A fabulous mural celebrating Amelia Earhart in Derry is proving hugely popular with aviation fans in the US.
The inspirational artwork, painted on North West Regional College’s Foyle building, is now going viral in Atchison, Kansas, the birthplace and hometown of the legendary pilot until she was 12.
Nicole McElhinney from Derry’s Amelia Earhart Legacy Association told BBC Radio Foyle that people were raving about the tribute during the recent Amelia Earhart Festival: “I found so many people were coming up to me and asking me about the mural because they said it had gone viral this side of the States.
“When I was attending events, people were coming up to me from all over the United States of America – from Indianapolis to Iowa – saying that they saw the mural on the TV, on the news, on social media,” she said.
Karen Cray Seaberg, a Kansas native, works at the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Atchison. She, along with countless others across the United States, is captivated by the artwork.
“That mural has gone totally viral in the United States, with everyone sharing it on Instagram and on Facebook,” she said.
“People here just cannot believe what you all have done in Ireland.”
The Strand Road mural is one of a number of homages to the famed aviator in Derry city.
Created by North Carolina street artist Jeks, in association with Street Art Collective Peaball, the mural is so tall it can clearly be seen from the Peace Bridge.
Pictured at the mural are: Amelia Earhart Legacy Association committee members Caroline McGowan, Elaine Duffy and Eilis Quigley, Donal O’Doherty, Peaball Collective, Catherine O’Mullan, Director of Curriculum and Academic Standards at NWRC, Conor McGurgan, Marketing and PR manager NWRC, Erin Hutcheon, Senior Marketing and PR Officer NWRC, Gillian Moss, Head of Client Services at NWRC, NWRC, and Amelia Earhart Legacy Association committee members Nicole McElhinney, Maureen McGhee and Sinead Hawkins. Photo: North West Regional College
Amelia Earhart’s association with the North West began in 1932 during her successful attempt to become the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
On May 21, 1932 Amelia Earhart landed in Gallagher’s field in Ballyarnett. Earhart spent the night with the Gallagher family in Springfield, Donegal.
Despite staying only a day, almost one hundred years later Amelia’s story is still remembered across Derry, and her image is now immortalised on the estate of the city’s Further and Higher Education college.
