June 25th, 10am - 4pm (weather permitting)
The City of Aspen and the Aspen Ideas Festival have partnered to create a temporary street mural dedicated to increasing pedestrian safety and engaging the community in public art. Bordering the iconic Dancing Fountain and the Wheeler Opera House, this pavement art will be installed in the street on the corner of S. Mill St. and Hyman Ave. on the opening weekend of Aspen Ideas Festival. 

Community members and Aspen Ideas Festival attendees are invited to help paint the mural on June 25, 2023 (weather permitting). Sign up to paint here.

Roaring Fork Valley artist Chris Erickson will design the mural and advise on the installation, given his experience in this form of public art. Chris’s work is rooted in a sense of place, and he has designed a mural that celebrates the idea of a community comprised of multiple voices and the connectedness between. 

This project is part of a new initiative by the City of Aspen’s Red Brick Center for the Arts to develop a Public Art Plan, which includes robust community engagement so that residents may shape the program. This Pavement Art project will serve as a pilot project and invite conversation around how art can be facilitated in Aspen’s public spaces.

This installation will take place June 24-26, 2023, and there will be traffic diversions while the mural is being prepared and painted. On June 25, community members and Aspen Ideas Festival attendees are invited to visit the site and help paint the mural, under the direction of artist Chris Erickson.  This main day of installation will be a community celebration, offering ways to engage beyond the painting of the mural and will prioritize the involvement of the public in the installation of the piece. There will also be a discussion open to the public on the importance of public arts in the community as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival (June 24 - 30, 2023), details to be announced.

This project was inspired by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Arts Initiative, whose studies have shown an improvement in pedestrian safety from public art projects. A low-toxicity exterior paint will be used for this mural, and a non-slip aggregate will be applied to enhance pedestrian safety. The installation will include appropriate material disposal.

If you would like to paint the mural or receive more information about the project in general, sign up here.

Do you want to join the conversation to create Aspen’s Public Art Plan. Learn more HERE