Residents to select mural artwork on Friday

Key Detail, artist name of Andrei Krautsou (right), and wife Julia Yu-Baba will be in Greencastle in September to paint what will be one of Indiana’s largest murals on the silos of S&W Feed Co. on the city’s south side. This Friday, residents will have the chance to vote on what that design will be.

Courtesy photo/KEY DETAIL

This Friday, Aug. 2, Putnam County residents are encouraged to vote online, or in person at First Friday, for one of two options of mural art that will be installed on the four silos on the northwest corner of U.S. 231 and Veterans Memorial Highway on Greencastle’s south side.

Internationally-known mural artist Andrei Krautsou, who goes by the artist name Key Detail, has created two designs for the art he and his wife, Julia Yu-Baba, will install.

The design receiving the most votes on Aug. 2 will be the art installed on the S&W Feed silos in September.

Voting will take place only on August 2, both online at www.putnamcountymuralproject.org, from 9 a.m.-11 p.m. and at the Putnam County Mural Project booth at First Friday from 6-9 p.m. on the Putnam County Courthouse Square.

In early July, the Putnam County Mural Project selected Key Detail to design and install the mural after six weeks of community input and a national call to artists attracted more than 70 applications. A community panel reviewed every application, creating a final pool of five. The mural project’s six-member committee selected Key Detail from that pool.

Krautsou is a mural artist who focuses on large-scale projects, with work featured at some of the world’s most notable mural districts, as well as in international magazines and books.

Key Detail has completed more than 50 large-scale murals in the last nine years, in places such as Washington, D.C.; Chengdu, China; New York City; Eindhoven, Netherlands; Miami, Fla.; Mumbai, India; and Wiesbaden, Germany.

Currently living with his family in New York City, Krautsou grew up in Minsk, Belarus. After receiving degrees in architecture and design, he focused on street art and murals, soon becoming an in-demand mural artist.

In September, Key Detail will be in Greencastle to install what will become one of Indiana’s largest murals.

“I’m really excited about this project because this facility is massive and unique,” Krautsou said when asked about the Putnam County Mural Project silos. “I can’t wait to see the murals completed because this shape will add more dimension to my artwork. I believe the result will be amazing.”

Speaking to the importance of public art projects, Krautsou sees mural art as something more than just a pretty image painted on a wall.

“I can say for sure that buildings with murals become magnetic spots for citizens of every community,” Krautsou said. “They identify place and make it special.”