PUEBLO — One artist in Pueblo will spend the next 30 days painting six different sidewalks in Downtown and the Bessemer neighborhood. It is all a part of the city's public art service project.
Long time artist, Tia Monson, uses her paint brush to replace the dull beige concrete sidewalk with an array of colors. She transforms ordinary sidewalks into colorful paths. Her designs incorporate flowers, butterflies, sunshine and other natural elements.
“I think people like to see stuff like this. It's exciting when you're just walking and you see something bright and colorful. Little kids like it, especially,” Monson said.
Monson has designed a 410 foot long sidewalk mural stretching along Northern Avenue in Pueblo. It's the first of six sidewalk paintings she is set to complete this summer.
“This one will have piano keys and hopscotch to make it more interactive, like they can play hopscotch or pretend they're playing the piano on it, stuff like that,” Monson said.
On Thursday, Monson dunked her brush and dipped her fingers into the paint, adding spots, speckles, and outlines to her designs.
“Sometimes in the pictures, there's things people can connect with, and it's just fun,” Monson said.
Monson has a lot of experience creating murals. She painted a mural on the side of Jeannie's Academy of Dance, and outside the Broadway Tavern. Monson said her favorite project has been the 36 murals she has worked on along the Arkansas River.
“I've painted on everything. As long as I could remember I would paint on my like, boxes, school boxes, my books, furniture, everything I can. I've always painted on and painting things for Pueblo just helps make it prettier. I just want to paint pretty things and just jazz stuff up,” Monson said.
Once the project in Bessemer is complete, Monson will head downtown to paint the sidewalks in front of the Marriott Hotel, the fountain, and the ice rink.
“I think it's important to me to leave a good mark on Pueblo like literally something positive that I can leave behind for my kids to see and other generations just something fun for people to enjoy,” Monson said.
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