Artists showcase graffitti murals

Media Credit: Kelly Wright/The Lantern Local artists work together to create large-scale murals at Urban Scrawl, a festival held Saturday at Dodge Park. This piece is one of 18 other murals.

Nestled along the Scioto River, Dodge Park in Franklinton was the host of Saturday’s Urban Scrawl, a skateboarding competition and graffiti art event sponsored by the Franklinton Arts District and the Franklin Development Association.

The second annual Urban Scrawl turned an often unused park space into a forum of public art and music, with the Columbus city skyline serving as a backdrop for 50 graffiti-style murals.

Local artists and students from the Columbus College of Art and Design showcased their art on the free murals provided by the Franklinton Arts District. Although no OSU artists participated, members of the Franklinton Arts District hope to see some of them in the future.

“We even had some of the paint provided,” said Nikos Rutkowski, president of the Franklinton Arts District and a local artist. “Artists brought supplemental stuff too.”

Punchy black and white graphics were being carefully crafted alongside color murals by artists who worked alone and in groups on giant ply board surfaces, as sounds of local bands and the noise of skateboarding filled the air.