By Kelsey Horath
Earlier this spring, the Ruston Cultural District sent out a call for artists to submit “mini-murals” to be painted on four transformer boxes in downtown Ruston. The submissions selected include artists Chlese Henderson, Maryam El-Awadi, Whitney Caskey and Callan Thornton.
This call set out to give local artists opportunities to make a visual creation on a different and surprising object in the district.
“The goal is to take something plain and make it an engaging and exciting part of the environment downtown,” Thornton said.
Thornton has been creating art since old enough to hold a paint brush as a young child and has continued to develop her skills studying studio art at Louisiana Tech University. Thornton said she is excited for the opportunity given to participate in this project and watch community members interact with art in new, unconventional ways.
“It is a great opportunity for local artists to display their work and for the public to experience art and culture in an accessible way,” Thornton said. “They will truly brighten downtown Ruston and put a spin on something that is generally meant to fade into the background.”
Caskey, one of the four artists selected and co-owner of Artemis Tattoo Collective, is another artist eager to bring art to something others tend to overlook on a normal day.
“For my transformer box, I decided to do a zoomed in view of insects, the life stages of a Monarch butterfly,” Caskey said. “From my understanding the transformer boxes are intended to take something unsightly and turn it into something beautiful, another reason I thought the Monarch life stages was a fitting piece for it.”
Each transformer box is set to be complete by Friday, June 2, just in time for the Louisiana Peach Festival the following day. While out and exploring downtown, attendees can have the opportunity to stop and experience each artist’s mini-mural.
