Valley Planet Article

ValleyPlanet.com » Convergence in Art

Average to Art
By Sarah Gorman
11/13/2008

Inside a modest white house on Meridian Street beneath the words, “Average to Art” Alissa Murnane runs her business (by that very name) which specializes in decorative finishes and wall murals for the home or business. She and the rest of her team have been recognized numerous times for their achievement, most notably (and most recently) placing first in an international contest for most viable decorative finish. She was chosen to go to Italy by the Chicago Institute of Fine Finishes-- one of seven in the country-- to train with the masters at Oikos, an Italian plaster company. After completion, she will add nine days of classes to her 180 hours of decorative finish training and also put on the list, ‘Oikos approved applicator’.
“My mission is to stay the most up-to-date and the most competitive,” she says. She is surely doing a good job of it. Huntsville is lucky to be able to boast someone so accomplished and so dedicated. “We are a local company committed to Huntsville. We want to offer the best custom art you can get.”
“Art’s in my blood and you can’t get around it,” she says. Her philosophy seems wiser than what you would guess for that of someone still in their twenties. Instead of choosing her path with art that for so many means sleeping on other people’s couches and rummaging in dumpsters for dinner, she started with the same goal but her steps were guided by a sense of practicality; her decisions were wise and tailored to success in the modern world.
Drawing insight from meditation and a For Dummies book on careers, she set up Average to Art in a bedroom in the first house she and her husband occupied when they moved to Huntsville in 2003.
Average to Art offers decorative finishes for the home and for furniture as well as custom murals. They offer beauty and sophistication (the finishes) as well as whimsy and fun (murals), allowing a range of creative expression. Murnane has successfully created a living for herself rooted in creativity, an inspiration to all young people worried their passion will never be able to support them.
Murnane recognizes how unique her situation is, to be able to work where you are most happy, that’s something that doesn’t exist for the average bear. She says, “I feel like I get to do what I love so I should be giving back.” Average to Art works with Junior Achievement of America, they’re doing a 5k Ribbon Run in October for breast cancer and she’s working on donating time and energy to painting murals for Homes for Our Troops, a foundation that builds homes for injured veterans.
Average to Art has certainly grown since operating out of a bedroom, a paced growth. They moved into the gallery/showroom at 905 Meridian just this May, a proper space for a thriving business. The gallery is open Saturdays from 10-4, by appointment, or whenever you see the van bearing the promise, “Average to Art” out front.