2023 Des Moines Art Festival | Billboard Mural Project

Over the three days of the 2023 Des Moines Arts Festival guests created a giant, billboard sized mural of Georges Seurats' The Circus. Known as the Billboard Mural Project presented by Athene, each participating guest was given a blank 6"x6" tile, one small image of the original painting and the opportunity to transfer their interpretation of the small image onto a larger piece.
During the Festival, 180 Athene volunteers help festival guests complete 1,140 tiles that have been pieced together on two floors at Athene's headquarters in West Des Moines, IA.
The central focus of the painting, the circus performers, are on the lower level while the spectators look from above. The split pays homage to the original painting's history. This was artist Georges Seurat's last painting and remained unfinished at the time of his death. The painting is divided in two halves. The top half, featuring the spectators, is far more linear, while the bottom, showing the performers, is filled with curves and spirals.