Take the BMT Art Walk: Roberta Flack Mural

ArtThings to DoMusic
Written By Amy Schultz

When you visit our downtown, it’s impossible to miss the striking image of Black Mountain native and Grammy Award-winning artist Roberta Flack on the side wall of Black Mountain Brewing.

Facing southbound travelers on Broadway, the piece was created by mural artist Scott Nurkin as a part of the NC Musicians Mural Project. The trail of murals is a collective tribute to North Carolina natives including Randy Travis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and of course, our own Roberta.

Meet Roberta Flack

Grammy Award-winner Roberta Flack was born in Black Mountain in 1937. Raised in a deeply musical family, her talent was apparent early and earned her a music scholarship to Howard University at just 15 years old. While she was classically trained as a pianist, her love of jazz, gospel, soul, and folk gave her music a richness that would later define her style: intimate, unhurried, and full of emotional truth.

After graduating from Howard, Roberta taught in North Carolina and Washington, D.C. while also performing in clubs as a pianist for other vocalists and a singer, according to NPR. Her breakthrough came when jazz pianist Les McCann heard her perform and sent a tape to Atlantic Records. A year later, Atlantic released her debut album, First Take.

In the 1970s, Roberta became the voice behind some of the most tender and enduring songs of the era. Her vast talent and timeless performances earned her 14 Grammy nominations and four Grammy wins. She was the first solo artist to win the Grammy for Record of the Year two years in a row: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (1973) and Killing Me Softly with His Song (1974).

Roberta continued to record, collaborate and perform into her 80s. Among her many accolades, she was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was honored with a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Over a career that spanned decades, she remained not only a celebrated performer but also a dedicated educator and humanitarian. Roberta passed away in 2025.

The Making of the Mural

In 2020, Chapel Hill mural artist Scott Nurkin and Hopscotch music festival founder Greg Lowenhagen reached out to John Richardson of Black Mountain Brewing with an idea to create a tribute mural to Robert Flack on the side of the building. John was thrilled. He even helped Nurkin raise the money needed to create the mural.

“ (Roberta Flack) was a songbird, and she was an incredibly talented classically trained pianist,” Nurkin told BPR in a 2025 interview. “In the larger arching cultural fashion, she's up there as one of the pioneers of soulful songwriting and singing piano players.”

As a part of the NC Musicians Mural Trail project, the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources installed a plaque next to the mural. It says:

NC Musician Murals
Roberta Flack
February 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, NC

Roberta Flack is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist renowned for her smooth, "velvety" voice. Born in Black Mountain in Buncombe County on February 10, 1937, she was one of four children of Laron and Irene Flack. Flack was exposed to gospel music from an early age, as Mahalia Jackson sang at another church across the street from her house. Flack's musical style has been fluid, moving between jazz, folk, soul, R&B, and pop and she has won a total of four Grammys, all between 1972 and 1974. Flack has tended to avoid stylistic definitions, commenting on her reputation as a jazz performer that: "I don't enjoy being labeled as a jazz musician. I think it's limiting." In 2007 she founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in New York City. In 2009, she was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Muralist: Scott Nurkin

Source: hmdb.org/m.asp?m=250913

Deeper Dive

Want to learn more about Roberta Flack and the history of the Black Mountain mural dedicated to her legacy?

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About the Author

This blog story was written by Amy J. Schultz, an award-winning author, brand/marketing strategist, and overall creative type. She, her husband Brian, and their giant dog Bentley love their downtown Black Mountain neighborhood.

Amy Schultz
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