The BLKOUT Walls Mural Festival was conceived by Sydney G. James, Thomas “Detour” Evans of Denver, Colorado and Max Sansing of Chicago, Illinois as a direct response to their shared history of participating in mural festivals throughout the country, where there is no remuneration for the participating artists and where there is limited racial diversity among the artists represented. These artists agreed to kick off the brand in James’ hometown of Detroit, Michigan.
A biannual, family-friendly event, the inaugural BLKOUT Walls Mural Festival which first occurred in summer 2021, and was a seven-day, all Black-produced project. Approximately twenty murals were produced within the perimeters of the North End area of Detroit as well as the northern borders of the New Center area located directly south of East Grand Blvd, the southern border of the North End area. This initial festival was designed to be the seed of an arts-based economic development, or creative economy, within the North End community and all the communities it would travel to.
BLKOUT Walls Mural Festival sets itself apart by paying each artist a fee/mural plus lodging, meals and transportation. This payment is essential to assuring that the benefits of the creative economy also include the muralists themselves, whether they live in Detroit or elsewhere in their home communities.
CANVS is the official tech partner for BLKOUT Walls. CANVS is a street art platform that builds technology to power interactive art experiences in cities across the world. For the 2023 BLKOUT Walls Festival, CANVS built the interactive mural map and artist directory to highlight the amazing murals and artists showcased throughout the festival!