Artists gather on Westside for The Session Mural Festival

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Nearly 100 artists from Tucson and beyond gathered on the Westside this weekend to create a collaborative mural.

They're painting as part of the Southwest Beautification Project's first mural festival. One of the founders of SWBP said they hope this is the first of many.

The theme this year is "Bring the Rainforest to the Desert," which is an attempt to create a more cohesive piece of art.

The artwork is on private property, at the home of Crystal Gochenouer.

"I always thought these walls needed some work," she said. "They were just sitting here empty and we were getting a lot of graffiti.”

She said the graffiti on the wall wasn't even legible. So when SWBP approached her asking to use the wall around her house for the festival, she agreed, giving them full creative control.

Each of the 98 artists were given a space on the wall based on how long they've been on the art scene and the design they submitted to SWBP.

KGUN9/ Alex Dowd

“The idea behind it was to gather as many artists as possible and get them as much exposure as possible," said Charles Baker of SWBP.

He found some of the artists and had others reach out to him asking to be a part of the event.

The project of beautification is about more than art. The Session includes a cleanup on both ends, to leave Gochenouer's property better than they found it.

"They've handled everything from the setup to getting all the permits they need to get done, to doing the cleanup," she said.

If each foot of the 14,000 square foot mural was laid out, it would reach over two and a half miles long.