By Mike Hazlip—
The corner of the former Stein Mart building at the Marketplace at Birdcage shopping center is the first blank canvas to become part of a new effort to add color to Citrus Heights.
Artist KiriLeigh Jones created the artwork over a period of four days, completing the final coloring Sunday. The project is part of Wide Open Walls, an initiative to bring more color and public artworks throughout the Sacramento area.
“Wide Open Walls promotes diversity through artistic expression. We think art should be part of daily life and want art to reach a wider audience,” the organization’s website says.
Sunrise Marketplace Executive Director Kathilynn Carpenter said a portion of the cost was funded by the marketplace, and she expects to see additional public art works next year.
Jones told The Sentinel in an email Thursday she used spray paint for to complete the mural.
The mural comes more than a year after a separate project by the MarketPlace began transforming utility boxes into works of art. That initiative was a joint effort with SMUD to wrap utility boxes with artwork by both contemporary local artists as well as famous works in art history.
