Festival Inspire seeks Moncton artists but finds greater interest around world
Festival Inspire is looking for a few good local artists.
Festival organizers put out the call for artists to paint murals for the summertime event in Moncton and were surprised by the response.
More than 100 applications came in from around the world and very few from the Moncton area, executive director Lisa Griffin said.
"So, I wonder, where are all the artists, and why are they not applying to Inspire, and how can we fix that?" Griffin said Monday.
Festival Inspire runs from July 8 to July 13 and features live art, street performances, music and murals.
Murals from previous festivals can be seen on buildings all over the city, and there is one in the town of Petitcodiac.
Griffin said artists are paid for their work, and there are opportunities for people to learn about the art form.
"We have a lot of programs where artists who haven't done big murals outside on different kinds of, like, brick in the weather and all that stuff can work with muralists from around the world who have these crazy mad skills," she said.
"And we have those programs in place, so that maybe next year, after working with them, they'll be, like, 'I feel confident enough to paint my own mural.'"
Griffin said murals are more common in European cities.
"It's got that kind of attention," she said. "And it's definitely lodged itself, like really routed itself strongly, in the international mural and contemporary muralism and contemporary public art field and world."
Griffin said the festival drew interest from as far away as China. She's urging local artists to get involved because it's great exposure.
"If you're a person that lives in the city, you often want to have more of a voice. And if you're an artist, we're sort of giving the voice to the artist and to the people, so it's the festival by the people for the people. We recreate the city every year."
Griffin said artists can have their say on everything from the environment to social justice. The festival has earned respect in the international community, she said.
"When international artists leave and go talk about Moncton, that's great we put Moncton on the map. But what about us who are living here? How do we want to design the city? How do we want it to feel and look?
"That's kind of why Inspire exists."
Griffin said applying to be a muralist for the festival is simple. Artists can go to the Festival Inspire website and click on "get involved."
There are then links to everything from volunteering to painting a mural.
The deadline to apply for painting a mural for Inspire 2019 is May 5.
