After the county’s first mural painting festival, colorful, dynamic wall art now fills a space that used to be blank in Mineola.
The Mineola Art Festival, which was held on Saturday, June 21, brought 32 muralists and local artists to fill the empty space from the corner of Second Street wrapping around to Main Street, which has been empty since a fire years ago and where an apartment building is currently being constructed.
“There has never been a street mural festival in Nassau County prior to this one,” said Grace Kelly, co-founder of LI Pop Up Event Production, which organized the festival. “It’s a really big deal for us.”
Not only was the festival the first street mural festival in the county, it also marks the largest linear art installation in county history, Kelly said.
She said the decision to paint murals in this area of Mineola came after the art festival was held in the village last year and she had worked with Mineola Mayor Paul Pereira to select an area where it would have the most beneficial impact.
“It was just kind of this ugly construction fence that was there,” Kelly said. “So together with the village, we came up with the idea to create a wall that would allow artists to paint their murals live in front of the public.”
This is the second year the festival has taken place in the village, but the first time that it has included live painting alongside dozens of local art vendors and food trucks. Pereira said he wanted to work with Kelly to bring artwork to the space to brighten it up and make it a more pleasant area.
“When we first scheduled the art festival, I just thought that it would be a great idea to put the construction fence around the empty property with plywood instead of a traditional construction fence and give local artists an opportunity to paint murals on there,” Pereira said. “It was a huge success, and that while construction’s going on, it will be a much more pleasant experience to look at this wall of incredible art rather than a construction site.”
A total of 16 artists from the Museum of Urban Arts, which worked with Kelly to organize the event, were involved with the painting. All were local to the city or Long Island and said they found the experience beneficial.
“I love to meet other artists,” said painter Angie Rose. She said she has previously attended live painting events and continues to attend them because they help foster community among local artists.
Rose wasn’t the only artist in attendance who emphasized the importance of community and support.
“I’ve had so much outpouring support from the community…and it’s been just incredible,” said Babylon-based artist Hope Whittising. She said while she has always practiced art and music, she had a standard 9-to-5 job until a few months ago. She now pursues art professionally.
“I don’t even call it a business because then it will feel like work, but it is what I do for a living,” she said.
“This is just another example of the great things that are going on in the village like nowhere else and it’s a look into the future as we kick our downtown revitalization into high gear,” Pereira said.
