Aaron Vega is the executive producer and founder of the Colfax Canvas Mural Festival. 

He started this festival in the middle of the pandemic out of his deep love for the neighborhood. Moving from New York several years ago, he found a “deep and abiding love for East Colfax.” He settled in the neighborhood and is now an employee for the City of Aurora. His responsibilities include serving as the curator at The People’s Building, a gallery and event space. With feedback from the community about defining and celebrating the area, came up with the idea to add large street art murals. 

“How do we use artists and artistry to build up the economy, an area that's traditionally been low income, to help mitigate gentrification, to help make sure that people get a seat at the table?” Vega asked of himself as he developed this idea for a festival.

The first iteration of the event was a driving tour of new murals. The festival has grown and changed with feedback from the community. By Saturday, artists from all over the country, but mostly from Colorado, will have painted a total of 33 murals in the area of East Colfax Avenue between Yosemite Street and Peoria Street. 

Built in 1946, the Aurora Fox Arts Center serves as a main attraction for this area and did when it was the downtown of the city of Aurora. 

Each one of the murals has a connection to the history or culture of the area. This spot of Aurora was the original downtown of the city and became a cultural hub thanks to buildings like the Aurora Fox Arts Center. Now, the City of Aurora is the most diverse city in the state. For example, there are 160 different languages spoken by students in Aurora Public Schools.

“A lot of festivals artists get picked, they get a wall space, they paint it, they're done,” Vega lamented. “Here, because of the many cultures and the many ideas, we felt it was important to get the artists to speak together because you get all those cultures and ideas to blend. You end up, in my opinion, with a piece of art that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

The selection process started with a diversity, equity and inclusion-focused committee made up of residents, building and business owners and sponsors reviewing hundreds of applications. Through an in-depth selection process, that committee narrowed the finalists down to 20 artists. From there, the committee selected 10 artists to participate in this year's festival. 

Alexandrea Pangburn is one of the 10 artists creating four murals for this year’s festival. 

Alexandrea Pangburn is one of the contributing artists. She is local to the Denver area and the executive director of Babe Walls, which is a nonprofit organization that celebrates women and nonbinary artists with a focus on mural art creation. Pangburn is part of the group of artists creating a nature-themed mural on the side of Denver Modern Jiu Jitsu. She was excited to collaborate with other artists and bring the power of mural art to another area. 

“[It is important] to be able to have that platform for public art to make sure that what you're doing really resonates with the people that are going to be within the community viewing it,” explained Pangburn. 

Each artist involved receives a stipend, which the festival has been able to increase each year. Vega didn’t share the exact amount but said some of these murals could be upwards of $10,000 in retail value. 

Mango House is the canvas for two new murals for this year’s Colfax Canvas Mural Fest. 

Mango House is another building receiving two new murals from the festival this year, one on the back side where the parking lot is and one on the front that faces Colfax Ave. Mango House is a “shared space for refugees, asylees, y los sin papeles.” It has healthcare, stores, religious gatherings, services and more. Three artists created the mural on the back side which features colorful scenes of animals from around the world. 

As the artists finish their final touches on the walls and organizers prepare for the block party portion of this festival, Vega hopes this is just the beginning for uplifting the community. 

“Along Colfax, east or west, we have folks experiencing homelessness, we have folks experiencing addiction, we have folks experiencing mental illness — that's typically a Venn diagram with a very large overlap,” said Vega. “So I don't think street art is going to solve some of these large systemic issues, but what it can do is it can make sure that it gives a voice to people who may have felt disenfranchised in the past.”

The Colfax Canvas Mural Fest is a free event and will be at Fletcher’s Plaza from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16. You can learn more on their website here. 

Amanda Horvath is the managing producer at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at amandahorvath@rmpbs.org.