Tulsa World
The painted portion of what soon will be the world’s largest augmented reality mural is nearly finished, but Tulsans will have to wait another month to experience the downtown piece in its entirety.
The 15,000-square-foot mural, titled “The Majestic,” is being painted on the north and east exterior walls of the Main Park Plaza parking garage at Fourth and Main streets. Its final coats of paint will be applied by Monday, said artist Ryan “Yanoe” Sarfati.
He and fellow artist Eric “Zoueh” Skotnes described the picturesque purples and wonderful wildlife portrayed on the mural as an “ode to Tulsa” that they designed after visiting the city early this year.
The mural’s square footage fills roughly a third of a football field. The largest augmented reality mural to this point — Columbus, Ohio’s 11,000-square-foot work titled “The Journey” — was also completed by Sarfati and Skotnes.
“It’s probably definitely seemed a lot faster on the ground,” Sarfati said, “but it can get tedious and exhausting up (painting the sides of the building).”
But when the paint dries, only half the artists’ job will be finished. Sarfati said that after the painting is concluded, he and Skotnes will return to Los Angeles to begin work on another piece. In the mean time, the Tulsa mural’s augmented reality elements will be completed.
The augmented reality will allow Tulsans to use their phones and other smart devices to view the mural in an “animated” state and get further information about the flora and fauna depicted in the artwork, Sarfati said.
Completion of the AR is expected within “a month or two,” Sarfati said. After those segments are finalized, the mural will be celebrated with a block party where Tulsans will be invited to view the mural as intended for the first time. Since the exact timeline of the AR’s completion isn’t certain, Sarfati said he did not know specifically when the party will be held.
Kian Kamas, executive director of the Tulsa Authority for Economic Opportunity, said in a press release that she hopes the mural paired with additional development projects will continue to increase activity in the downtown area.
“This new mural will continue the revitalization of a key area of downtown and redefine the role public art plays in economic recovery, as well as the power of investing in our public assets,” Kamas said.
“We are excited to see how this mural and investments in Main Park Plaza are complemented by recently completed and soon to be initiated development projects that will further add to activity in downtown Tulsa.”
- Tulsa World
