The Route 66 town of Miami, Oklahoma, added five murals to its downtown district over the weekend and produced a festival around it, to boot.
Mural Fest 66 featured the work of five artists who used the walls of downtown buildings as their canvas. Most of the artists came from Oklahoma, but one hailed from Puerto Rico. The Oklahoma Mural Syndicate made arrangements to bring the artists to Miami.
The event also featured one live-music stage and a half-dozen food trucks.
Marcia Johnson, president of the Miami Arts & Humanities Council, told the Joplin Globe she was pleased with the event’s turnout and is planning for the 2019 festival.
“There’s a lot of energy and excitement based on this,” she said. “This is something that makes people slow down when they travel through, and they stop when there’s murals to look at. I think it’s going to be a great draw for tourism and economic development. But it’s also great for our community. I want to do things to make people fall in love with Miami, and this just makes you love your town when there’s all of these cool things around.”
One mural featured Miami’s Route 66 cultural district logo and other touchstones, including the historic Coleman Theatre.
The Globe’s slideshow from the festival is here.
Several Route 66 towns — Cuba, Missouri; Pontiac, Illinois; Tucumcari, New Mexico, to name a few — use murals to help boost tourism. But to organize a festival around their creation might be something worth considering in other locations.
(Image via Facebook of one of the murals at Mural Fest 2018 in Miami, Oklahoma)