New Color Wave Walls festival brings global muralists to Polk County

LAKELAND, Fla. - Blank walls across Downtown Lakeland are turning into colorful masterpieces as the new Color Wave Walls mural festival brings nearly a dozen artists from across the country and around the world to transform the Swan City into an open-air art gallery.

Downtown Lakeland mural festival

What we know:

Local artists Gillian Fazio and Katerina Santos founded Color Wave Walls to remove financial barriers for artists while making world-class art free and accessible to everyone. Organizers say the biennial festival will return in 2028, and muralists will continue painting through Wednesday.

Auburndale artist Keith Goodson is the only artist chosen to represent Polk County in the festival. Goodson is painting a mural on West Main Street in Downtown Lakeland that depicts a young girl contemplating her future and divine purpose alongside a young man stepping into his future and his goal.

International artists in Polk County

By the numbers:

Organizers narrowed down more than 430 submissions from 21 countries to select 11 nationally and internationally recognized muralists for the Lakeland event. The lineup includes artists representing France, Australia, Spain, Canada and the Netherlands.

Muralists share local inspiration

What they're saying:

Mural artist Nina Valkhoff traveled from the Netherlands to participate, calling the experience a dream come true as she paints a local bird. "Maybe the spoonbill is whatever—this bird is at the lake. Now people will see it and say like, ‘Whoa, it’s such a main character,’ and they feel a bit differently. Hopefully, by bringing it into the world this way, they see it differently and treat it better," Valkhoff said.

Co-founder Katerina Santos said she hopes the project sparks ambition in local residents.

"It’s kind of that, ‘If you can see it, you can be it.’ We hope that young, talented artists in our community can see these incredible artists painting at their walls and say, ‘I can do that one day,’ you know? That would be an honor," Santos said.

Goodson noted that Southeastern University sponsored his work on West Main Street, allowing him to focus on the next generation. "With the mural I’m doing here, SEU sponsored me, so I’m trying to do my due diligence as an artist to inspire the young people to pursue their dreams and goals," Goodson said.

He also explained the symbolism behind the blank pages in his artwork. "In her journal there’s nothing written, so it’s her future being written," Goodson said.