We recently connected with Jason Tetlak and have shared our conversation below.

Jason , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I am always looking to be a part of projects that are meaningful or have some additional benefit or component. Of course, like any job you usually have to just do what pays the bills, but in between those less fulfilling gigs I always try to work on something with a bigger purpose. I am currently partnered with Hearts 4 Minds, a mental health non profit that helps bring awareness to mental health issues by installing murals in under-served communities and provides links to resources for people in need. It’s great to be able to bring large-scale art to those areas while also helping the people in those neighborhoods at the same time.

Jason , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a full time mural artist, so I travel the country painting murals on buildings. That usually involves answering a call to artists from a city, non-profit or business that is already looking to hire an artist to paint a mural. That organization then chooses from the artists that have applied, which can be anywhere from 50-200 artists depending on the size of the mural they want and how well they advertised their opportunity. Once I am selected for a project I work with the organizers to develop a design. Often times the request is to represent the area and reflect the history of the location, and so my job is to incorporate those elements into a design.

What sets my work apart from others is first of all my use of color. I pride myself on making bold, bright designs that really catch peoples eye. I also am a former graphic designer, so I am able to not only show the customer what the mural will look like before I start, I can even photoshop it onto images of their building so they can see exactly what the finished product will look like. I also try to make my work as interactive as possible, so I have a couple of techniques I use to make my work more engaging to the public. I have painted 3D murals, and in fact set a Guinness World Record for largest 3D painting, I also do a red reveal technique that hides messages in my paintings, and I incorporate augmented reality to allow people to interact with my work on their mobile devices.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think the most important thing society can do to support artists is to look for ways to incorporate art more into public spaces. I see so many blank walls and open spaces that could benefit from art. It kills me to see big grey walls in particular. I know a lot of cities have programs where new construction has to contribute to a fund for public art, but I think also having some incentive for builders to incorporate art in their designs from the beginning would be beneficial as well. From big cities like Miami and Philadelphia that already have thriving public art programs, even small cities and towns should be looking to a*s color and art to their public spaces, I think it has a very positive effect on the community.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me the most rewarding thing about being an artist is the freedom. Being able to set my schedule and work at my own pace without having to clock in to an office or answer to management is amazing. It’s not something that every artist has, so I am extremely grateful to be at a point in my career where I can do that. That hasn’t always been the case, obviously, and there are of course still times when I have to hit a deadline and so I’m outside painting a wall until 2 in the morning, but that is contrasted with the ability to once in a while on a Tuesday just say “Screw it, I’m going to the movies.”     

Contact Info:

• Website: tetlak.com
• Instagram: @jasontetlak
• Facebook: @jasontetlak