Wherever there is a vast expanse of concrete along the roadside, most often in the form of a retaining wall, it is likely to have a mural painted on it. Perhaps the largest and most elaborate of these roadside murals is the one along the north side of Zion Hill.
Spanning about 50 yards, with a height of 20 feet, the Zion Hill mural depicts daily life in the BVIs.
Scenes include Fishermen mending their nets,
Cows and donkeys greeting sailboats at a pier,
And depictions of typical Islander households. If you're wondering what all the little black dots are in the photos above, those are drainage pipes, allowing heavy rainfall to pass through the wall, instead of destroying it.
The Zion Hill mural also honors the governors of the BVI, with memorial paintings. H. Lavity Stout served for nearly 40 years, and is also honored in the name of the only college in the BVI, H. Lavity Stout Community College.
In the very center of the mural is this figure -- an oversized woman, bigger than the hills and nearby cottages, carrying a basket of bread on her head (or at least, that's what the word on the basket says). What this has to do with the daily life of the BVI, or who this woman is supposed to be, I have no idea, but it certainly makes for a central focus in this otherwise lovely mural.
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