Canton Native Paints Living, Breathing Mural in Plymouth

Originally from Canton, Kristen Dillenbeck-Anderson will travel from her current home in Brooklyn, NY, to be featured at Art in the Park this weekend, creating a living art mural before festival-goers’ eyes.

From Friday to Sunday, Anderson will make a living mural, an artistic experience for the audience and guests of the festival. Anderson creates a living mural every year, choosing a new theme each time. This year’s theme is Hollywood.

“Beginning Friday morning, I will start with three blank canvases, including one floor canvas, Anderson said. "Friday, I will dedicate to drawing, painting, and finishing a rough draft of the mural. Saturday morning, I will introduce a fourth blank canvas, my model, who will be painted and fitted into the artwork. By end of day Sunday, the piece will be completed, which will feature a live piece of art work.” 

Anderson uses a variety tools when creating living art murals, including canvas, paint, people, and her surroundings, such as buildings, walls, benches, and nature.

“The most important piece of the mural is the audience and what they can take away from the artwork because a living mural is essentially just that -- a living, breathing, working piece of artwork meant for an audience to view, embrace, and participate in,” said Anderson.

Growing up in her mother’s Canton art studio, D&M Art Studios, Anderson first started painting murals in high school, when she apprenticed under a few well-known Michigan muralists.

“From there, I started painting my own large scale paintings. I became interested in makeup and body painting in college and thought it would be fun to blend the two," Anderson said. "Since then, I have been doing all three, murals, body painting, and living murals, all over Michigan and New York.

The first living mural Anderson ever created was for Liberty Fest in Canton, and she has been expanding ever since. 

“I have since body painted for fashion shows, such as Fashion Week in New York, private events and parties, and private commissions.  I also now create murals for private homes and businesses, and I am always painting my large-scale canvases,” said Anderson.

Anderson finds her audiences’ reactions the most interesting part of her artwork because she never knows how people will respond. 

“I love reactions like ‘I didn’t see that person in there,’  or ‘I can’t believe that’s a real model,’  but perhaps my favorite reactions are the not so positive ones, where people stop by and say, ‘That’s not artwork!’ These reactions are really what keep me doing this and striving to create something more over the top than the year before,” Anderson said.  

In order to see Anderson creating a living art mural for yourself, stop by her display at the intersection of Main and Ann Arbor Trail this weekend.  Also, visit Anderson's website to view more photos from her previous shows.