ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — As art across the Star City continues to make its way to the sides of buildings, restaurants, and even streets; two artists are giving the community of taste of their talent.
Brazilian muralist, Thiago Valdi and Roanoke Valley native, Jon Murrill teamed up to create the “Nightingale.” The work of art sits on the corner of 11th Street and Moorman Avenue.
“We put together something that I think the community is really going to enjoy. It is something special to the both of us, it expresses each of our styles, and we are representing someone in our community,” said Murrill in an interview with Roanoke Valley Television, RVTV.
The piece illustrates a detailed image of Danielle Austin, who is an educator in Roanoke. With streaks of yellow, turquoise, purple, gold, and hints of green, each color connects to a second image, a nightingale.

“After almost 20 years of trying to improve my art, it became popular around the world because my technique is very realistic with brilliant colors. So people in other cities started asking me to do it in their own places,” shared Valdi.
Valdi is an international artist. He is known for his street art and catching the emotion and detail of a piece. However, his journey to the star city was aided by the Roanoke Valley Sister Cities exchange program.
A few years ago, the Roanoke Valley Sister Cities contacted different institutions to choose a city to create an artist-in-residence program. Roanoke College chose the city of Florianópolis.
“I use two kinds of techniques, a very precise one, very rational techniques of realism. I also use a lot of expression that I learned from Brazil. The way that they do things, very loose, very free. When you mix those antagonistic things the art becomes more powerful,” explained Valdi.
During his residency in Roanoke. Valdi designed a few murals throughout the city including a mural on the side of the Wilson Hughes Gallery building, at 117 Campbell Avenue SW.
To see more of Valdi’s work, visit his Facebook page.