Downtown Chatham is set to get to undergo a makeover this summer when muralists head there to paint the town.
A new event called CK Can Jam will see 11 artists from across Canada, United States and Australia create nine murals in the downtown from Jul. 15 to 20 using a wide variety of paint mediums, with aerosol paint cans being one of the main mediums.
Event organizer Sarah Steele says the idea came after she participated in the Free For All Walls festival in Windsor in 2023.
"That's run by Ryan Eyres and Denial and I decided that Chatham needed to get its feathers ruffled a little bit and maybe we could get some big deal art people to come into Chatham and I happened to make some connections when I was there last year. They were kind enough to donate their time and come to Chatham and do a similar project."
She says this event was made possible through a $20,000 grant from the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
"They're able to cover a large majority of our rentals and paints, and just trying to work with the city to make downtown even better. Trying to make it more welcoming and a bit different because honestly there's nothing like this that's happened anywhere near Chatham aside from the bigger cities ."
Steele says the 9 murals will be permanent fixtures.
"We actually got the 65 foot fly tower at the Chatham Capitol Theatre."
The public is invited to watch the artists create their murals.
CK Can Jam will wrap up on Friday with a free after party being held at Son’s Of Kent Brewery from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. where all of the artists will be doing a live/interactive art event for the public to enjoy.
More information on the event and artists, or how to become a sponsor can be found here: ckcanjam.ca.