sly tribute to Marley.

“If somebody after the fact says, ‘Oh, three little birds. That’s a Bob Marley song or a lyric,’ I like that,” Kanienberg said. “I don’t like things that are overtly obvious.”

Tina Betz, director of Wilmington’s Office of Cultural Affairs, said she’s delighted by the city-commissioned mural’s subtlety.

“That was intentional, that it shouldn’t scream 250th anniversary,” Betz said. “We wanted it to have a much longer shelf life. So all of the elements of this mural — community, connectivity, diversity, all of those things — are part of the 250th. But we didn’t want the mural to be, ‘Welcome to Wilmington’s 250th.’”

City Councilman James Spadola helped lead the effort that let city residents, through meetings and surveys, have a voice in the design of the mural. Spadola said the collaborative process was appropriate for such a public work of art, and he’s pleased with the shape it’s taking.

“When I see the birds and I see there’s a thread connecting them,” Spadola said, “I look at that as we’re all connected.”