Video: New York City muralist Key Detail is painting a new river-themed mural in downtown Fort Wayne

Key Detail, a New York City-based and Belarusian-native husband-and-wife team consisting of Andrei Krautsau and Julia Yu-Baba, are making a mural at 201 W. Wayne St. in downtown Fort Wayne, across from the Grand Wayne Center.

The duo has already created art in Indiana, but never in the Northeast region of the state until the first Make It Your Own Mural Fest took place Sept. 8-18, 2020. In this 11-day timespan, the Make It Your Own Mural Fest is inviting artists from the local area and around the nation to install 11 new, permanent murals in the cities of Fort Wayne, Columbia City, Warsaw, Garrett, Albion, Angola, LaGrange, Geneva, Bluffton, Huntington, and North Manchester.

Key Detail is a New York City-based and Belarusian-native husband-and-wife team consisting of Andrei Krautsau and Julia Yu-Baba.

The festival, which came out of a brainstorm session at the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, is part of the group’s 11-county Make It Your Own branding initiative to attract attention from creatives and innovators looking for their next place to launch a venture or build a life.

The theme of Key Detail’s mural in Fort Wayne is the confluence of the city's three rivers: the St. Joseph, the St. Marys, and the Maumee. The mural shows three women who symbolize the three rivers, and elements of water are used as a background.

The theme of Key Detail’s mural is the confluence of the city's three rivers: the St. Joseph, the St. Marys, and the Maumee.

Like other Mural Fest artists, Andrei and Julia appreciate the power and influence art can exercise in a community.

“We think it’s important that the city get a unique and beautiful mural at such a challenging time,” says Andrei. “This project creates an opportunity to educate, energize, and engage the community.”

Key Detail works on a mural in downtown Fort Wayne.

The “canvas” that Key Detail is using is the largest of the 11 other buildings in Mural Fest, which excites Andrei, too.

“The wall is large and has a lot of windows,” he says. “It will add character and dynamics to our mural. We can’t wait to see the finished mural.”

Dan Baisden, an Urban Planner with the City of Fort Wayne, sees Mural Fest as an important part of Fort Wayne’s growing public art culture.

Key Detail works on a mural in downtown Fort Wayne.

He says more murals will be coming to the city soon as part of the Faces of the Fort project, modeled after Off the Wall in Atlanta, Georgia. Faces of the Fort will extend the power of murals beyond downtown into the city’s neighborhoods, expressing the diverse cultured of neighborhoods with art that features the faces and stories of actual residents who live there.

“We want people to experience community and culture, and we want to invest in the community and in local businesses,” Baisden says. “This will only add to that.”