By NATE KING
Salina Post
Artists with experience creating murals and street art in places all over the world are in Salina this week for the third BOOM! Salina Street Art and Mural Festival. In total four different walls in Salina will be transformed into public works of art.
"Our community is in for another amazing treat of art and culture,” said Eric Montoy, the festival's chief organizer.
Mural Locations
Curated by Joe Iurato, The BOOM! Salina Street Art and Mural Festival artists are selected based on their unique style, portfolio, and influence in the contemporary mural scene.
"The first year I was billed as an artist as well, but now when I come back, I can't sit still. I've got to paint. So I do stuff all over town. We have fun with it," Iurato said. "First and foremost, when I'm looking for artwork for Salina, I'm looking for art that I think will resonate within the community. I'm looking for diversity, professionalism, and then there's the other aspect of personality."
Iurato is a multi-disciplined artist from New Jersey who primarily works with stencils and spray paint, rooted in street art. He creates murals and wooden woodcuts that play with perspective, often incorporating stories.
"The idea really is to find a story for the woodcut. What I really love doing is sort of creating these characters that may have more to the story than just what you see, and then taking them outside and trying to find that story," Iurato said. "It's not just the art. It's the whole experience for both the artist and for the community. Oftentimes, there are artists that I've been following that I really enjoy their work, that I just feel like it has a sense of place here. And sometimes you can see the kind of person they are through their art, like Lidia."
Lidia Cao is a Spanish artist from the small town of Ordes located in the northwest part of the country. The BOOM! Salina Mural Festival not only marks Cao's first visit to Kansas but also her first visit to the United States.
"Well, it's not the first festival I've participated in, I've participated in more festivals, especially in Europe, Africa, and in Asia," Cao said. "It's the first time here [USA], and from the moment I've been here, no joke, I think it's the best festival I’ve ever been to."
Her inspiration for the mural's subject originated from the location of the mural's wall at 121 North Seventh Street in Salina.
"The idea of the concept I want to convey is always like a more poetic narrative. And in the case of this mural, I've been told by the owner of the mural wall that she has a therapy clinic and thanks to that, I remembered a little that I wanted to treat the issue of overcoming oneself, as a bit of therapy," Cao said. "The idea of this mural is like resurfacing or reviving again, that's why the butterflies are also going to appear. A bit of the metaphor of a larva transforming into a butterfly, that change of life."
For Iurato, making the pitch for artists to come to Salina gets easier and easier as word continues to spread about the festival. With the help of legendary photographer, Martha Cooper, artists from all corners of the globe are finding out what it means to go to the "Crossroads of America."
"A lot of these artists, when I first invite them and I say, 'I want to invite you to do this thing in Kansas' and the first thing, usually it's a question like 'Kansas?'" Iurato said. "Martha Cooper is obviously Martha Cooper, and she's a good friend of mine and she's been a part of this for years. Martha absolutely adores this place."
Martha Cooper, a documentary photographer who has specialized in shooting urban vernacular art and architecture for more than forty years, grew up surrounded by cameras. Her father and uncle were camera store owners. Cooper remembers her first exposure to photography was when she would accompany her father on weekend "Camera Runs" taking pictures around town.
In 1977, Martha moved from Rhode Island to New York City and worked as a staff photographer at the NY Post for three years. During that time, she began to document graffiti subjects which led to her extensive coverage of early Hip Hop as it emerged from the Bronx.
"Most of the street art festivals that I've gone to have been either east coast or west coast," Cooper said. "I think this is the only one that I've gone to that's been kind of in the middle of America. We also call it urban art, but, you know, Salina isn't that urban."
Cooper said the emphasis and intention behind making architecture and artwork the focus of the downtown really makes the town one of a kind.
"Salina's Main Street- somebody did a great job with designing Salina," Cooper said. "It really feels like you're in a different place. It's not like cookie-cutter America at all. I think it's a special place."
On the day she arrived in town, Cooper said she was greeted multiple times by residents. BOOM! 2024 marks the third Salina street art and mural festival Cooper has been to.
"A very warm welcome and they recognize you as somebody that's been here before," Cooper said. "They say 'Welcome back!' and I must have heard that half a dozen times when I got here."
Cooper will be all over downtown Salina as the Festival goes on. Be sure to attend the BOOM! 2024 Artist panel discussion on Oct. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Salina Art Center to hear more about Cooper's experience photographing street art.
Another artist making his debut on the walls of Salina is Sandro Figueroa Garcia, artistically known as Sen2. Figueroa was born in 1969. He grew up in Canteras, a neighborhood of Santurce, Puerto Rico. In the 1980's his fascination with graffiti, color and letter forms took a hold of Sen2's dreams.
"In 1986 I moved to New York City And when I see walls, I see the train, I see graffiti. I say, 'Hold on one second. I like it,'" Figueroa said. "It's like inside my blood. Yeah, people look at me like I'm crazy. And I say listen, 'You want to see?' I'm working, working, working."
Figueroa said he describes his style, not as abstract, but as mechanical.
"I started doing the mechanical style. That's like, you see one painting before and you blew it up, like bigger, and you grab half of the pieces of that. I call it mechanical because it is more like a technique. The colors, bring happiness. People see colors as something different. It's love,” Figueroa said.
You can see SEN2's mural at 210 South Fifth Street in Salina.
BOOM! Salina Mural Festival Events
On Friday, October 4 Join the festival crew at 6:30 p.m. at the Salina Art Center for 'First Friday'. The highlight of the day will be the 2024 BOOM! Salina Artist Panel Discussion and the Photography Show featuring the 2022 & 2023 BOOM! Salina works by Martha Cooper and Tanner Colvin. First Friday by Salina Downtown will also feature other live music and art galleries.
Then on Oct. 5 join in the fun at Kid’s Creative Corners from 12 p.m. -1:30 p.m. with visual artist David Zinn and learn how he creates his whimsical creations using chalk, charcoal, and found objects. David will give a brief presentation followed by a chance to draw with the artist. Children of all ages are welcome, children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
Check Salina Post on Saturday, Oct. 5 to learn more about Leon Keer, David Zinn, and Curtis Hylton other muralists in Salina as part of BOOM!
Boom! Salina is an annual mural festival in the heart of downtown Salina, KS. The larger vision is to bring in street artists and muralists from around the world to enhance the visual landscape of our city. The festival is funded through private and crowd sourced donors that share a creative hunger to be bold and inspiring. Boom! Salina is a backed by the Salina Kanvas Project.