Broome County artists to travel to Illinois to paint a mural of President Lincoln

VESTAL (WBNG) — Rebecca and Stephen Whitman owners of Stilettos Fine Arts Studio will be making the trip to Lincoln, Illi. this weekend to paint a 1,000-square-foot mural of Abraham Lincoln on the side of a local business.

The couple got the offer after Stephen’s work on a mural in Rockville, Ind. was noticed impressing the contractor. The Whitmans won’t be doing the project alone however, they will be doing it alongside world-renowned mural artist Bruce Greig, who has done many pieces throughout the southern tier.

The painting of Lincoln took about a month to complete while balancing the responsibilities of their business as well.

“It was about a month,” Rebecca said. “I’ve been down here, and I was working on it because I have to run my business. We teach students we’ve been down here just a few hours here, a few hours there, over the course of a month.”

Stephen whose work got the ball rolling on their Illinois gig is extremely excited to get out to Illinois and leave his mark on the Midwest once again.

“I mean, it’s spontaneous,” Stephen exclaimed. “It’s like dude, you get to hop in a car and like you’re driving and someone’s paying you to go do something you love and you’re going to create something thousands of people are going to see. The adrenaline rush is so different. I can’t explain that you know, it’s just, it’s inspirational man.”seven to

The trio of Rebecca, Stephen and Bruce are expected to take seven to nine days to finish the mural weather permitting but classes will still be held at their art studio while they’re gone thanks to volunteers.

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