FORT SMITH (KFSM) -- Some of the artists for the Unexpected Project have arrived and started painting murals downtown.
Two artists from Brazil are working on filling a white wall on the 800 block of Garrison Avenue with color.
But while some people traveled hundreds of miles to paint in Fort Smith, others were already here.
“One of the greater purposes of this Unexpected Project is to breathe life and youth and vibrancy in to downtown Fort Smith to revive it and kind of bring the party back,” Bekah Karp, a University of Arkansas Fort Smith art student, said.
A class of ten students at UAFS has their own canvas with the project.
“The building is a warehouse that's owned by a printing company, so everything in the mural is print themed,” Karp said.
Karp said the experience is invaluable.
“It's good to be challenged and it's good to be doing something in collaboration with so many other famous amazing artists, because it makes you think that you really have a shot at it, doing it for real,” she said.
The students don't have a due date for this assignment, but it will be done by the time the festival ends on Sept. 13.
“It's great -- I love it. I think it's going to look so good when it's done -- it's so colorful,” student Kayla Schluterman said.
Artists from Portugal, England and Belgium, and other countries will be painting buildings downtown all week long.
For a full schedule of the festival, click here.