Heroes, monsters and more come to new Allentown murals

You may soon stumble across monsters, superheroes, cartoons and more when artists from around the country and the world finish their murals in Allentown.

“We kind of wanted them to be open to express something that they feel is the best representation of themselves,” said Jane Heft, director of the nonprofit Allentown Mural Arts. “We gave them a lot of artistic freedom [for] it because we wanted something that they could truly just be proud of.”

The 18 artists are designing their 16 murals at “The Path,” a new pedestrian alley at 932 Hamilton St., according to a news release. Residents can enjoy the murals alongside food, music and drinks at the free “Art Jam” event 4 p.m. Saturday.

Heft said The Path will also include tables, 24/7 lighting and security camera surveillance, adding it will be great for opportunities such as relaxing or letting students learn about art.

“Even if you wanted [to] have your lunch there and sit in the wonderment, just being surrounded by 4,000 feet of murals … I think it’s going to be something … that is nowhere [else] in the Valley,” she said.

One of the artists behind these murals is Mandi Caskey, who is originally from Columbus, Ohio, and has been creating murals full time for over a decade.

Also known by the artist name “Miss Birdy,” Caskey said she bases her art on fantasy fiction and mythology. For her mural at The Path, she’s designing a swamp woman themed after the “monster woman” trope that includes characters such as Medusa.

“It’s really cool to have contemporary muralism in a city, and especially when you’re a smaller city, it brings so much culture and different points of view from all around the world,” she said, adding that she hopes The Path’s murals and her success as a long-time female artist inspire community members to pursue art.

Another artist, who preferred to identify himself as “El Souls” and as being from New York, is creating a mural depicting characters from comic books and anime such as Daredevil, She-Hulk and characters from the “Gundam” franchise.

He said he hopes the mural helps highlight the artistry behind using spray paint, which he feels is a technique that the art world may not fully appreciate.

“I hope that they’re inspired by all the works, not just my work … that’s being done with spray paint, and I hope Allentown just keeps on growing and accepting spray paint and inviting us back for more jobs,” El Souls said with a laugh.

An international artist working at The Path goes by the “Kram” and lives in Barcelona, Spain.

Kram wants his mural, which will depict a cartoon dog holding a baseball and bat, to normalize a more “childish” style of mural than classically styled or realistic murals.

New York resident Juan Agoncillo, who is originally from the Philippines and goes by his childhood nickname “Jappy,” will design the character Gogo from the film “Kill Bill” for his mural.

“The subtext of that is an empowering piece,” he said. “I want people to look at it and … they feel cool, it makes them feel like they can do anything, it makes them feel strong like the character. I want people to visualize themselves as the characters I paint, [in] the same way you watch a movie and be like, ‘Oh, that character is me.'”

Agoncillo said he hopes his mural makes people feel better about themselves and the world, and that it can inspire people to pick up street art like he did.

“I got into art because I really love these characters I grew up with [like Gogo] so I ended up drawing them … A lot of comic books, a lot of anime, stuff like that, and I started drawing that which brought me to a deeper world of art,” he said. “And I feel like if people could see their favorite characters on the street, they might want to do street art and do the same kind of stuff.”