HSE Grad-Turned-Mural Artist, Paints Bus Mural for State Fair
Koda Witsken has found a niche painting brightly colored murals.
Koda Witsken has created a niche for herself painting brightly colored, large-scale murals.
Her latest is a vibrant piece of public art that she painted on a school bus at the Indiana State Fair, which runs through Sunday.
Witsken spent three weeks painting the brightly colored mural onsite at the State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
While in her early years of painting, she responded to artist callouts, Witsken said this bus mural project was a paid partnership with the Indiana State Fair.
The mural took roughly three weeks from preparation through painting. As she painted, Koda Witsken wore a respirator to keep from breathing the mural’s spray-paint fumes.
“There is a pervasive myth that artists should work for free, or should work for exposure, and it’s just not true. Every artist that participated in these events were paid for their time and talent,” Witsken said this week during an interview with The Times. She is a full-time mural artist and is owner and lead creator for Hue Murals – A Shade Above.
She was sought out after the State Fair Marketing & Events team noticed her murals in the community, especially her public art in the Bottleworks District in downtown Indianapolis.
“Together, we ideated ways to celebrate the Fair’s theme through interactive public art. Ultimately, we decided to create an optical illusion graphic on the pavement, a painted selfie station, a painted mural on vehicles, a painted couch, and a Mural Derby event to showcase local muralist and graffiti artist talent. I managed all these initiatives as well as personally painted the self-station and bus mural,” Witsken told me.
How did she go about planning the artists designs on the bus?
“I worked collaboratively with the State Fair marketing team to create a mural design that accurately celebrated all things related to the Indiana summer and the Fair,” she said.
Koda Witsken painted an old truck on each end of the school bus.
Witsken said, “They provided a list of things they wanted to incorporate into the design, such as honoring the pug barn and incorporating Fair food, and then I created a design in my own vision.”
She said, “Ultimately, the project’s goal was to create a vibrant, interactive art experience that honored the Fair and excited Fairgoers.”
When I happened onto the painted school bus, it was evening. Close up, I could see the vibrant colors, but step back, and I could see so much more.”
“Most of my murals are designed to be instagrammable moments, which are typically photographed from a short distance rather than up close,” she said. “The bus mural is no exception. This is why you see more of the design when you back up with most street art.”
The bus mural was a big art project. She painted outside in the parking lot. The mural took roughly three weeks from preparation through painting. As she painted, Witsken wore a respirator to keep from breathing the mural’s spray-paint fumes.
Koda Witsken, a 2011 Hamilton Southeastern High School graduate, poses atop a vibrant piece of public art that she painted on a school bus at the Indiana State Fair.
She said the State Fair partnered with Hanna Towning to secure the vehicles for the bus mural, as well as the Mural Derby.
“It was my idea to place a painted couch that matched the bus in front of the mural area to further encourage fairgoer interaction,” Witsken said.
Much of the Indiana summer imagery was inspired by her childhood spent playing with dogs, picking strawberries and living across from a field of cows.
Witsken, who was raised in Hamilton County and graduated from Hamilton Southeastern High School in 2011, studied art at Purdue and Duke universities and then navigated a career in corporate sales in the travel industry at TripAdvisor and Travelzoo. Her love for travel and tourism will always remain, but she ultimately found her true calling in opening her own mural business, she said. She now completes mural and art installation projects nationally, with projects in our Hoosier state as well as in Illinois, Tennessee, Texas and New York.
What’s next?
“I am heading to Wyoming next to create a mural in partnership with the Casper Mural Project and the Eastern Shoshone Cultural Center, celebrating the Women of Wyoming. Visitors can see samples of her work, also, at 622 S. Rangeline Road. Hue now completes mural and art installation projects nationally. She’s taking ongoing mural requests and is already booked through February 2023.
Next up for her Indy projects: live painting two murals for the kickoff watch party for the Indianapolis Colts kickoff game in September, working with Visit Indiana and The Arts Federation to install a mural campaign in Sharpsville.
Contact Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com