The opportunity to collaborate with Walmart presented itself to me in the early fall of 2023 when I found out about the community mural initiative Walmart started. This program collaborates with Now Art LA and artists from around the country to create murals that embody the culture of the community that each Walmart store is in. Walmart hired Now Art LA to help find artists local to design a mural that embodies the community the stores serve.
As a Knoxville native and local artist, this was a very exciting opportunity to me. Collaborating with Walmart is also near and dear to me, as I have two immediate family members who have long standing careers with Walmart. So the opportunity to also be a part of the Walmart legacy was something I wanted to be a part of.
After conversations about what this specific Walmart store wanted for their mural, and my knowledge of the area, I was able to create a design that combined the beautiful landscape of East Tennessee with the excitement of University and the sense of community established in the area.
I compiled a vision board of inspiration photos found on Google to help get ideas flowing in my brain for a composition. Walmart provides the dimensions and key cultural components to include and it is my job as the artist to bring that to life. After Now Art provided the dimensions and cultural references, I had one week to complete the piece.
The painting went through a couple of versions before I landed on the right composition. There are a lot of layers under the final piece! The painting went through a couple of versions before I landed on the right composition. There are a lot of layers under the final piece! I chose an 18x24 inch canvas. This was a good size because it was manageable to paint in the one week time constraint, yet large enough to get some really fun, small details in the painting.
The "mural" is actually a vinyl sticker that is printed from the high resolution photo of the painting that I sent to Now Art. The beauty of this type of mural is that it is not lost if something ever happens to the brick and mortar it is on. Since I have the original painting, I can always reprint the mural or get prints made of the original, which is fun to be able to recreate the mural in a multitude of formats.
The mural was installed in the Fall of 2023 after the store underwent a remodel. This mural was a collaboration piece with the store manager, who is the one who provided the cultural references for what should be included in the mural. Being from Knoxville, and having lived in South Knox during college, where store # 1320 is located, I feel like I could take the piece to the next level due to my personal experience in the area.
At the grand re-opening of the # 1320 store, the store manager's team of employees surprised Jessica with a cake made by the cake artist at their Walmart bakery. It was frosted with the mural on it.
I am thankful for the opportunity to work with Now Art LA, Walmart, and store manager, Jessica (pictured below) on this project. This was an amazing experience and I am overjoyed to be able to leave my mark with the Walmart corporation and in my hometown of Knoxville.
This mural can be seen in real life at Walmart store #1320 on Chapman Highway in Knoxville, Tennessee! Prints are also available for purchase in the shop on my website by clicking the link below!
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