LITTLETON — The drab outer walls of the otherwise lively in are being infused with new life this week, and the public is invited to take it all in this weekend.
The will be held Friday and Saturday in the Reinke Bros. lot, 5663 S. Prince St., in the heart of downtown Littleton. At the center of the event are 11 original murals being painted by volunteer, metro-area artists on 16-foot-by-16-foot panels on the store’s walls.
There will be a vote to pick the best of the original works, as well as live music, beer and wine for sale and an opportunity for attendees to make their own, smaller contributions to the Reinke Bros. walls, according to festival organizers. An art fair, with artist demonstrations, is planned for Saturday.
“We just want people to come down and have fun,” said Sudee Floyd, festival organizer and owner of the Littleton’s “All these artists are local. Come down and check out the art.”
Floyd’s gallery has been open for the last year at 5654 S. Prince St., directly across from Reinke Bros. and the Littleton Cleaners business that shares its building. After she and other Littleton gallery and business owners helped get the city’s event off the ground earlier this year, she wanted to pull together another event to send a successful summer for Littleton’s art scene out with a bang.
Reinke Bros. “is just the perfect canvas for these artists to do their thing on,” Floyd said. “This is a main thoroughfare. It’s central and everybody can see it. These murals will be right here, in your face.”
Reinke Bros. co-owner Greg Reinke said he was already planning to paint the outside of his building this year, and it took him less than an hour to say yes to Floyd’s proposal.
He said he is investing $10,000 in lighting on the outside of his building to keep the murals lit through the evening for the two-day festival.
“I want to do this every year,” the enthusiastic business owner said. “I want to do new murals every year and make a big festival out of it.”
Things get underway at 6 p.m. Friday with musical performances by Dearling followed by the Rick Lewis Project at 9 p.m. Saturday’s festivities begin at 10 a.m. and close with a three-hour performance by Selasee and the Fafa Family from 8 to 11 p.m. The winner of the people’s vote for best mural will be announced during that performance. There will be cash prizes ranging from $1,500 to $500 handed out for first through third place, Floyd said. In additional, donations will be accepted on behalf of all the participating artists, none of whom are being paid for their time and effort.
The festival is free, but smaller, 18-inch-by-18-inch spaces on the Reinke Bros. walls are being sold for $25 on a first-come first-served basis to people who want to make their own contributions. Sherwin-Williams and Ironlak spray paint have donated supplies for the mini murals.
On Tuesday, artist Victor J. Escobedo worked on his festival contribution on the back of Reinke Bros. with help from friend of Anthony Garcia Sr. of the Birdseed Collective. The pair worked in cool blues around an geometric shape, as Escobedo prepared to fill in that shape with a hieroglyph.
“I think this is a great idea,” Escobedo said of the festival. “I think we should direct more funding to public art, because it is a documentation of current events and what people are thinking and feeling now.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or twitter.com/RubinoJC
The Imagined Wall Festival
Where: Reinke Bros. Store, 5663 S. Prince St.
When: Friday, 6 to 11 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Cost: Free
Information: Visit
