Color Your Community at July 9 mural celebration
Interested local residents are invited to help beautify Encinitas at the Color Your Community event on Saturday, July 9.
Encinitas 101 MainStreet Association is hosting the mural celebration from 4 to 7 p.m. that day in the alley between D and E streets where several murals have been completed as part of the first phase of the Alley Activation Program.
A highlight of the celebration will be the opportunity for attendees to actually paint a portion of a new mural. There will be other hands-on art activities for all ages as well, and the muralists will be painting live on site, while others talk about their completed murals.
In addition to live music from local musicians, multi-media artist and live art entertainer Amy Burkman will conduct choreographed speed painting performances on location during the celebration. Her large canvases will then be auctioned off to raise funds for more murals and alley enhancements.
Also at the celebration is Tasha Wahl’s Butterfly Effect. Attendees will be invited to pose for a photo inside the giant butterfly on the wall of Detour Salon and post with the #broambethechange and #butterflyeffect to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat, with Butterfly Effect donating $1 for each post up to $5,000.
The Annual Switchfoot BroAm is at Moonlight Beach that same day from noon to 5 p.m., raising money for six San Diego charities.
“We love cross promoting these two events,” said Thora Guthrie, executive director of Encinitas 101 MainStreet Association.“The Switchfoot guys give so much back to Encinitas and enhancing our community is what E101 is all about too. It’s no coincidence that our events are on the same day, giving everyone that comes to downtown Encinitas that many more opportunities to support our community.”
The Alley Activation Program was initiated by Encinitas 101 MainStreet as a way to add public art by local artists to an otherwise blighted area of downtown Encinitas. In a short time, the program has been successful in increasing pedestrian traffic and decreasing unsavory activity that had existed there for decades.
The Alley Activation Program has received local acclaim and support by the city of Encinitas through Mizel Family Foundation grants. Additionally, the program was awarded a Community Enhancement grant from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
Contributions to the Alley Activation Program can be made by contacting Guthrie at 760-943-1950 or tguthrie@encinitas101.com.