South Salt Lake City Mural Fest 2018
by HOLLY VASIC
South Salt Lake held their first Mural Festival this year and now has beautiful wall art on buildings around the city to show for it. Mr. Muffler, just off West Temple and 2100 south, boasts bright painting on two walls, both with very different stories, inspiration, and artists who brought them to life.
Mr. Muffler donated their exterior walls to the festival as a canvas and Billy Hensler was chosen as the artist for the north side of the building by the city after submitting examples of his work, biography, and experience. Hensler decided to paint a majestic wolf, “I really wanted to have an impact on that particular intersection. What more than an image of a beautiful animal, staring, reminding us of our own true nature?,” Hensler said about the piece. Hensler has an impressive resume spanning over 26 years that includes the murals at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. Although he is usually told what to paint by clients, this piece was different. He explained, “My career as a mural artist is mainly to paint what the client or business desires. And, I do like that; getting an assignment, so to speak. This mural was a, ‘do whatever I want,’ which is not the norm for me. Cesar, the owner, was very easy-going so I knew I could do most anything.”
Hensler always knew he wanted to be an artist. “I was constantly getting in trouble for ‘teaching’ drawing class in the back of the class, whilst not learning math,” Hensler said. A little over a decade ago he began to focus on his own style and genre, drawing from nature and humanity, “Seeing people be nice to each other. Seeing people going for it. Actually, lots of people doing what they do inspires me,” said Hesler.
Roger Whiting was chosen for the south side of the building. “I was invited to collaborate with the Promise South Salt Lake After School Program to create a mural commemorating the 80th anniversary of South Salt Lake,” Whiting explained. He went on to explain, “My favorite part of the design process was seeing the excitement in one girl's eyes, knowing her character Clyde, the large freckled boy in the mural, would be on the wall for good.”
In 2002, Whiting was visiting his home town of Phoenix, when he noticed a graffitied daycare center. He said, “I hunted down the building owner to see if I could cover the graffiti with a mural. They agreed and I earned $150.” That is where it all began. “Throughout my studies, I found that there was a whole movement of artists creating murals with youth.” For Mural Fest, Whiting worked with kids attending afterschool programs at the Historic Scott School and Lincoln Elementary. He felt at home collaborating a design based on what the kids imagined. “I hardly ever create artwork without getting other people involved in the process,” Whiting said.
Drive by Mr. Muffler anytime to view Hensler and Whiting’s work that make South Salt Lake a more colorful and artistic city.