Everyone can celebrate public art in downtown Aurora, when 25 of 30 new murals by Aurora Public Art will be installed on or completed by August 28 during Aurora Downtown’s annual Alley Art Fest, Saturday, Aug. 28.
Alley Art Festival, from noon to 5 p.m., will be host to live entertainment, spectacle, and 70 artist booths at three downtown locations: Water Street Mall, the river walk along the Paramount and along the Grand Army of the Republic Museum, and 1 E. Benton Street.
Aurora Public Art, from, noon to 8 p.m. will be host to DJs and 16 street artists live painting Aurora’s first sanctioned Street Art Gallery in Public Parking Lot H at 14 Middle Avenue. Artists will include Rogue1, Rawfa, Flash ABC, Raven, Cres Roc, Acid, Fisk, Syms, Snagz, Decades Oner, Seize, Ill630ink, Shananagans, 1 AV One, and Sick Bombshell.
International Muralist Rafael Blanco, an Aurora resident originally from Spain, will install a 40-foot mural at 105 E. Galena Boulevard. The mural is sponsored by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Aurora Downtown, Bush Construction, and the City of Aurora.
Four local artists will complete a mural depicting Alebrijes, magical animals from Mexican Folk Art, on the Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) viaduct wall along East New York St., under the railroad bridge. Artists include Pierre Lucero, Catalina Diaz, Laura Reyes, and Janice Rodriguez. This mural is sponsored by a grant from the Burlington Northern Foundation and the city government of Aurora.
Six new traffic cabinet murals will be added to the existing 12 traffic cabinet murals installed throughout downtown Aurora in 2018. this year’s artists will include Raul Rodea at the SE corner of Benton and River Street, Thuy-An Nguyen at the SW corner of Galena Boulevard and River Street, Ali Cantarella at East New York Street west of the BNSF viaduct, Josh Schultz at the southeast corner of New York Street and Broadway, Teresa Fiehn Millies on River Street south of Benton at the east entrance of the Santori Library, and Elizabeth French on the west side of River Street between Downer and Benton at Public Parking Lot C. This project is sponsored by Aurora Downtown and the city government of Aurora.
Artists Laura Lynne and Catalina Diaz are installing a mural at 210 E. Galena Boulevard, commissioned and sponsored by Aurora Downtown. It’s the second gateway mural welcoming everyone into downtown.
Christopher Lucero will install three large-scale prints from his Calaveras of Chicago series on the east side of 36 W. Downer Place.
Visit all of the Aurora Public Art. Download the free Otocast mobile app for an audio tour map.
—Downtown Aurora