4th Official Boom! Salina Event

Boom! Salina takes place over the weekend 

The 4th official Boom! Salina recently took place from October 3rd-5th in downtown Salina. Four muralists and artists from all around the world attended the event, where they created large-scale artwork on several buildings all throughout downtown Salina. The event was organized by the Salina Kanvas Project, which began in 2019. Not only did Boom! Salina just involved street art, it was also accompanied by several programs such as: photography exhibits, panel discussions, live art, kid-friendly art events, as well as live music. Boom! Salina was a free event that many members of the community attended. To read my preview of Boom! Salina 2025, you can visit the Kansas Wesleyan Student Media Page at https://www.kwustudentmedia.com/2025/09/29/boom-salina-street-art-preview-2025/. 

Vision and Impact of Boom! Salina

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.

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 Artists

The featured artists that attended this year’s Boom! Salina Street Art and Mural festival were the following: Drew Merritt (U.S.), John Matos “Crash One” (U.S.), Stathis Tsavalias “Insane51” (Greece), and Amy Soul (U.S.). 

Drew Merritt 

Drew Merritt is a self‑taught contemporary artist originally from rural New Mexico whose work fuses classical sensibilities with urban street art. He grew up on a farm and cattle ranch, and early on began experimenting with graffiti, portraiture, and mixed media until he developed a distinctive style blending Renaissance‑inspired realism with vivid color, emotional tension, and expressive themes. Now based in Los Angeles, Merritt works across murals, oil paintings, and mixed media, often exploring human flaws, empathy, identity, and the dialogue between past and present in his imagery. Merritt’s mural is located at 141 N Santa Fe Ave.

John Matos aka “Crash One” 

John “Crash” Matos is a pioneering figure in the evolution of graffiti into fine art. He began tagging and painting subway trains at age 13 under the name “CRASH,” a moniker he adopted after accidentally crashing a school computer—later transitioning his raw street style to canvas and gallery walls. In 1980, he curated the landmark exhibition “Graffiti Art Success for America” at Fashion MODA, which many view as a turning point for legitimizing graffiti as a serious art form. Over the decades, his vibrant, pop‑inflected works, often executed entirely freehand with spray paint, have appeared in prominent galleries and museums worldwide, and he has collaborated with brands like Fender (producing “Crashocaster” guitars used by Eric Clapton), Absolut Vodka, Levi’s, and Tumi. Crash is also co-founder of Bronx‐based galleries WallWorks New York and Wallworks TWO, maintaining a commitment to bridging street art with institutional settings. Matos mural is located at 129 N. 7th Street. 

Stathis Tsavalias aka “Insane51” 

Stathis Tsavalias, known professionally as Insane51, is a Greek street artist and muralist whose work blends photorealism, optical illusion, and classical graffiti roots. Born in Athens in 1992, he started doing graffiti in 2006–2007, then pursued formal studies at the Athens School of Fine Arts, along with applied and graphic arts. His signature style involves overlaying two separate images—typically one in red hues and one in cyan/blue—so that viewed through 3D/anaglyph glasses (or using color filters) one can shift between or merge the two layers to reveal different visuals. Over time he has refined his murals from experimental color and form into large‐scale photorealistic works that often combine human figures, symbolism (for example skulls or internal anatomy), and surreal juxtapositions, challenging how viewers perceive depth, appearance, and hidden details. His murals can be found internationally, and he has been involved in noteworthy projects such as Project M/13 with Urban Nation in 2018. You can find Tsavalia’s mural on 119 W. Iron Avenue. 

Amy Soul

Amy Sol (born 1981) is an American painter and sculptor of Korean ancestry, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Largely self‑taught, she draws on influences from classical animation, folk art, mythology, vintage illustration, and manga to develop a quiet, mystical visual language. Her works often depict ethereal young women in dreamlike natural settings alongside animals or fantastical creatures, rendered in soft, muted palettes and composed on treated wood panels where the grain becomes part of the image’s flow. In addition to gallery and fair exhibitions internationally, she’s also created large‑scale murals and public art, seamlessly translating her interior, introspective style into outdoor spaces while preserving her signature tranquility and whimsy.

The Map

To see all of the new and 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

• “The new murals that have been completed in downtown Salina are absolutely beautiful. It is so amazing to watch and see what the muralists come up with, and it’s unique that they all have their different styles.”
• “Out of all of the murals, I would have to say my favorite is the horse one located on 141 N Santa Fe Ave. The detail that was put into the horse and the cowboy is absolutely amazing.”
• “I think it’s really unique that Salina hosts this event every year, because a lot of places don’t do this type of thing. It’s cool to see where the different murals come from, and the unique murals that they paint around the community.”