If you’ve been in downtown Kissimmee, you’ve seen the beauty that’s been added by various artists to otherwise normal walls and facades.
In March, Osceola Arts worked with four artists for a second year to produce Arts Is Now, four incredible murals that brightened up many spaces in downtown:
Bengal Tiger, on Kissimmee Jewelers on Darlington Street
Panther, on Broadway Pizza on Broadway
Snow Egret, over Lanier’s Antiques on Broadway
Coyfish, on Uniform World on Pleasant Street
(The best way to enjoy all the murals from outside of downtown: park in the Toho Square garage at Pleasant and Darlington, where you’ll see the coyfish and tiger, turn right on Broadway and see the snow egret on the right side of the street and the panther on the left, eat at Broadway Pizza or Big John’s Rockin’ BBQ, then head back the two blocks)
Marilyn Cortes-Lovato, Osceola Arts’ director of visual arts, helps pull it all together.
“It’s a way of bringing the community together through the arts and inspiring positive dialogue,” she said.
The Downtown Kissimmee Area Council, one of eight super-local councils that work under an umbrella of the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce that advocates for downtown business owners, has taken notice. DKAC awarded its bi-monthly Downtown Beautification Award, given to celebrate downtown merchants who have put in extra effort to beautifying downtown, to Osceola Arts.
“Marilyn cultivates this project and works tirelessly to bring the artists in, making sure they’re fed and comfortable,” said DKAC Chair Bri Stefek.
This is the second year of the mural project, which added four beautiful pieces to four others done in the first installment. Cortes-Lovato confirmed that Year 3 is coming in 2021, likely outside of downtown Kissimmee.
