Painters are set to start covering walls across Birmingham's Parkside District on Oct. 10, kicking off a week-long mural festival that organizers say will bring together more than 40 artists before wrapping up with a free public celebration on Oct. 17. The inaugural event, called Yonder Walls, centers on Urban Supply and aims to put Alabama's own muralists front and center in a project organizers hope becomes a fixture of the city's creative calendar.
According to SoulGrown, the festival will host 44 participating artists, with Alabama artists making up roughly 75 percent of that group and about 35 percent of participants painting their first-ever mural. Organizers say artists will be paid 12 dollars per square foot, a rate they say they hope puts Yonder Walls among the highest-paying mural festivals in the country, per the same report. Artists will paint throughout the week, weather permitting, working toward the culminating festival day on Oct. 17.
Exactly how many murals will appear remains a matter of some dispute. Yonder Walls' own site promises “35 NEW MURALS! Painted in a single week in October,” according to yonderwalls.com, while WBRC reports the inaugural festival will bring more than 25 new murals to life at Urban Supply in the Parkside District. Either figure would represent a significant addition of public art to the downtown district.
Who's Behind the Paint
The festival was founded by muralist Sean Gilder, who serves as co-director and production lead, alongside Bendy Knees Design Co. co-founders Jordan Thompson and Rachel “Levi” Levinson, according to SoulGrown. WBRC's earlier report identified the founding team the same way, describing Gilder and the Bendy Knees pair as local muralists behind the effort. Levinson and Thompson have been full-time artists in Birmingham for 10 years and have participated in mural festivals outside Alabama, per SoulGrown.
“We want this to be for everyone,” Levinson said, according to SoulGrown's reporting. Levinson said the festival seeks to make Alabama artists' voices heard and aims to create impact through public art, the outlet reported. Hunter Renfroe became an early supporter of Yonder Walls, SoulGrown reported, though details of that support were not specified.
The festival's board includes Lydia Walker, school and community manager at the Birmingham Museum of Art and a local artist herself, and Erica Chisolm, senior urban designer for the City of Birmingham and also a local artist, the station reported.
Festival Day Plans at Urban Supply
Urban Supply will host the free festival day on Oct. 17 from noon to 8 p.m., with selected artists working on-site to create large-scale murals throughout the development leading up to the celebration, according to WBRC. Attendees will be able to watch artists put finishing touches on their work while enjoying performances, local food trucks, vendors and other activities, the station reported.
The Birmingham Museum of Art is partnering on a kids' zone where children can paint cardboard houses and create miniature walls of their own, per SoulGrown. Festival organizers are also working with area conservancies to highlight endangered species native to Alabama, a partnership WBRC first reported and SoulGrown's coverage echoed.
Building a Pipeline for Local Artists
Beyond the murals themselves, Yonder Walls has launched an inaugural mentorship program for local up-and-coming artists, which drew 22 applications and selected 14 students, with participants ranging in age from 16 to 19, according to SoulGrown. The organization says it has no age limit for involvement more broadly and plans to provide year-round education and mentorship opportunities while working with schools and community partners, the outlet reported. WBRC separately reported that the organization will host monthly creative meetups, workshops and panel discussions designed to foster collaboration and professional development among Birmingham-area artists.
Organizers frame the broader goal as strengthening Birmingham's creative community and creating more opportunities for local artists, according to SoulGrown, pointing to the city's industrial history, civil rights landmarks, neighborhoods and architecture as a backdrop for what they describe as a strong and interconnected art community.
Part of a Wider Southern Mural Moment
Yonder Walls arrives amid a broader wave of public-art programming across the Southeast. In Oklahoma, the Sunny Dayz Mural Festival is now in its sixth year, per SoulGrown's reporting, and Thompson and Levinson learned from their experience with Sunny Dayz. Closer to home, the Mobile Arts Council announced its own inaugural MobTown Mural Festival for Sept. 12-13, a two-day celebration of public art in downtown Mobile that featured live painting on walls as well as three-dimensional four-by-four-foot cubes, with artists Gary Brady and Ginger Woechan among those announced for the event.
Birmingham has seen other public-art pushes this year as well. The City of Birmingham, in partnership with local artists, cultural stewards and community stakeholders, said it would host the inaugural Smithfield Public Art Walk, according to the City of Birmingham, featuring murals, storytelling installations, sidewalk poetry and augmented-reality experiences meant to celebrate the neighborhood's past, present and future.
