Boom! Salina Street Art Preview 2025

What is Boom! Salina- Street Art and Mural Festival

Boom! Salina is an annual public art event held in downtown Salina, where world-class muralists and artists are invited (by invitation) to create large-scale artworks on buildings all throughout downtown Salina. The event is organized by the Salina Kanvas Project that began in 2019. Not only does Boom! Salina just involve street art, it is also accompanied by art programming such as: photography exhibits, live art, panel discussions, kid-friendly art events, and music. This is a free event and is open to the public. 

Vision and Impact

Boom! Salina was created with the vision of remodeling public spaces through world-class public art, while promoting community pride, connection, and a thriving culture. Organized by the Salina Kanvas Project, its vision centers on the following:

• Showcasing International Art in a Rural Setting: by bringing in elite muralists and street artists from across the world, it gives Salina access to urban-scale creativity in a small city context.

• Designing a Living Art Gallery: turning downtown Salina into an outdoor art space, where murals stay up year-round and change over time. This gives both locals and visitors a reason to walk, explore, and engage with Salina’s downtown.

• Supporting Economic and Social Revival: using underutilized spaces and giving new renewal to blank walls, promotes business growth through increased foot traffic. 

Boom! Salina has made a remarkable impact on Salina’s visual identity, cultural life, and economy since its founding in 2022. Its impact has done the following: 

• • Modifying Public Spaces: currently there are more than 20 large-scale murals that cover buildings in downtown Salina. Neglected areas and blank walls have been converted into vibrant, photo-worthy landmarks.
  • Community Engagement and Involvement: public and free events like live mural painting, kid’s creative corners, public artist talks and panels, and guided mural walks encourage participation from all age groups. Locals even have the chance to interact directly with artists, watch their progress, and learn about street art. 

• Cultural Recognition and Media Exposure: Boom! Salina has captivated attention from local and regional media, as well as international mural and street art communities. Both artists and visitors share the work widely on social media, expanding Salina’s cultural footprint far beyond Kansas.

Past Festivals and Artists

The Salina Kanvas Project organized the first ever Boom! Salina Street Art and Mural Festival in 2022, with artists coming from all over the world. This year, Boom! Salina is celebrating its 4th year.

• 2022: the first official festival took place from October 6th-16th in downtown Salina. A number of internationally and nationally known muralists produced large‑scale murals around downtown Salina. Artists included: Tony “Rubin” Sjöman (Sweden), Telmo Piepe and Miel Krutzmann known as “TelmoMiel” (Netherlands), Mona Caron (Switzerland), Youri Cansell known as “Mantra” (France), Joe Iurato & Logan Hicks (U.S.), and Martha Cooper (U.S.). 2022 was significant to Salina as it marked Salina’s entry into being a destination for public art/murals. 
• 2023: the second official festival was held from October 5th‑7th. There were a total of 7 different artists painting at 7 different locations downtown. Artists included: a duo of artists “PichiAvo” (Spain),  Diogo Machado known as “Add Fuel” (Portugal), Miles MacGregor known as “El Mac” (U.S.), Claudia Walde known as “MadC” (Germany), Pat Perry (U.S.), Andrea von Bujdoss known as “Queen Andrea” (U.S.), and Chris Stain (U.S.). This festival was praised for bringing world-renowned artists into Salina and enhancing downtown. 
• 2024: the festival was held from September 30th- October 5th. This year there were 5 different artists that attended the festival, which included: David Zinn (U.S.), Leon Kerr (U.S.), Sandro Figueroa Garcia known as “SEN2” (Puerto Rico), Lidia Cao (Spain), and Curtis Hylton (United Kingdom). The artworks from previous years (2022 & 2023) remain, growing a “public art gallery” throughout downtown, and the murals continue to draw attention from locals, media outlets, artists, and visitors. 

2025 Artists

The 4th official Boom! Salina Street Art and Mural Festival will be taking place from October 3rd-5th. The featured artists that will be attending this year’s festival are: Drew Merritt (U.S.), John Matos “Crash One” (U.S.), Stathis Tsavalias “Insane51” (Greece), and Amy Soul (U.S.). Members of the public are encouraged to check out the schedule and go watch these talented artists paint on the different buildings around Salina.

Ongoing Legacy

The ongoing legacy of Boom! Salina is complex beyond just beautiful murals, it’s shaping Salina’s identity, economy, community, and urban environment in ways that seem to be growing each year. 

The Map

To see all of the past murals that have been completed at the Boom! Salina Street Art and Mural Festival, you can visit the link at: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1TgpXS6a68Om_ZiFpNBugAPG3XRks6Lo&femb=1&ll=38.83865066570155%2C-97.60999494999999&z=14

Quotes

• “I like all of the different murals and street art that is all around downtown. It’s really unique that Salina has a yearly festival where muralists from all over the world come and do art around downtown.”
• “Boom! Salina is a really cool experience for locals to attend yearly. For the past few years, a couple of friends and myself have gone around town looking for the artists and watching them paint. All of the artists that we’ve met are really friendly and like explaining the process and vision they have behind the murals that they are creating.”
• “Being a Salina native, I think it’s a really unique event that Salina hosts every year. It amazes me that artists from all over the world attend this event, and help make Salina stand out from other cities.”