The arts came to life Saturday during Valparaiso Mural Walk. Artists created four new murals during a four-hour festival while others observed and even tried their hand at creating art.
Muralist Kian Dubay, of Pittsburgh, traveling with fellow artist Phil Seth, beautified a dingy basketball goal north of the Valparaiso Creates Center on Indiana Avenue. The two birds she painted are symbolic. “It’s kind of like my sister and me joining our families,” she said.
Seth created what is being used as promotional material for the Valparaiso Creative Council, adorning umbrellas for sale and other items. His mural shows David’s head both in classic and modern forms with ideas springing forth.
Phil Seth, of Pittsburgh, paints a mural on the north side of the Valpo Creates Center during the Valparaiso Mural Walk on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. His artwork has been adopted by Valparaiso Creative Council for a variety of promotional materials. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
The detailed painting was done with spray paint. He used a couple of different types of tips for the cans. For the straight lines, he used pieces of cardboard for sharper edges.
Seth enjoyed the interaction with the public. “It’s bringing the gallery to the people. You get real reactions, not criticism,” he said.
“That’s why I like doing public art. I like doing art for the public.”
People often talk with him while he’s working. “You’ll hear some wild stories when you’re on the scaffolding working,” he said. “People want to talk to you about their experience doing art.”
“You engage people, but then you want to activate them,” Seth said.
Becky Kirkpatrick, of downtown Valparaiso, talked with Seth on Saturday about potentially painting a mural on her garage. Her artistry is her yard. “That’s my creative canvas is the flowers and the vegetables,” she said. People walk by in the alley and compliment her on the plants. “They might as well enjoy the cinder block walls, too,” Kirkpatrick said.
Valparaiso Creative Council Executive Director Jessica Corral is thrilled to see art inspiring people.
“I feel very excited to see all this unfold,” she said.
At the council’s location on Indiana Avenue, not only were murals being created, but kids had a chance to carve foam inside to create their own sculptures.
Violet Harrington, of Portage, tries her hand at sculpture during the Valparaiso Mural Walk on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
Violet Harrington, of Portage, was among the kids making their own creations. “She loves artwork. She colors all the time, loves to paint,” father Joe Harrington said. Violet wasn’t sure at first about the sculpture project. “She got to squish it in her fingers and said, ‘I want to play with that,’” Joe said.
Aunt Teri Bailey deserves credit for letting the Harringtons know about Saturday’s mural walk. “I think it’s wonderful that they’re doing all the murals downtown and beautifying it all,” she said. It shows that Valparaiso is a community that celebrates creativity, she said.
Outside, LiZ!, of Highland, played alto sax and acted as a DJ.
“The live music is great,” said Debbie Rigg, of Valparaiso. “I’m dazzled by that spray paint.”
Corral said the special activities at each site were planned to enhance the mural walk this year. “I think each one is like a miniature mural party.”
Sophie Groenstein, of Windsor, Canada, discusses her mural on the exterior of the Orchestrated Events building on Campbell Street in Valparaiso on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
Volunteer LeeAnn Bettenhausen, of Valparaiso, was thrilled. “Whatever your disability is, you can do art,” she said. “We need more art. It helps people express themselves.”
On Franklin Street, Daniel Schultz, of Hobart, watched people painting puzzle pieces made of high-density foam that would be used to form a 3-D mural. Schultz was grateful for the CNC at his company, Vis on Div in Valparaiso, to cut the 400 pieces.
It took 15 hours to cut all those pieces and another five hours to scribe the board to show where the pieces – 20 colors in all – would be placed. “There was a lot of dust involved,” Schultz said.
At Orchestrated Events on the far south end of Campbell Street, owner Jenny Bennett-Beschinski was thrilled with the mural being painted on the south side of the building. Orchestrated Events works with 25 businesses, 21 of them owned by women, to create special events. “I’m the conductor of the orchestra, if you will,” she said.
“This road is a new gateway to Valparaiso now that Journeyman (Distillery) is here,” she said, and the mural on the south side of Orchestrated Events will greet visitors as they cross the railroad tracks.
Sophie Groenstein’s “Forged to Flourish” mural on the south side of Orchestrated Events in Valparaiso, shown Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, depicts women in industry in Northwest Indiana. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
Sophie Groenstein, of Windsor, Canada, painted a large mural that depicts women in industry in Northwest Indiana.
“I feel like I have a feminine lens to my artwork,” she said. “I wanted to tie in elements I haven’t painted yet.”
Groenstein began working on the mural Tuesday. This is the farthest she’s ever traveled for a mural, but she wants to do more in the Midwest and across the United States.
At Valpo Velvet, Mitchell Schuring, of Bedford, was painting a mid-century modern design that offers an abstract landscape with a subtle nod to ice cream.
Early Saturday morning, he met with the building owner and went across the parking lot to Von Tobel’s to get the right colors. “We’re making adjustments and just plugging and chugging,” he said.
Mural Walk participants watched him work, then many popped inside for ice cream to get relief from the heat.
At the Valpo Creates Center, Impossible Winterbourne, from “parts unknown,” was in costume including an artificial head, getting little relief from the heat before going into the air conditioning to show off his artwork and book. Winterbourne showed his robot face filled with expanding foam.
Impossible Winterbourne, of “parts unknown,” shows his artwork at the Valpo Creates Center in downtown Valparaiso on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
“I drift around the country, and I’ve got work in most of the major cities” and a few smaller ones, he said.
While murals were being created on the exterior of the building, Corral said more work is planned for the future, including awnings and a wheelchair ramp.
The council is selling umbrellas and accepting donations. Through Nov. 15, donations will be worth four times as much, thanks to matching grants from Stewart and Kathryn McMillan and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Corral said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
