Amelia Harehart and Lion Armstrong: Inside the Foley Library Murals by Alabama Artist Banks Compton

FOLEY, Ala. — A rabbit in an aviator’s helmet, a lion blowing a trumpet and an owl wearing a crown have become some of the most popular residents of Foley’s new library. The Foley library murals, painted by Alabama artist Banks Compton, now wrap the walls of the Foley Community Library’s Children’s Story Grove, inviting young readers into a world of imagination that the community has quickly made its own.

Compton, who now lives in Foley, has painted murals in 10 states. But he says the library project holds a special place in his body of work, in part because of what happened after he put down his brushes: visitors started naming his animals.

A storybook come to life

The $20 million Foley Community Library opened in August 2026, and the Children’s Story Grove was planned from the beginning as one of its signature features for young visitors. The area includes a sensory room, separate activity areas for children and teens, a STEAM-STEM lab, craft activities in the Maker Meadow and Compton’s murals. Anchoring the space is a three-dimensional reading tree that also features his sculptures.

On his website, Compton describes the project as roughly 1,500 square feet of storybook-inspired murals along with the sculptural reading tree.

He said he wanted the artwork to feel like a natural extension of Foley and the people who live there.

“This was a completely new children’s space, so there was an opportunity to help establish its personality from the beginning,” he said. “The goal became to create an environment that felt whimsical, imaginative, and full of discovery. I wanted children to feel like they were stepping into a storybook, but I also wanted it to feel specifically connected to Foley and this community.”

Meet Amelia Harehart, Lion Armstrong and Prince Albert

Among the most popular images in the Story Grove are a rabbit wearing an aviator’s helmet and flying jacket, a lion playing a trumpet and an owl wearing a crown. Compton did not give them names. The library’s visitors did.

The aviator rabbit became Amelia Harehart, a nod to pioneering pilot Amelia Earhart. The trumpet-playing lion was named Lion Armstrong, after jazz great Louis Armstrong. The crowned owl was christened Prince Albert.

“One of my favorite things that happened after the murals were created was that people started naming the animals,” Compton said. “I created something visually, but then the community started giving them personalities and identities. That’s something that I really couldn’t have designed in advance. To me, that’s when public art really starts working. I can paint it, but once people begin creating their own stories around it, it becomes part of their space rather than simply being my artwork.”

‘You have truly made it magical’

Foley Library Director Kate Norris said the murals have resonated with adults as much as with the children they were designed for.

“We watch kids grow up in this library, and they’re going to have this for the rest of their lives. They’re gonna have this memory,” she told Compton. “You have truly made it magical. It is one of my favorite places in the library. If I’m a little gloomy, I’m going to take a walk to the children’s section because it is just magical.”

Compton said one of the strengths of permanent public art is that children can return to it again and again as they grow.

“Because this is a public building, children can actually grow up with these characters,” he said. “They might notice something here at 5 years old that means something completely different to them when they come back at 10. That’s one of the things I love about permanent public art, and none of this happens without collaboration. The library knew its audience and its mission much better than I ever could.”

From Florence to RISD to Mardi Gras floats

Compton is a native of Florence, Alabama, in the Shoals region along the Tennessee River in the state’s northwest corner. He studied at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, one of the country’s best-known art and design schools.

One of his early career stops was Kern Studios in New Orleans, the famed float-building company whose workshops have produced parades for Mardi Gras for decades. There, Compton designed Mardi Gras floats. That experience turned out to be useful in Foley, he said, especially for the three-dimensional sculpture work on the reading tree. Float building blends large-scale painting with sculpture and fabrication, the same combination of skills the tree required.

Murals with a purpose

Compton’s recent work has focused heavily on education and young people, and much of it is close to home.

Summerdale recycling center

For the Baldwin County Solid Waste Disposal Authority in Summerdale, he painted murals that guide viewers through the recycling process from start to finish. The authority opened its Materials Recovery Facility there in March 2025, a sorting plant where mixed recyclables from homes and businesses are separated into materials such as cardboard, paper, plastics and metals and then sold to manufacturers. The campus includes an education center, and murals that explain each step help visitors understand what happens after they put items in the recycling bin.

Mobile County Juvenile Court and Strickland Youth Center

Compton also worked with the Mobile County Juvenile Court system and the Strickland Youth Center in Mobile on murals that some young people involved in the justice system helped paint. Projects like that give young people a hands-on role in creating something lasting for spaces they use.

Across Alabama and beyond

Compton’s website lists more than 100 murals across 10 states for small towns, local businesses, brands and public institutions. Among the projects he highlights are a 50th-anniversary mural at Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham; 11 murals for space company Beyond Gravity in Decatur, including augmented-reality pieces; an award-winning mural for Merchants Paper Co. at the 2023 Pensacola Mural Fest; a mural in Demopolis inspired by the city’s Rooster Day history; community murals in West Alabama towns including Linden and Boligee; and a mural for Tambo’s Surf Shack in Gulf Shores. In 2024 he published a short book, “Banks Compton Alabama Muralist,” about becoming a muralist and the effect murals have on public spaces.

His work is part of a broader wave of public art across the state. Small towns throughout Alabama have used murals in recent years to draw visitors downtown, celebrate local history and give residents new places to gather and take photos.

‘I’ve had to learn about a place before I can paint it’

Compton said every mural begins with a different audience and a different goal.

“Every wall comes with a completely different audience and a completely different purpose,” he said. “A mural from a children’s library shouldn’t solve the same problem as a mural for a recycling center. That’s actually one of my favorite things about painting murals: I’ve had to learn about a place before I can paint it. Sometimes that means learning about local history. Sometimes it means understanding an organization and what it does, and sometimes that means listening to the people who actually use the space.”

About the Foley Community Library

The new Foley Community Library opened Aug. 4, 2026, at 230 E. Orange Ave. The 40,000-square-foot building is roughly twice the size of the facility it replaced next to City Hall. In addition to the Children’s Story Grove, it includes a multipurpose room that seats 277 people and a second-story porch overlooking the Perry Wilbourne Antique Rose Trail and the city’s dog park.

The library’s roots go back to 1923, when members of the Foley Community Welfare Club, later the Foley Women’s Club, collected 500 donated books and opened a subscription library in a borrowed room at a furniture store. A century later, the new building has quickly become one of the area’s most talked-about community spaces.

Visiting the murals

The Children’s Story Grove is open to visitors during regular library hours, and families can see Amelia Harehart, Lion Armstrong, Prince Albert and the reading tree in person. The library also hosts children’s programs and community events throughout the year. Information on hours and upcoming programs is available from the Foley Community Library.