We’ve done many a’mural to date; big, small, temporary, permanent, local, international - they’ve spanned loads of details and definitions. While they’re all unique in their own right, one custom paint-by-number project in 2022 stands out as specifically special, with two twists on our traditional murals that the guests—and us—loved.
In early May 2022, we hauled our paint-filled cookies to Anaheim, California for Catersource/The Special Event; a three day trade show dedicated to ‘bringing the entire event industry together under one roof for an unparalleled, immersive experience.’ Our charge: bring a mural experience to the event to wow the guests - and do it in true Paintillio style: with unique, custom artwork that trade show goers get to contribute to over the course of the 3-day event.
Knowing we were wanting to bring something incredibly dynamic to the mural, we reached out to local Vancouver graphic, visual, and NFT artist Casey Rolseth to create this project’s artwork. With his incredible use of colour, we knew the mural would pop on its own…yet wanted to try something different with the paint to bring a new dimension to the finished product.
This trade show also involved an element of mural-making we had never encountered before: travelling sites where the mural was meant to be painted by trade show-goers. Our challenge: find a way to erect a temporary wall that could be dismantled, stored, moved and reassembled with some version of ease, three times over.
Working with a local partner in Anaheim, they handcrafted a wall that would be taken apart every evening and re-assembled the very next day - bringing the mural from the opening night party at an old mansion (so spooky + cool), to the House of Blues for the night two event, then over to the trade show's host hotel to wrap up the experience. Guests were surprised (and delighted!) to see the mural they had made their mark on pop up at different venues throughout the week. In tandem, we were delighted to have our first travelling mural go off without any (noticeable!) hitches.
It was at the wrap party where we unveiled the added pop to the artwork’s paint: we turned on a set of blacklights and the whole image came to life in a new way! Again, guests were wowed to see the image in a whole new light (literally) - and we learned how fun it can be to drop new experiences into our murals to bring more wonder, wow, and joy to the folks completing it.
From lessons around how fun blacklight painting can be (especially when the lights are on and the paint’s glowing!), to creating more sustainable solutions for how we get murals that can easily move, The Special Event was an incredible experience of trying something new, and seeing how we can stretch the limits of what we’re already doing.
If you’ve got an upcoming event that needs something with an added pop (of colour or immersive experiences!), drop us a line. Our creative juices are always flowing, and we’re always keen to see how we can help bring your big paint-by-numbers idea to life!