📆 Monday, August 12th – Sunday, August 18th
📍 Venues around Belltown including: Screwdriver Bar, Portal Porch, Base Camp Studios, Bell Street Park, Belltown Dog Park, and more
There’s something exciting about a public mural. It’s art for everyone who can see, yet because murals are often tucked away among shops and office buildings, spotting a cool one can feel like stumbling on a secret—a reward for your eyeballs while you go about the business of living.
This August 13th through 18th, Belltown’s parking lots and alleys will come alive with murals for the first-ever Belltown Mural Festival. Organizers say ten artists will live-paint their creations throughout the week, and special events, including a gallery party, “paint jam” extravaganza, and walking tour, will liven up the calendar and the streets of Belltown.
Festival organizer and artist Aaron Asis says all the art—whether it’s the trippy nature-inspired work of Nalisha Estrellas or the rainbow-infused realism of Myron Curry—comes from artists who are Seattle-based or have strong Seattle ties. Though the themes and styles of the murals will be varied, Asis says there’s one big rule for the murals: They all have to be Belltown-related, although the artists are free to interpret that as they wish.
The Belltown Mural Festival is part of the Hope Corps Downtown Seattle Mural Project, a component of the mayor’s Downtown Activation Plan—a series of efforts announced last summer intended to revitalize downtown Seattle in the wake of the pandemic.
Mural fest highlights include Addison Karl‘s creation on 2nd Avenue, which will be especially huge and painted on the side of a 7-story building. Meanwhile, Ariel Parrow and Sean Hamilton are collaborating on a mural about community and togetherness that will appear on the side of Belltown’s fire station.
The paint jams on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th will be an “extravaganza” featuring “street performers, vendors, public painting, a couple of surprises … we might have a couple of surprise visitors,” Asis says. The walking tour on Sunday the 18th, which Asis is leading, will be a loop of about a mile, showing all the murals painted for the fest.
Check out the rest of the fest details below:
MURAL LOCATIONS + ARTISTS
📍 2208 2nd Avenue (Empty Lot Wall)
🎨 Tuesday, August 13th – Tuesday, August 20th
👩🎨 Addison Karl
📍 2102 2nd Ave (Parking Lot Wall)
🎨 Sunday, August 4th – Sunday, August 18th
👩🎨 Joe Nix
📍 2320 4th Avenue (Fire Station 2)
🎨 Friday, August 9th – Sunday, August 18th
👩🎨 Ariel Parrow + Sean Hamilton
📍 2221 3rd Avenue (Alley behind Dan’s Belltown Grocery)
🎨 Monday, August 12th – Sunday, August 18th
👩🎨 Brady Black + Myron Curry
📍 2132 1st Avenue (Parking Lot Wall)
🎨 Monday, August 12th – Sunday, August 18th
👩🎨 Nalisha Estrellas
📍 2216 5th Ave (Parking Lot Wall)
🎨 Monday, August 12th – Sunday, August 18th
👩🎨 Stevie Shao
📍 2226 3rd Avenue (Revel Wall)
🎨 Monday, August 12th – Sunday, August 18th
👩🎨 Craig Cundiff & Sam Sneke
📍 2333 3rd Avenue (SkB Wall)
🎨 Monday, August 19th – Thursday, August 22nd
👩🎨 Aaron Asis
📍 2234 1st Avenue (1st and Bell)
🎨 Monday, August 12th – Friday, August 16th
👩🎨 Paul Nunn
📍 415 Cedar Street (Alley Wall)
🎨 Monday, July 29th – Sunday, August 4th
👩🎨 Brady Black
FESTIVAL EVENTS
🎟️ Mural Festival Happy Hour (21+)
📅 Tuesday, August 13th
🕓 5 pm – 7 pm
📍 Screwdriver Bar: 2320 1st Ave, Seattle
🎟️ Basecamp Studios Summer Film Series
📅 Wednesday, August 14th
🕓 8 pm – 10 pm
📍 Portal Porch: 1st Ave and Battery, Seattle
🎟️ Walls Out Gallery Show Party
📅 Thursday, August 15th
🕓 6 pm – 9 pm
📍 Base Camp Studios 2: 1901 3rd Ave, Seattle
🎟️ Paint Jam & Street Concert
📅 Friday, August 16th
🕓 5 pm – 9 pm
📍 Bell Street Park: Bell St and 2nd Ave, Seattle
🎟️ Paint Jam & Street Festival
📅 Saturday, August 17th
🕓 11 am – 9 pm
📍 Bell Street Park: Bell St and 2nd Ave, Seattle
🎟️ Mural Festival Walking Tour
📅 Sunday, August 18th
🕓 12 pm – 2 pm
📍 Belltown Dog Park: Bell St and 3rd Ave, Seattle
All events are free and open to all ages, except for the happy hour. At press time, some details were still being confirmed, so check the website or their Instagram account for the latest information.
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