Colfax Avenue is about to get even more colorful. The 4th Annual Colfax Canvas Mural Fest hits East Colfax in Aurora next month. Started in 2020 as a means to bring the community together in a safe way at the beginning of the pandemic, the festival will bring together 10 artists to paint four more murals in the East Colfax neighborhood, taking the total number of murals from this and past versions of the festival up to 33. “Everyone deserves art—The murals build community among artists, business owners and residents by giving them something beautiful to interact with every day,” says Aaron Vega, producer of Colfax Canvas. “We are telling the story of the neighborhood and showing people that East Colfax is colorful, vibrant and full of life.”
One of the murals painted in past years is at Lady Justice Brewing and features images of three powerful female historical figures: Dolores Huerta, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and queer icon Marsha P. Johnson. Betsy Lay, co-founder of Lady Justice Brewing, opened her business just days before the pandemic shut everything down, forcing her to focus on to-go orders, which redirected her funds away from decorating the business. Vega proposed a mural as part of the event’s first year. “It was more about Aaron wanting to connect us to the community than anything else,” explains Lay. “We also found shared values, ideas, and a mission of supporting and uniting the people of the neighborhood.”
This year’s festival will feature one mural at Florence Square Apartments (9801 E. Colfax Ave.), one on Florence Street (1593, 1571, and 1561 Florence St.), and two at Mango House (10180 E. Colfax Ave.) at the front and back of the building. The murals will be painted between September 2 and 16 and will culminate in a neighborhood block party at Fletcher Plaza in Aurora from 12 – 5 p.m., featuring a beer garden of area breweries, food vendors, family-friendly activities, and DJed music. For more information, head on over to the website for Colfax Canvas.
Image courtesy of Alison Wisneski.
