LAKELAND, Fla. — Downtown Lakeland will now be a lot more colorful thanks to the Tapestries Lakeland Project.
- Tapestries Lakeland Project showcase artists' paintings across city
- Gigantic paintings on canvas to appear on buildings
A collection of 65 gigantic paintings on canvas tarps will appear on buildings all over Lakeland starting on Monday.
Forty three artists participated, ranging from high school students to professionals. The project has been in the making for about a year.
"The diversity of the paintings, what they're about, the age of the artist, there's an 83-year-old woman, 19 and 16-year-old high school students," artist David Collins said.
Collins is one of the people who came up with the idea.
“We’re in a city that has no murals. And you start looking at other communities and say, 'Oh they have murals,' and we're not going to get there unless we start doing something. So this is a transition sort of thing showing that we have artists in Lakeland that are capable of producing great murals."
Tattoo artist James Hicks painted a tarp which he says represents chivalry.
"I'm proud. I'm very proud to see our community is capable of this much solid creativity and professional craftsmanship. And that they can put it together and make a beautiful experience for the whole community," Hicks said.
The paintings will appear on buildings in Lakeland's downtown, Dixieland, and Midtown neighborhoods and remain there for a year.