COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A treasure hunt opens the 23rd annual Art on the Streets in downtown Colorado Springs June 4th, presenting 12 new works by artists from Colorado Springs and around the world.
Seven sculptures, four murals, and one combination mural and performance piece were selected for this year’s program from nearly 200 proposals.
One artist is Los Angeles-based Annie Hong, whose mural, The Other Side, brightly colors the intersection of Pikes Peak and Wahsatch.
“Around the time that I got accepted to Art on the Streets was around the time that the Atlanta shooting happened,” said Hong.
On March 16, 2021, three spas and massage parlors in the Atlanta, Georgia area were targeted in a series of shootings, leaving eight dead, six of whom were Asian women.
“I don’t think I’ve ever really experienced that kind of grief and rage,” Hong said. "My mom raised me as a single Korean-American immigrant mother. I remember staying at her hair salon when she would go to work when I was a kid. All of it hit so close to home.
For a minute, Hong said, they didn’t know what to do.
“Then I just tried to channel all of that grief and rage and those intense emotions into creating this piece,” they said.
The mural reads: "Where do tears uncried flow."