A hundred artists from Memphis and beyond will be painting away in the Edge District this weekend, thanks to the work of the nonprofit, Paint Memphis. On Saturday, all will be invited to Paint Memphis’ annual festival to support the artists as they paint murals in the neighborhood.
Co-directors David Yancy III and Kirsten Sandlin say the Saturday event will be packed with things to do. Curtis Glover will offer a free mural workshop at noon, and Eli Gold will do some live metal sculpting. To celebrate World Hoop Day, Grind City Flow Arts will stun audiences with hula hooping and fire dancing performances, and they will offer a beginner hoop class for all ages at 3:30 p.m. and an intermediate hoop tricks workshop for ages 16 and up at 5 p.m. Festival-goers can also expect music, an immersive kids area, food trucks, vendors market, artist gallery, and, of course, live mural painting.
For the 100 artists selected, Yancy says it was important to include the community in the decision-making process. “We have business owners involved. We have people in the community involved, and then our board members,” he says. “And we’re just able to narrow it down to 100 this year. And, man, we got a lot of amazing artists and a lot of great local artists that will be involved with Paint Memphis. It’s all about making sure that the community is happy, and we just want to promote a colorful, bright, positive Memphis. That’s the beauty of Paint Memphis — that we transform an area from looking abandoned to bringing it back to life, giving it that pop of color, giving it that creativity to make people want to actually come there and [experience] all the things that murals provide. So it’s gonna be really cool because that whole area will be full of amazing art.”
As artists in their own rights, Yancy and Sandlin will each be contributing murals of their own. Sandlin says of her mural, “I typically paint children interacting with the buildings or the area because I believe that everybody can relate to being a kid.”
“I’m painting my goddaughter,” Yancy says. “The doctors told her when she was first born that she wouldn’t be able to walk or just be a normal human. Now she’s almost 5 years old, man, living a great life. She’s walking; she’s talking; she’s beat the odds. So I’m doing a piece for her to just show how amazing it is if you just don’t give up — life is full of all possibilities and opportunities.”
All the artists are volunteers, most of them traveling from all over the country to make Memphis beautiful. “Keep in mind the artists will be there all day, every day from Thursday until Monday,” she says. “So the artists will be needing support for the whole week.”
With that in mind, and to show a bit of Southern hospitality, Paint Memphis, in partnership with local businesses, has opened a number of events to the public, including an artist meet-up at Craft Axe Throwing on Thursday at 8 p.m., an art show opening at the Ravine on Friday at 5 p.m., a drink-and-draw event also on Friday at 8 p.m. at Brinson’s, an after-party on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Inkwell, and a “women in murals” panel discussion on Sunday at 8 p.m.
Keep up with all that’s happening at Paint Memphis’ socials.
Paint Memphis 2023, The Ravine/Edge District, Saturday, October 7, noon-6 p.m., free.
