SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Midwest’s largest mural art and culture festival is coming to downtown Springfield with over $10,000 raised to make the event happen.
Meg Wagler, founder of Mid x Midwest, came up with the idea after switching careers from graphic design to visual arts.
“It was challenging to get paid a respectable amount. I think that it was maybe not the norm in this region,” says Wagler.
In 2019, Wagler started putting the festival together.
“That was hard to do without any seed funding, so we just went ahead and postponed the whole thing so that we could do it correctly.”
In 2021, Wager started a campaign with hopes of raising $10,000 for the event. She raised $10,423.
“It’s exciting on a couple of different levels. I think it means that people believe in the idea. Now we have a little bit more leverage to move forward the way that we want to plan.”
Mid x Midwest will take place on September 11 and 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. During the festival, nine mural artists will paint on buildings downtown.
“It feels pretty good. I’ve done a couple of small murals here in town inside some businesses, but this will be the first truly public-facing piece of art that I’ll have here in the community. That’s something that’s pretty exciting for sure,” says Evan Wright, a featured artist.
Christine Riutzel from Branson will paint with Wagler.
“I’m really passionate about public art, and I will do whatever it takes to put our town on the map, Branson and Springfield, for being known for caring about artists and supporting them,” says Riutzel.
The buildings being painted have not been announced yet, but Wagler says the festival will take over Robberson alley. Tickets for the event go on sale on April 30.
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