WILMINGTON — A new mural downtown is doing more than adding color to a vacant brick wall, it aims to make an impact particularly when it comes to childhood cancer.
“The more people who see it, hopefully it will help,” local artist and business owner Bobby Reville said.
Its inspiration began three years ago at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Reville found himself standing outside a packed emergency room trying to get his 15-year-old daughter seen.
“We were supposed to leave for vacation the next day,” he recalled, “but her heart rate was abnormally high and her color was off.”
Reville said at first he thought maybe Keegan was anemic. He had noticed she was sleeping more than normal, didn’t seem as hungry, and was cold frequently. She also often wasn’t showing interest in normal activities, like jumping on the trampoline, due to feeling poorly.
But on that night her “ridiculously high” heart rate — 130 beats or more — worried him so he took her to the ER at 1 a.m. She was immediately seen, but Reville wasn’t prepared for what lay ahead.
“Have you ever heard of acute lymphoblastic leukemia?” the doctors asked him, he remembered. “And I just couldn’t understand why they wanted to know that — until they were airlifting my daughter to the children’s cancer hospital in Chapel Hill.”
ALL is a blood cancer, the most common in children with more than 3,000 diagnosed annually. Keegan’s symptoms — fatigue, appetite changes, pain in the joints, as well as paleness due to decreased red blood cells — all matched.
Making the call to her mother, Danyel, in the middle of the night to break the news from the ER was a recollection Reville couldn’t manage to recount, his voice cracking. However, four years later, 18-year-old Keegan is on the other side of her journey with her cancer in remission. The Reville family hopes to help others feel support and love through such a crucial lifechanging event.
Co-owner of Tavern Law 1832, Reville is also a self-taught artist and has hung his first public mural, “I Believe in a Cure,” across from his Second Street business. There is a QR code nearby for people to access, with funds going toward the Children’s Cancer Partners of the Carolinas.
“They were an awesome organization that helped us,” Reville said. “A lot of the volunteers there also have had children with cancer, so they understand what families go through and make sure you don’t have to worry about anything. They really take care of you.”
The group was there to help with transportation to and from Chapel Hill, provide accommodations for the family as Keegan underwent treatment and surgery, helped with meals and even would secure babysitters for the Reville’s other children, 15-year-old Billy Nash and 12-year-old Peyton.
Reville said he was contemplating doing something to help the nonprofit when Billy Mellon approached him regarding a new mural in front of his business. Mellon owns nearby manna, Bourgie Nights and Earnest Money & Sons downtown, as well as Greenfield Lake Yacht Club. The restaurateur led the charge on what has become the “I Believe” series installed on Second Street.
“I Believe in Wilmington” by Ryan Capron was unveiled seven years ago and has become a hot spot for selfies and photos shared on social media from tourists and locals alike. It has drawn attention to the downtown Wilmington historic district, with a QR code mounted next to it linking to buy merchandise, such as T-shirts, hats and stickers, highlighting the artwork. Mellon donates proceeds to area nonprofit organizations and so far has raised around $12,000, to help with projects for NourishNC, Dreams of Wilmington, and Communities in Schools of Cape Fear.
“It was really about bringing attention to that corner of downtown,” he said, “but it’s morphed.”
“The Giving Wall” is the working title for the Second Street corridor now. “I Believe in a Cure” is the second of three to hang on the side of the PieSlayer building, with a final mural to be created by Dreams of Wilmington students; early concepts of it have included a hive surrounded by bees, slated for completion this spring.
All three murals are sponsored by area businesses, including Mellon’s, to help pay for materials, installation and upkeep.
Mellon approached Reville in October about doing the second mural, already familiar with Reville’s art. Often large-scale, multimedia, 3D works, Reveille first started showing his art in his former bar, Calico Room; today he does one-of-a-kind commissions, some of which can be seen in downtown’s Eagle’s Dare or Gondolfo’s Pizza in Leland.
Reville’s passion about creating a platform that raises awareness on cancer was immediately evident in their first conversation, Mellon said. More so, Mellon knew it would resonate, as cancer is something so many people worldwide have been touched by in one way or another. Mellon counted off his grandmother, grandfather, mom, dad, cousin and best friend in his own life who faced a diagnosis.
“But I can only imagine when it’s a child with cancer — there’s only so much you can do,” he ruminated. “If a child breaks his arm, you can take the child to the doctor and they can put a cast on it and then it will heal. If the child is sick, you can give them soup. But with cancer, it’s ominous and it’s an important topic to talk about.”
“I Believe in a Cure” strives to fulfill a message of hope but also honor survivors and non-survivors. Mellon said he trusted Reville’s artistic vision.
“Sometimes you just get out of the way,” he said, adding the end product is “museum-quality artwork.”
Made of wood, Reville cut out all the figures, and hand-painted and treated them to be protected against outdoor elements. The imagery consists of a bald young girl, wearing a doctor’s coat and a stethoscope, the latter of which she uses to “treat” her stuffed animals — a bear, lion, giraffe, elephant and dog are lined up awaiting her care. She is situated under a window, overlooking a path that turns from rocky to smooth and a young girl with flowy hair frolicking into a bright light. She’s chasing butterflies that also make their way inside the hospital room where the girl undergoing treatment remains.
The stuffed animals are indicative of love but also loneliness because the reality is, Reville said, a child undergoing treatment is stuck in a hospital room most of the time with only doctors and parents. And rather than playing with friends, they’re often relegated to their stuffed animals keeping them company.
“My daughter and I talked a lot about loneliness during her treatments,” he said. “And we always looked out the window in her room at life going on outside. My daughter really wanted to be out there.”
He said the young, healthy girl in the mural who is running with the butterflies represents “new life” — leaving it up to the viewer to interpret, whether it’s facing a newfound outlook after surviving treatment or the opposite.
“The fact is, we met many families who lost their children,” Reville said. “And that was extremely tough. We feel very lucky.”
Reville added in certain elements into the mural to represent Keegan, such as her favorite teal color and the pink shoes the bald girl wears.
“Keegan always wore pink sneakers every time we went to the hospital,” he said.
Keegan was able to undergo a bone marrow transplant thanks to a match from her sister, Peyton — which Reville called a miracle, since there is roughly a 20% chance of having a brother or sister match. Yet, having to endure two children on an operating table simultaneously was scary.
“But they were so brave,” he said. “Peyton wiped her tears when it was time to draw blood, reached her hands out and said, ‘I am ‘Keegan Strong,’’ and went through with the bone marrow transplant. Now, they share the same DNA.”
Normally, siblings have about 50% of the same DNA; Keegan and Peyton now have the exact same DNA, 100%. It’s not something the family considered but out about over tuna fish sandwiches.
“Keegan always loved tuna fish and craved it after treatments,” Reville said. “One day after eating a sandwich, she felt bad and we had to go back to the hospital. We found out Peyton — who never ate tuna — was allergic to it. So it’s like Keegan is living a sci-fi reality in some ways.”
While the Revilles’ three-year experience of supporting and battling their daughter’s cancer has been eye-opening, one aspect that stands out most is something only Keegan could have come to the conclusion of post-treatment. The stethoscope the girl is holding up to the teddy bear isn’t just indicating a make-believe world of playtime.
“Keegan has decided she wants to become a child oncologist,” Reville said.
The piece is also interactive. For instance, anyone who stands in front of the teddy bear for a photo will appear as if the young child in the mural is monitoring the heartbeat of him or her.
There are also lights that illuminate at night on the mural and represent the month a particular cancer is dedicated to. It’s green in February to represent Gallbladder Cancer Awareness Month. March will be dark blue to indicate support for anyone dealing with colon cancer.
Though the three years of Keegan’s treatments were nothing short of scary, Reville said the experience has left plenty of good behind to rise above the fray. He said the family no longer sweats the small stuff in life, and they have created an even stronger bond and outlook.
“We never had a choice to not remain positive,” he said. “Kids that face treatments like this, they’re not just victims. These are the strongest kids you’ll ever meet in your life.”
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