By SALINA POST
BOOM! Salina has begun and the first of the murals is in the books.
The mural, Three Kinds of Sons by Tony Sjöman, a Manhattan, N.Y.-based artist, is on the south wall of Mid-Kansas Title Co. Inc., 217 N. Santa Fe Avenue. Sjöman made it official by signing the art during a brief ceremony this morning. The mural was created with acrylic latex and spray paint on a brick wall and measures 90 feet by 32 feet.
The first BOOM! Salina Street Art and Mural Festival is going on now through Oct. 16 in downtown Salina. It is being organized by the Salina Kanvas Project in cooperation with Salina Arts & Humanities, the Stiefel Theatre, Theatre Salina, Salina Area Chamber of Commerce, The Salina Art Center, Salina 2020, and Salina Downtown, Inc.
During the festival, additional artists will be painting murals at four other downtown Salina locations. In addition to the artists creating the murals, the festival also will include live music Oct. 14-15 at the Love Salina stage in Campbell Plaza.
Additionally, Martha Cooper, known as the godmother of street art photography, is scheduled to have an exhibition of her photographs at the Salina Art Center, 242 S. Santa Fe Avenue, through Oct. 23.
Cooper is a documentary photographer specializing in shooting urban vernacular art and architecture for more than 40 years, according to information on the BOOM! Salina website.
"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 and B-Boying, subjects which led to her extensive coverage of early Hip Hop as it emerged from the Bronx," the BOOM! Salina website noted.
In addition to the exhibition, the Salina Art Center Cinema, 150 S. Santa Fe Avenue, will screen a film about Cooper - Martha: A Picture Story - at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 12. The cost is $6 per person.
A BOOM! Salina muralist panel discussion is scheduled to follow at 7:30 p.m. in the Salina Art Center.