Graffiti News

A painted landmark has become a city emblem

Cayce’s Carolina Sunset mural has been painted over, leaving the city logo on a water tower near Charleston Highway. Charleston Post and Courier reported the change on August 31, 2026. The tower belongs to the city of Cayce, South Carolina, and stands near Par Tee Golf Center in West Columbia.

The former painting covered 20,000 square feet and showed a golfer swinging against a sunset, alongside South Carolina’s official state tree. It also carried the Gamecocks logo associated with the University of South Carolina (USC). For people following murals, the change is a practical update: the tower remains a location to recognize, but the golf artwork is no longer there to see.

The distinction matters when older photographs circulate. An image of Carolina Sunset records an earlier appearance of the structure. A trip prompted by that photograph now leads to a different design, replacing a painted scene with a municipal identity.

Repairs and the price of recreation shaped the decision

Cayce says deterioration made repairs and repainting necessary to protect the tower and meet environmental requirements. In a statement to the newspaper, the city said a 2013 report had put the mural’s expected life at 15 years, but rust and other damage developed sooner.

The municipality described periodic water-tower maintenance as necessary for structural protection, water quality and compliance with state environmental standards. It specifically cited South Carolina Department of Environmental Services requirements in explaining the work. The tower’s role as water infrastructure therefore forms an essential part of the story of its painted surface.

Recreating the old mural exactly would have cost about $130,000 more than the updated design, according to the city. That figure is an estimated additional expense, rather than the total repainting bill. Officials said budget pressures made the extra spending difficult to justify when the money could serve other community needs.

The city also pointed to a change in the tower’s sporting context: USC’s men’s and women’s golf teams no longer practice at Par Tee. The golf center offered a different emphasis, saying other members of the Gamecock community still use the course daily.

Community fundraising gave the painting a wider role

Carolina Sunset was connected to a charitable project as well as golf, making its removal the loss of a visible reminder of community participation. According to the newspaper, local organization Public Works of HeART partnered with USC Athletics to raise money for the mural and Harvest Hope Food Bank. The initiative led to the donation of 60,000 meals.

The newspaper cited a 2013 ABC Columbia report describing 10,000 squares on the 88-foot-tall tank being offered for $25 each. That fundraising arrangement was presented as saving the city and county the expense. These details explain why the artwork’s history extends beyond the scene visitors saw from the road.

Public Works of HeART described Carolina Sunset as its first project and the largest hand-painted mural in South Carolina. The size ranking belongs to the organization’s account. Its first-project status also ties the tower to the beginning of that organization’s work.

Par Tee owner Tom Mason expressed disappointment about the removal. In social media posts, the center remembered people leaving Charleston Highway to stop for photographs with the mural. That account gives the painting another local function: it served as a reason to stop and as the background to personal pictures.

The tower’s current state belongs in its public-art record

Carolina Sunset should now be documented as a former mural, with its fundraising history kept alongside photographs of the painting. The change illustrates how a public artwork can share a surface with infrastructure whose maintenance needs continue throughout the artwork’s life.

Cayce said it notified mural designer and Public Works of HeART founder Will Bryan, as well as Mason, before changing the design. The city acknowledged residents’ attachment to the work and said its commitment to the arts and its Arts District remained strong. The source does not announce a replacement mural or a schedule for recreating Carolina Sunset.

For a visit, the reported location is near Par Tee Golf Center and Charleston Highway; the source provides no precise viewing point or access arrangements. Visitors should expect the city logo rather than the former golf scene. Keeping that change visible in a mural record helps people distinguish a surviving structure from an artwork that has disappeared.

Explore other public-art locations on the Wallscape map.

Source: Charleston Post and Courier