Artist Stacey Bee unveils new mural in east Fayetteville

Staff photo

A local artist recently completed a new mural on the east side of town.

Artist Stacy Bates, a.k.a. Stacy Bee, recently finished a roughly 40-foot mural at 1838 N. Crossover Road, in the building home to popular restaurant and watering hole, East Side Grill.

It may be the only mural in that area of Fayetteville. It’s the only one we can think of, anyway.

The new work includes several notable landmarks in Fayetteville, including Razorback Stadium, the Seven Points castle at Wilson Park, the cross at Mount Sequoyah, and others.

Todd Martin, owner of East Side Grill, who commissioned the mural, said there are eight landmarks in all. The two little girls and the two dogs in the murals also have significance, he said, as does the time on the clock at Old Main. The mural also depicts Martin’s other restaurants, Theo’s and Southern Food Company.

Bates, an art teacher from Fort Smith, was also the artist behind the mural on a bridge overpass on the Tsa La Gi multi-use trail in south Fayetteville.

According to her website, she specializes in creating pen and ink illustrations in black and white, along with murals that combine her two favorite styles – drawing and printmaking.

In addition to her work in Fayetteville, Bates also recently competed a cool skyline mural project at Fort Smith Coffee Company, and her work “Automated Comfort” was included in Crystal Bridges’ 2020 Social Connecting Campaign show.

Check out some more photos of the new work below.