MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Jane Bode of Narrows finishes her mural on a downtown Pearisburg building. The mural was sponsored by the Giles Arts Council with funding from several private and commercial donors and inspired by scenes from Giles County history.

PEARISBURG -- Driving by the scene of a catastrophic fire that destroyed Yasou Pawn and Country and Janet's Collectibles on Jan. 20, artist Jane Bode worried the mural she'd spent weeks painting on the building would also be destroyed.

"It made my heart sink," she said.

Hours later, the fire was out, but the structure on Main Street was a total loss -- the roof collapsed and the inside gutted by fire.

Miraculously, however, the four-panel artwork and the wall on which it was painted survived.

"I was just totally amazed that it was still there," Bode said. "There wasn't even hardly any soot that you could see. I was flabbergasted."

Still, Bode said for a time she was unsure whether the painting would be preserved.

Then word came that the Psathas family, who own the building and the two businesses inside, would be allowed to keep the wall and the painting when they rebuild. The family hopes to reopen sometime this summer, Janet Psathas said.

So Bode decided to finish the project, placing the final brush strokes last week.

The mural was sponsored by the Giles Arts Council with funding from several private and commercial donors and inspired by scenes from Giles County history.

The painting features a man driving a horse and buggy, the New River ferry that operated near the present site of Celanese Corp., the Andrew Johnston House built in 1829 and the Savoy Hotel that was demolished in the 1960s.

Bode, a self-taught artist and native of England, moved to Narrows three years ago with her husband, Tom, to join a Jehovah's Witnesses congregation and to do outreach and Bible education, she said.

The couple are retired and both now work as artists. Tom Bode does wood turning and sells his bowls and candlesticks in the area.

Jane Bode was chosen for the mural project in part because of her experience painting murals in people's homes and for commercial customers such as Best Western hotels and Sonic restaurants.

Bode donated much of her time to the Pearisburg mural project, from cleaning and preparing the wall to adding to the design last-minute details requested by residents, said arts council fundraiser Denise Blakeney.

Bode said she hopes the effort will encourage other communities to commission murals.

She's holding a class for budding mural artists from 3 to 5 p.m. April 12 at the Blacksburg library.

Mural projects can cost $1,000 to $3,000 or more, depending on the size and design, Blakeney said.

Pearisburg officials are already looking for funding for another mural.

"If people come in to see the mural, it will hopefully bring in tourists," Bode said.

In fact, the success of this project has inspired a similar effort in nearby Narrows.

There, Town Councilwoman Judy Nusen is shepherding a similar project. Last week her council directed the town manager to apply for grant funding that could lead to the creation of up to three murals.

Public art projects such as these can enhance the experience of visitors and become attractions in their own right, Nusen said.

Murals especially accentuate the landscape.

"The structure disappears and you just see this wonderful piece of art," she said.