Graffiti News
Dolly Parton Mural in Asheville Becomes a Memorial
A mural of Dolly Parton in West Asheville, North Carolina, has become a spontaneous memorial to the country music legend. Parton died on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at the age of 80. According to FOX 9, mourners began arriving at the wall the following day, leaving flowers, handwritten notes, mementos and stuffed animals at its base.
The mural covers the side of the building that houses Beauty Parade, a hair salon at the corner of Haywood Road and Mildred Avenue in West Asheville.
A salon wall with eight years of history
Asheville artist Gus Cutty painted the portrait in 2018, commissioned by Beauty Parade's owner, Terra Marshall. The work took four days. Two years later, in 2020, a portrait of drag icon RuPaul was added beside Parton, and in 2022 the wall reached a far larger audience when it appeared in an episode of “RuPaul's Drag Race.”
The pairing is rooted in Parton's own words. FOX 9 notes that her often-quoted line — “If I hadn't been a woman, I'd be a drag queen for sure” — has long served as a beacon of acceptance.
Why murals become memorials
Monuments need committees, budgets and years. A mural is already on the street. When the person on the wall dies, the wall becomes a place to grieve within hours — no permit, no planning. The West Asheville portrait was never designed as a memorial; it became one the moment the news broke. Street art has played this role before: the George Floyd murals in Minneapolis in 2020 turned into gathering places in much the same way.
Geography matters here too. Asheville sits just across the Appalachian mountains from East Tennessee, where Parton was born and raised. For people in the region who grew up with “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” the salon wall was the closest place to bring flowers.
The wall in your own neighborhood
A portrait mural's meaning is not fixed on the day it is finished; it is completed on the day a city needs it. The mural you walk past without a glance may one day be where someone lays flowers. You can browse the murals and street art around you on the Wallscape map.
Source: FOX 9