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PASSIONS
JaBee Williams, Kris Kanaly, Hannah Royce, Jesse Warne, Virginia Sitze and Dylan Bradway.
Public Art with Heart Oklahoma Mural Syndicate gathers working artists to paint murals through Oklahoma City, creating dozens of murals and helping USA Today name OKC the No. 1 place for street art two years in a row. BY KRISTEN GRACE PHOTO BY LOGAN WALCHER
Plaza District, 36 murals adorn the exterior walls of local businesses. Eight years ago, the district had one mural. In fact, “USA Today” topped their 2022 10 Best in Street Art list with Oklahoma City, an honor also bestowed on the city in 2021. Over the last few years, Oklahoma City has gained national attention as a wonderful place to live for artists and creatives and ranked in the top 10 for public and street art on numerous lists. “Every community needs public art and art expression,” said Kris Kanaly, speaking about the Oklahoma Mural Syndicate, an increasingly well-known and ever-expanding nonprofit organization that began to fund the murals in Plaza District and now supports public art in six different communities in IN OKLAHOMA CITY’S
Oklahoma. “Syndicate sounds like we might be the mafia, but we’re just a group of artists trying to put color in the neighborhood.” Familiar with the Plaza District from 2010, Kanaly and friends noticed when Mason Realty began buying up properties in the area. “We approached him in 2014 about the Alley Project,” he said. “We walked through the area frequently and saw its potential. It was already collecting graffiti. We told him that our art would be better and we would pick up our trash.” After contacting the property owner and working with the city to obtain the necessary permits, Kanaly — who owns Kanaly Designs — and friends began a weekly rotating mural project so successful that within months, Mayor Mick Cornett came out for a selfie.