VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Downtown Jim Boeheim Mural in Progress
CHRIS MURRAY: All of the things he’s done for the community and, of course basketball just a legend for everyone here in central New York.
KIRAN COSTA: That just about sums it up. Jim Boeheim is a legend, a larger-than-life figure, and that’s exactly how Chris B Murray depicted him in his mural being painted in Armory Square. For Murray, this project is personal.
CHRIS MURRAY: I grew up a big Boeheim Syracuse basketball fan. I’m from further upstate New York. We all grew up loving and watching SU basketball, my friends and family. I used to go to his basketball camps in the summer.
KIRAN COSTA: Chris came up with the idea for the Boeheim mural himself, but living in Philadelphia, it just wasn’t that easy to get things going.
CHRIS MURRAY: I was making a lot of phone calls, having a lot of Zoom meetings, and even driving back and forth for two years, meeting with people, locking in locations, getting people to sign off on agreements, all sorts of things.
KIRAN COSTA: For Chris, working on a piece of art so close to where he grew up feels like a true full-circle moment,
CHRIS MURRAY: Coming back home, per se, and creating this for my family, friends, and the city of Syracuse.
KIRAN COSTA: The mural that can be found at 215 W. Fayette St. in Armory Square is expected to be done within the next two weeks.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- Armory Square in downtown Syracuse is getting a new mural of legendary Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim. Artist Chris B. Murray from Philadelphia is halfway through the piece of art located at 215 W. Fayette St.
Murray grew up in the area, about two and a half hours north of Syracuse in Norfolk, NY. But despite being nearly 150 miles away, Murray grew up idolizing Boeheim, even attending his basketball camps as a child. Murray has felt a connection to Boeheim from a very young age.
“I grew up a big Boeheim Syracuse basketball fan. I’m from further upstate New York. We all grew up loving and watching SU basketball, my friends and family,” Murray said.
Muray came up with the idea for the mural himself. One day, lying in bed, he saw a post of a mural in Syracuse and decided he wanted to make one himself, and Boeheim was the obvious choice.
“He’s a very pivotal person in upstate New York. All of the things he’s done for the community and, of course, basketball, just a legend for everyone here,” Murray said.
But the process of getting the mural up wasn’t that easy. Murray was living in Philadelphia when he decided on the mural. It’s been a two-year process for Murray working with the Syracuse Public Art Commission.
“I was making a lot of phone calls, having a lot of Zoom meetings and even driving back and forth for two years meeting with people, locking in locations, getting people to sign off on agreements, all sorts of things,” Murray said.
Murray is currently living with friends and family while he works on the mural. He is currently working about 10 hours a day, seven days a week. The mural is expected to be completed in the next two weeks.