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Paint on Port brings vibrancy to downtown Port Washington

Around every corner, a pop of color is finding its way on to Port Washington walls.

Around every corner, a pop of color is finding its way onto Port Washington walls.

By: Sarah McGrew

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PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — Around every corner, a pop of color is finding its way onto Port Washington walls.

"Art can connect the community in a really cool way, so we wanted to use public art in that way. And we wanted to add vibrancy downtown," said the executive Director of Port Washington Main Street Kristina Tadeo.

The mural being painted around the town is part of 'Paint on Port', a 10-day event with local and out of states adding their own flare to the downtown area. Four different murals are being painted.

"I especially love art projects where other artists are involved because you make new art friends and get to support each other's work," said North Carolina painter Britt Flood.

Flood is in Port Washington for the event and her mural is taking shape on the corner of Grand and Franklin.

"I am a figure painter turned mural artist, so I love painting people and I always try to include hints of facial features within each piece," Flood said of her work.

Although she's from North Carolina, she drew inspiration locally. She shared that she took a walk down to the lakefront where she found a sport fisherman display. It led to her featuring rainbow trout in her mural.

Flood working on her mural on Grand and Franklin

"In this piece, we have an abstract silhouette of two lovers facing each other. And within each of their heads, or minds, are just filled with like an ode to the water, Lake Michigan, native fish," she said describing her larger-than-life artwork. "I had a few other species of fish in there at first and we were like let's really reel this in, no pun intended, to really kind of highlight specific fish that are here."

Wisconsin is the 11th state Flood has painted a mural in. She hopes to leave her mark on all 50 states.

"My goal is just to provide people a moment of daydreaming throughout their day. Sort of a stop in their commute or a break up in their day," Flood shared.

Muralist will be wrapping up their masterpieces on Friday.