Murals Around Downtown Salina
Written by Madisyn Ehrlich on November 17, 2024
Last month, the 3rd Boom! Salina Street Art and Mural Festival took place downtown where more murals were added to the already existing Salina gallery. Since the Fall of 2022, muralists from all around the world have attended this event where they have the chance to showcase their own unique and signature styles to the public. The five artists who attended this year were chosen based on their portfolios, their own unique styles, and the influence they have in the modern mural scenes.
In 2019, the Salina Kanvas Project was created by locals, who wanted to make Salina home to one of the greatest outdoor public art museums. After inviting artist Guido van Helten in 2021 to paint on the HD Lee Mill, the group began the first ever Boom! Salina Street Art and Mural Festival and invited many worldwide artists to Salina. Since then, the Salina Kanvas Project has been working towards putting Salina on a national map of must-see places.
This year, five talented artists from around the world were chosen to attend this event. Those attending were David Zinn (US), Leon Keer (Netherlands), SEN2 (Puerto Rico), Lidia Cao (Spain), and Curtis Hylton (United Kingdom). To read more about each artist, their signature styles, and how they got into art, visit the link https://www.boomsalina.art/.
After the first BOOM! Street Art and Mural Festival, the Salina community has looked forward to the yearly event to see the new art that will be added to downtown. Members of the community enjoy interacting with the artists who attend the event and to also watch the process of how the murals are made. Ashlynn Alam, a member of the Salina community says “the murals in downtown Salina are so beautiful. When I come home, I enjoy going downtown to look at all of the different and unique artwork. The murals are one of my favorite parts of the city.” Judy Ehrlich, another member of the community says that “the murals that have been added have definitely brought life to downtown Salina. I enjoy going on walks downtown just to see the murals.”
To learn more about the past and present murals that have been painted all throughout downtown Salina you can visit the Salina Art Center on 242 S Santa Fe Ave. To see the full map of all of the murals you can visit the link https://www.boomsalina.art/.