A striking new mural welcomes visitors into Town Center on Main. The piece, titled Bookshelf, was designed and painted by internationally recognized artist Pat Perry, whose photorealistic murals can be found around the world.

In early 2025, the City of Suwanee issued a call for artists that drew nearly 90 submissions. The Suwanee Public Arts Commission, with support from the Gwinnett Creativity Fund, ultimately selected Perry for his distinctive realism and thoughtful, site-specific design.

Over about two and a half weeks, Perry transformed the walls outside the Gwinnett Public Library’s Suwanee branch into a celebration of imagination and storytelling. The mural’s location—at the entrance to the pedestrian bridge—was intentionally chosen to complement both the library and the new Town Center on Main.

“The wall is right in front of a library and it’s also in the middle of this park where people are studying and reading,” Perry explained. “Rather than painting books or people reading, I thought a different way to approach it was to paint a still life where every object represents a different story or work of literature.”

Each object in Bookshelf represents a literary reference—Easter eggs for readers to discover. A pearl nods to The Pearl by John Steinbeck; chewing gum recalls To Kill a Mockingbird; jars of jam reference Signs and Symbols by Vladimir Nabokov; and matches evoke The Road by Cormac McCarthy. More than twenty literary motifs are hidden throughout, drawing from myths, children’s classics, and world literature.

Download the entire Bookshelf Mural Book List

Visitors are invited to experience Bookshelf in person—a piece that reflects Suwanee’s appreciation for creativity, storytelling, and public art.