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Artists Encouraged To Apply For ‘Make It Your Own Mural Fest’

Make It Your Own Mural Fest, organized by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne, Inc., is asking artists to apply for the Artist and Mentorship Programs as part of the 11-day mural festival scheduled for September 8-18. Murals will be created throughout Northeast Indiana’s 11 counties, including Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley. Both applications are available at www.NEImuralfestival.com and are open from today through the end of May.

Artists can apply for up to two locations or counties in Northeast Indiana. Artists are also asked to download an Artist Toolkit, one for each county, to study the county’s unique story, research the wall location specifications and submit up to two concepts that resonate with the county’s past, present and future.

“We are searching for international, national and regional artists to submit their designs for Make It Your Own Mural Fest,” said Alex Hall, founder of Art this Way and owner of AH Public Spaces Consulting. “These large-scale murals are pieces of public art that will last for years. As an artist and muralist, myself, I would like each mural to be both representative of the artists’ talents and each community’s story. Our goal as organizers is to celebrate unique artistic styles and also demonstrate the powerful impact large-scale murals can have on community pride and quality of life.”

Make It Your Own Mural Fest is also searching for volunteers for the Mentorship Program. Students, emerging artists and veteran artists are invited to apply for the Mentorship Program, a training component of Make It Your Own Mural Fest. The Mentorship Program will provide hands-on learning and valuable experience installing a large-scale mural project. Up to five individuals per county will be selected as a volunteer and will work directly under the guidance of the selected muralist to install a mural in one of Northeast Indiana’s 11 counties.

“The Mentorship Program is an essential and unique component of Make It Your Own Mural Fest. Training the next generation of artists and providing outlets for individuals interested in exploring art as a career or hobby is critical as we work to make public art accessible to our community members and the region as a whole,” said Susan Mendenhall, president of Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne, Inc.

Mural Fest organizers across Northeast Indiana’s 11 counties selected 11 mural locations throughout Northeast Indiana. A map of the locations is available at www.NEImuralfestival.com/map.

“Northeast Indiana’s regional and county Mural Fest leaders are dedicating significant time and effort to leading this initiative, continuing to leverage collaboration through the Make It Your Own Mural Fest. Collaboration around common goals is a unique and competitive advantage in Northeast Indiana. Innovative initiatives like the Mural Fest position our region as a magnet for the best talent and businesses,” said John Sampson, president and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership.

Once applications are submitted, organizers will coordinate the artistic jury selection process. The jury is made up of appointed artists and experts selected by Mural Fest organizations and county representatives. The jury is responsible for selecting the individuals for the Artist and Mentorship Programs. Artists will be announced in summer 2020.

Make It Your Own Mural Fest is an innovative, creative activation of the Make It Your Own brand intended to enhance the region’s efforts to drive talent attraction, talent retention and tourism. The regional mural festival concept, the first of its kind in the state, will build on the quality of place efforts accelerated by the Regional Cities Initiative, growing regional pride and garnering significant attention and exposure nationally.

Over 11 days, regional, national and international artists will create 11 high-quality murals—one in each of the 11 counties of Northeast Indiana. The murals will all be unveiled on the same day, with celebrations and events taking place all over the region throughout the duration of the festival to recognize the artists and the communities.

Make It Your Own Mural Fest is supported through sponsorships from Parkview Health, 3Rivers Federal Credit Union, Ambassador Enterprises and Avangrid Foundation.

While recent news about COVID-19 is affecting events around the world, Make It Your Own Mural Fest is currently still planned for September 2020. The final unveiling event for the Make It Your Own Mural Fest will be held in partnership with the Downtown Improvement District (DID) and Art This Way Fort Wayne at the Art Crawl event on Friday, Sept. 18, near The Landing and Promenade Park in downtown Fort Wayne.

To learn more, visit the website at www.NEImuralfestival.com.