We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lesly Allen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lesly below.

Lesly, appreciate you joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

When we started Mural Fest, we really didn’t know much, we just thought it would be a good idea….and how hard can it be to paint a few walls?? Little did I know how much work it was going to be. And while it has been incredibly rewarding and so damn much fun, each year we learn several new things that we can do better next year. But the one challenge that was a huge surprise to me was how difficult it has been to find walls. I assumed that everyone would want a mural on their building. But that is not the case. And if they do, there is so much that goes into matching the property owner with the right artist. The hardest part of my job all year is finding walls for Mural Fest. And now that our city is going through some big changes with development in our downtown, while not always possible, we try not to paint murals on walls that are going to be torn down in a year or two. Property owners are beginning to see the value in the murals and how they are bringing people into the neighborhood and giving it a sense of identity and are becoming more open to the idea. And we are trying to get big developers on board, with policies that encourage them to implement public art into their projects.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My life has always been touched by art. From being obsessed with photography in my youth, a camera always around my neck and spending hours in the darkroom. To raising my daughters in the ballet world and developing a deep love and appreciation for the beautiful art form that is Ballet. And then to my experience in Grad School, studying public art and the ability it has to engage and strengthen communities. After graduation, I landed in my current position as Executive Arts Director for the City of South Salt Lake, and immediately dove into a variety of grassroots public art projects to unite the community and raise awareness about SSL’s emerging Creative Industries Zone.

Out of these efforts came Mural Fest, which has become my primary focus throughout the year. Mural Fest has grown from its experimental first year in 2018 to a hugely successful program known by mural artists all over the world, receiving just shy of 600 applications in 2023. I am incredibly proud of the program we have build under my direction. With the goal of 10 murals a year for 10 years, South Salt Lake now has the largest concentration of public art murals in one centralized area in Utah. And Mural Fest has gained a reputation among mural artists as a welcoming and inspiring experience, a welcoming opportunity where they learn from and are inspired by other artists, and are able to form a sense of community while they give back to our City with their art. Mural Fest’s annual Artist Meet & Greet has become SSL’s signature event, one that the entire surrounding community looks forward to each year as a way to celebrate art and community. And Mural Fest has become a huge economic driver, supporting our local breweries, distilleries and other creative businesses by attracting visitors and giving our city that sense of place that was missing.

I have learned so much about murals, the artists and the process through my years producing Mural Fest and working with these amazing artists. It has become my life’s work and passion. Seeking out murals is my favorite thing to do when visiting a new city. And I love sharing my knowledge with others. I am currently teaching a Murals and Community class with our local university. And I am often asked to share what I’ve learned over the years with other communities that wish to start a mural program. And with my consulting business Pont Arts, I am helping to bridge the gap between mural artists and opportunities.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

It is truly an honor for me to work with the artists who participate in Mural Fest each year. Throughout the six month process of working with them; from the Call for Artists, to the jury selection, to the back and forth communication working out the logistics of their mural, and then finally getting to meet them in person when they arrive in Utah to paint in May, they become part of our big mural artist family. Seeing their individual processes from initial design concepts to final paint application is fascinating to me. I always say that while the finished murals are wonderful, the magic really happens in the two weeks while the artists are on the street painting. Not only watching them in action, but witnessing moments of them engaging with the community, with the other artists, and just enjoying the solitude of painting alone is a priceless opportunity for me. And while Mural Fest is undoubtedly an effective economic development tool that is revitalizing our city, to me it is, and always has been, the chance to provide artists with a wall to showcase their beautiful art for the whole world to see.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The book that inspired me to get where I am now is one I read in my first semester of grad school in the Nonprofit Arts Administration master’s program at Westminster College. Tom Borrup’s The Creative Community Builder’s Handbook – How to Transform Communities Using Local Assets, Arts and Culture, gave me a whole new way of looking at communities from the inside and the concept of asset-based community development. It was the perfect approach in my new position at South Salt Lake in a newly formed Local Arts Agency with a very small budget. And in our efforts to revitalize a city with a degraded image and limited resources, the asset based approach helped us identify and place value on our existing cultural assets and develop projects and programs that support them through community engagement.

Contact Info:

• Website: themuralfest.com
• Instagram: @themuralfest
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuPCK61a2nY&t=2s
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Stan Clawson Veronica Li