Marbles Kids Museum's walls to have new story to tell with giant mural in progress now

The wall next to Splash, the first-floor exhibit at Marbles Kids Museum, is getting a new look. Raleigh artist Denise Hughes is painting a huge mural to reflect the themes of the ocean and water exhibit.

This is made of bottle caps!

And so is this!

But Hughes also works in other mediums. At Marbles, she's painting on the walls near the pirate ship, creating a variety of images, including a far-off pirate ship, a crocodile, a monkey swinging on a palm tree and some spectacular sky and wave scenes.

"They are already interacting with the painted pirate ship and the crocodile," Hughes tells me of the kids who come to play while she's painting.

"Denise is a MASTER. She painted the original octopus mural in Splash, and with the addition of Seedlings, we asked her to come back and help us add even more imagination to the walls in that space," said Taylor Rankin, Marbles' senior marketing and communications specialist.