A Mural Festival Celebrating Artists From The Deaf Community
Kate is a white woman wearing a black sweatshirt. She signs to camera.
Transcription:
Hello! I want to share my vision for the KissFist Mural Festival. I have three goals. First, I want to celebrate deaf culture, specifically focused on the arts. Number two, I want to pay artists a fair wage for their work. And number three, I want to create a third space. Now, what’s a third space? So think of it this way - everyday you are in your home. That’s a first space. You probably also go to school or work. That’s your second space. So a third space is another location where you can gather with friends, your community, like a coffee shop or a deaf club or maybe your church. So my vision for the festival is to create a temporary third space for everyone to come, watch artists at work, enjoy an art market, have food, and all kinds of different fun activities. Just a great time for everyone.
The vision for the KissFist Mural Fest is threefold:
1) To celebrate deaf culture through the arts.
2) To pay mural artists a fair wage for their work.
3) To create a temporary ‘third space’ that is fun, family friendly, and accessible to people with disabilities.
Why It Matters
The heart of this festival is COMMUNITY. Creating a space that is accessible and welcoming. In the deaf community, and disability community in general, there is an ugly history of isolation due to audism and ableism.
This mural festival is more than just a fun and frivolous weekend. It’s a joyful act of resistance.
Kate is a white woman wearing. a blue sweatshirt. She stands in front of a colorful building and signs to camera.
Transcript:
So why are we doing this festival? Well for one, artists deserve support. They deserve to celebrate their work, to have a place to show their work. Now, I’m a coda but I’m a hearing coda, which means I experience hearing privilege in the arts. I’ve had a lot of experiences where I’ve approached hearing organizations and asked, you know, can you put captioning on your videos? Can you provide interpreters? And they often say ‘oh oh oh I mean, you know it’s hard. We will someday. Someday. Someday.’ It’s always someday. Enough of that. So let’s go ahead, set up our own festival that’s accessible, that celebrates the culture. It’s fun. It’s welcoming to anyone. That’s the goal!
Fundraising Goal: $35,000
KissFist Mural Fest is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
Video description: Bobby is a bald white man in a black shirt and black rimmed glasses. He signs to camera.
Transcript:
Hello, I’m Bobby.
When we talk about getting donations, where is that money going?
Well first of all, This is a non profit organization. Everyone working behind the scenes to bring the festival to life is a volunteer.
Our first priority with fundraising is to pay the mural artists. Our goal is to be able to invite at least 10 artists to paint at the festival and pay them each $1500 each for a 4x8 foot mural.
Secondly, we need to pay a rental fee to the location we are holding the festival at, which is the RiNo ArtPark in Denver. Beyond that, there are things like insurance, security, and of course equipment.
We also are fundraising to be able to pay for visual vernacular storytellers, and photographers and videographers from the deaf community who can document the festival.
By fundraising to cover all the cost of the festival, that allows us to keep it free for everyone to attend, creating a welcoming, accessible space for important community building.
We know how hard artists work and how unpredictable the creative career can be. So it is incredibly important to us to value the work of all the artists, photographers, and storytellers involved, and that means paying them right. We value the talent and artistry of the deaf community, and when you donate, it is a way to express that you value it as well.
FAQs
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Applications for artists will open in the spring!
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October 2025 in Denver, Colorado. Exact dates TBD.
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A ‘third space’ refers to a space outside of the home (the ‘first space’) and outside the workplace or school (the ‘second space’).
It is a place where a community can gather to connect and chat. Examples: deaf clubs, coffee shops, bars, etc.
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No. All mural artists must be part of the deaf community - this means artists who identify as deaf, deafblind, hoh, or coda.
Hearing artists are welcome to attend the festival and participate in the various free activities we will have! Art market, food trucks, ASL storytelling.
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Yes! This festival is open to everyone. Come and enjoy live art making, shop the art market, eat some food, and make new friends.
The language of the festival is American Sign Language (ASL). Interpreters will be on site during programming for attendees who do not use ASL.
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Kate Fitzpatrick is an artist and coda based in Colorado. She has participated in several mural festivals throughout the state, which is where she got the inspiration to start KissFist Mural Festival. She is currently a member of the 2024-25 Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) Leadership Arts Cohort.
