Crossroads Arts District Celebrating the Eclipse with Solanoir Street-Art Festival
August 8, 2017 | Kevin Collison | 3 min read
The Crossroads Arts District is living up to cosmic form with a five-day, street-art celebration of the upcoming total eclipse called Solanoir.
Thirty street artists from around the country and the world have been invited to paint murals on two dozen buildings around the downtown district.
The festival begins Wednesday and its celestial culmination occurs Aug. 21 when the moon covers the sun at 1:08 p.m. in Kansas City.
Artist Jason Harrington aka Rif Raf Giraffe said he, his wife Ami and friend Mark Allen wanted to do something special to honor the spiritual and creative energy of the rare total eclipse.
“We tried to create one event and use the eclipse to jumpstart what we hope will be an annual event,” Harrington said.
With the help of Matt Abbott, a Crossroads property owner and developer, Solanoir was inspired by Wynwood Boulevard in Miami, a world-renowned hot spot for street art. Every year, street artists from around the world fly to Miami after Thanksgiving to create.
“Matt flew there and came back and said it was amazing,” Harrington said.
Harrington is a native of Kansas City. He left for Chicago where he attended the Art Institute of Chicago and remained there for about a decade before returning here in 2013.
He did his first mural at Affare, a Crossroads restaurant, and has since done several works both outdoors and inside. His studio is at 504 E. 18th St., close to Art Alley, a cornucopia of street art off 18th Street between Cherry and Locust.
Each day of Solanoir, artists will be at work creating their visions. There will be other activities as well including a kickoff party at Lifted Spirits, Aug. 17; an Arts and Craft Beer Crawl, Aug. 19; a Fashion Gallery, Aug. 18, and a Made in KC Lot Party with music and food trucks, Aug. 19.
Harrington said there will be a film team documenting the event and local funding is helping to underwrite Solanair. For completion information, visit the Solanoir website.
The Crossroads Arts District already has a vivid concentration of street art murals in Art Alley, here’s a sampling:
Art Alley is off 18th Street in the Crossroads Art District between Locust and Cherry.
Art Alley
Art Alley
Art Alley
Art Alley
Reading these stories is free, but telling them is not. Start your monthly gift now to support Flatland’s community-focused reporting.
Related Stories
Nick’s Picks | Messi, Jail, Buses, and More …
World Cup Team(s) Arrive It’s starting to feel real. The first World Cup team has landed in Kansas City. Defending champions Argentina touched down at KCI airport on Sunday and will begin practicing today at Sporting KC’s training facility in Wyandotte County. Much of the attention, of course, is focused on Lionel Messi. The soccer…
World Cup ‘Statement Piece’ Evokes Best Version of Kansas City
Before I moved to Kansas City almost 56 years ago, I had been here only once — for a brief visit to the Kansas City Press Club when I was attending the University of Missouri School of Journalism. But because of that visit and the fact that I grew up in the Midwest (Woodstock, Illinois,…
KU Center Helps Women Gain Foothold After Incarceration
A flier from her probation officer was the turning point for Jodi Whitt, who had spent more than two decades in and out of the criminal justice system. The piece of paper introduced Whitt to the Technology Education Program offered by the University of Kansas’ Center for Digital Inclusion. Since 2019, Whitt has risen through…