The Chamber of Young Professionals (CYP) is painting the town — blue — with a new mural project going up on the side of the Convention and Visitors Bureau building.
The location, just west of the Blue Bridge, is prominent and easy to access, two important factors CYP considered when looking for a location. The artwork is intended for the entire community to enjoy, but CYP is specifically targeting the younger population with its design. It is even perfectly framed for Instagram photos, which CYP hopes will cultivate a social media presence for the mural.
“We are excited to add to the body of work in Owensboro,” said Austin Casebolt, CYP membership chair.
Casebolt is an art teacher at Daviess County High School. He designed the mural and also recruited DCHS art students to join CYP members to paint.
Given that Owensboro is known for bourbon, bluegrass and barbeque, Casebolt said they wanted to hone in on one of those elements — bluegrass — and tie into the adjacent Blue Bridge with their color scheme.
Casebolt expects for the mural to take somewhere around 100 hours to complete. The volunteers were only 10 total hours in by lunchtime Saturday afternoon, but have a goal to finish in the next few weeks. There is also no estimate on the amount of blue paint that will be needed for the project. But CYP has bought the Owensboro Lowe’s out of what blue paint they had in stock with a reorder now in process.
Jessica Kirk, who is heading a community development committee for CYP, says the community has already been buzzing about the mural even before completion.
“We think this will be a place-making piece for the community,” Kirk said. “We hope this helps keep talent and recruit talent here. And not just for the artistic value, but also to show that you can make things happen despite your age.”
