Arts Council hosts inaugural Rev up the Arts Mural Festival

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For the first time ever, the city of College Station welcomed five world-renowned artists for The Arts Council of the Brazos Valley’s Rev up the Arts Aggieland Mural Festival. From Oct. 16 to Oct. 21, the artists worked on bigger-than-life pieces throughout College Station to beautify the city with color and creativity.

The mural festival is the first step in The Arts Council’s new mural initiative. Sheree Boegner, executive director of The Arts Council, says this will provide members of the community with an attainable way to bring art into the city. With the new initiative, The Arts Council will be able to connect any member of the community who is interested in getting a mural with an artist that fits their vision. 

“Art has the ability to grow a community, to bring a community together and make the economy stronger,” Sheree says. “This first year [for the mural festival] is the hardest because people don’t really understand what a mural festival is, but now that we’ve done one year I think we’re going to see a lot more involvement going forward.”

With only five available walls and over 175 artist applications for the Rev up the Arts festival, the five selected artists traveled from all over the nation to create these impressive pieces for the Brazos Valley to enjoy for years to come. 

Insite had the opportunity to meet with some of these artists to discuss the inspiration behind their murals – here’s what they had to say.

Key Detail

Andrey Kravstov, widely known by his artist name Key Detail, is a muralist from the country of Belarus now based out of New York. Andrey began painting murals in 2008 and has since made a name for himself all over the world, recently being recognized with a National Silver Award for the 2023 National Mural Awards. 

Prominently displayed on The Arts Council building itself, his mural for the Rev up the Arts festival depicts a woman meant to represent the soul of art and creativity. 

“The elegant lady embodies the roles of both keeper and Muse of Art,” Andrey says. “She holds a lyre, symbolizing the art of music and a brush adorns her hair, representing visual art. In her hand, she carries a magical light stone that symbolizes Art, emitting a gentle glow.”

His concept is meant to embody the beauty of art from the perspective of both artist and observer. 

“Just as butterflies are drawn to the light, this luminous stone attracts people to enjoy and appreciate Art,” Andrey says. “Like a lighthouse that emits light to guide ships safely through darkness, this light captures the interest and gazes of people.”

Candy Kuo

Candy Kuo is a Texan local based out of Austin. She began pursuing art as a career in 2016, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that she was able to paint full time. Since then, she travels with her family painting murals all over the nation.

“Mural festivals are fun because you usually have a little more creative freedom than you would if you were working on a commission for a client,” Candy says. “It’s also a very, very cool way to travel with my family. We get to meet artists, like Key Detail, who has been one of our favorite artists for years.”

Candy says she pulls her inspiration from natural elements and enjoys highlighting cultural aspects in her work. For this piece, she seamlessly blended both.

“I wanted to paint unique aspects of College Station,” Candy says. “I love the fact that you guys have your own modified maroon bluebonnets, and then obviously the hummingbird is a native species. I also wanted to add butterflies, which as you can see are kind of glitchy because I wanted them to represent the duality of nature — it’s a statement that there is beauty in the uniqueness and uncertainty of nature.”

Remix Uno  

Remix Uno started his artistic career as a hobby – “I was the classic kid who liked graffiti,” he says. Once he took the risk and left his established career to pursue painting full-time, the opportunities just didn’t stop coming, Remix says. Now, his work can be found all over the world, from College Station to Berlin. 

For the Rev up the Arts festival, Remix painted College Station’s queen – Reveille – spanning the full height of the four-story building as a nod to the home of Aggieland.

“In the beginning, I must admit that I proposed an entirely different sketch, but it wasn’t as culturally powerful as Reveille,” Remix says. “Since being here, I’ve noticed that Reveille is a symbol for the community – and the people love it. She’s a tradition that brings together the community and keeps the bonds strong, which is the purpose of art.”

While reflecting on his own journey in pursuing art as a full time career, Remix commented on the importance of the Art Council taking the leap to host the Brazos Valley’s first ever mural festival. 

“What they’re doing here at The Art Council, I think it’s very brave. It’s a challenging thing to introduce a new thing into the community, to take that first step, but that diversity is what improves peoples’ minds.”

Naomi Haverland

Naomi Haverland is a muralist and chalk artist from Colorado with over 20 years of experience. Located on the front of a flower shop, Naomi’s mural highlights her vibrant, distinguished style in contrast to the faded brick it covers. 

“I wanted to create something that would just look magical,” Naomi says. “I’m really into trying different textures and making them convincing, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to nail the iridescent look of the carpenter bee.” 

For aspiring artists, Naomi says, “create as much art as you possibly can.”

“Practice your art as much as possible and it’s going to lead to opportunities,” Naomi says. “You can’t wait until everything is perfect; you’ve got to be bad before you can be good, so just start and keep going.”

Though the Rev up the Arts festival has concluded for this year, The Arts Council is still accepting donations to support the artists who participated. Visit their website for more information.