A series of colorful new murals depicting the history of Sis’ Tavern have been added to a fence next to the historic North Brentwood juke joint.

Painted by D.C. artist Jay Durrah, the murals show jazz musicians Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey, who frequented Sis’ Tavern; a couple swing dancing; men sitting at a bar; a classic 1940s car with a sweeping fender and sidemount tire; and two men getting a shave.

Durrah, who is self-taught, uses multiple layers of broad, colorful paint to create his impressionist portraits through a technique known as pointilism, which he says reflects the “multiple layers of ethnicities that make us uniquely beautiful.”

Completed last week, the murals are hung on a mustard yellow fence that surrounds a grassy area next to the landmark tavern at 4516 41st Ave.

Constructed around 1912, the building was the first commercial property in North Brentwood and housed a grocery before Marie “Sis” Walls ran it as a tavern with live music and later as a barbershop.

The murals are part of a restoration project led by the town of North Brentwood, the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council and Drummond Architecture.

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