Four new murals are coming to Valparaiso as part of Saturday’s Mural Walk. Visitors can add their touches, too.
“We know you’ve been through a lot this past week,” Valparaiso Creative Council Executive Director Jessica Corral said.
Losing power for days, not having WiFi or phone service, created a sense of community connection she hasn’t seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Corral hopes the festive event will give people something to enjoy after having lives battered by storms.
The Mural Walk, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in various locations, features what will become the city’s longest and tallest murals.
Felix Maldonado, of Hammond, is painting a mural on a silo at Smith Ready Mix, 251 Brown St. “It’s not every day you get to do a mural that size,” Corral said.
“Felix came in with an incredible design that we can’t wait to see done,” she said. It won’t be cheap, but Smith Ready Mix is paying the cost beyond the stipend the VCC offers, she said.
Maldonado’s mural is almost a signature mural that people should come to see, Corral said. “His design was so ridiculously phenomenal” that the VCC had to pick him.
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The longest one is on a rain delay of sorts. It’s at the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce building, 162 W. Lincolnway. “It runs the whole length of that alley,” Corral said.
Artist Katie Lukes, of Chicago, has to wait until the wall is prepped properly for the mural, so it can’t happen during Mural Walk. Instead, she’ll be painting panels at the Chamber of Commerce building for installation in September or October at Front Porch Music.
“She’s done a lot of murals in Chicago,” Corral said, “just a very playful, graphic collage artist.”
“She’s very much a storyteller with her graphics in bold colors,” Corral said, so the Valpo Chamber wall gives the space to tell that narrative in a fun way.
A fourth mural, by Cassi Graber, of South Bend, will be created at the Valpo Creates Center, 256 Indiana Ave., for installation at Central Park Plaza in September or October. “She’s very community engagement oriented as an artist, getting people to participate,” Corral said.
The mural, being done in collaboration with Wonderlane Events, is a group participation event. Everyone who attends Mural Walk is invited to help with the mural. “We’re hoping to have at least 2,000 people contribute to the murals,” Corral said.
The mural will be three panels, for a total of eight feet by 12 feet, she said. It will feature different types of materials, tools and textures so the festival goers can make their distinctive mark.
In addition to the murals being created at the event, the Mural Walk map includes the location of 13 existing murals.
Where activities at the festival are planned, there will be musicians and “make it and take it” art activities — “kind of like a mini pop-up party at five plus locations,” Corral said.
Duneland Pottery, a Valpo Creates Center tenant, will do an activity, too, Corral said.
Attendees should check in at the Valpo Creates Center, City Hall or the VCC booth at the farmer’s market to receive a map. The first 500 attendees will get tote bags with this year’s Mural Walk coloring book, scavenger hunt checklist and more. There will be giveaways that kids who complete the scavenger hunt with stamps at each location and turn in their form might win one of the giveaways.
In addition, four downtown locations – Lower Lincoln, Roots Café, Birdie’s Nextdoor and Scented Science – will feature the works of artists including Melissa Griffin, Leah Romano McMeen, Michael Mancini, Wes Thorn, Beth Vottero and Teneia Dilosa.
Corral said the festival was expanded to 3 p.m. this year to allow families more time to spend at each location and to grab lunch during the event.
The rain date is Aug. 29.
The Valparaiso Creative Council event is free, but donations to the council will be matched by the Lilly Endowment in a 90-day challenge. The VCC is planning to take over the parking area at Journeyman Distillery for a Popcorn Festival fundraiser, Corral said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.