The National Mural Awards: Community and Recognition
Written by Leigh Pennington
Published on May 5th, 2025
Recognition matters. Some artists do not need or want spectators of their progression or work, however this does a disservice not only to the public but the remainder of artists. Representation also matters. The interactive component is not required, but neither can it be forsaken without removing one of the vital uses of art, ornamenting a space to drive interaction and thought. There is also the more grounded need to be able to make a living as a working artist, and in this respect, recognition and representation can go hand in hand.
The National Mural Awards founded by executive director Jason Tetlak in 2023 brings the spotlight of recognition to a national array of mural artists.
The National Mural Awards founded by executive director Jason Tetlak in 2023 brings the spotlight of recognition to a national array of mural artists. The awards aim to support artists in their artistic as well as business endeavors. Partnering with mural festivals and other programs Tetlak and his team have created a platform for the exposure and development of both locally and nationally recognized artists.
Tetlak himself studied fine art in college, but quickly realized that there was no direct full time position as a visual artist. Midway through his degree he added graphic design as his major and upon graduating worked as a graphic designer for the next 15 to 20 years. His art practice was something Tetlak admits that he just performed on the side as a hobby. It wasn’t until he travelled to Miami and saw the work in Wynwood that murals were placed on his artistic radar.
He brought the practice back to his hometown of Jacksonville Florida and started a small mural project in his neighborhood in addition to completing a few walls of his own. He recounted, “It was super intimidating to go from like a three foot canvas to like a 35 foot wall, and just like standing there thinking ‘how do I do this?’ I figured it out on my own and kept doing it. That led me into pursuing murals as sort of a side hustle.” When COVID came about Tetlak’s main hustle of graphic design ceased. Instead of plugging away trying another graphic design gig, he decided to pursue mural art full time.
He has since traveled to paint on walls in 17 different states and cultivated a deep appreciation of the mural community in forging support networks as well as the range of artistic expressions. “Meeting a bunch of fellow artists who do it and organizers who put together festivals, I just kind of fell in love with the idea of public art.” He expounded on this experience as being one of the central inspirations for the National Mural Awards. “I saw all these murals all over the place, and thought, ‘How come no one gets recognized for this?’ I didn’t know this artist even existed. So we started the awards to do that, and immediately realized there was so much other stuff that we could be doing with it.”
The very first awards were conducted entirely online, a sort of early testing ground for the demand for such an event from communities and artists. Muralists are selected through a ‘call for entry’ platform where they submit work and are judged by a network of judges from across the country. Tetlak spoke of the developments in judging that he and his team are aiming towards. “We’re trying to focus a little bit on bringing in some more visual artists, because it’s a little bit of a different perspective…There’s a wide variety of people across the country that are involved with scoring and awarding.”
The very first awards were conducted entirely online, a sort of early testing ground for the demand for such an event from communities and artists.
Mural art is subjective just like any other artistic form, so every judge focuses on different aspects of the work that stand out to them. A very basic framework of things they should be looking for in the works are provided, however when it comes to assessing overall themes, this is where the judging can sometimes become biased. Tetlak expounded “Some judges really delve into the backstory that the artists provide, the reason behind the murals. Other judges rely strictly on the visual, side by side comparisons. We’ve noticed there’s a little bit of skew towards realism in the scoring…So one of the things we’re looking at moving forward is possibly separating out into categories so that those different things aren’t competing directly against each other. But it is difficult sometimes when you’re looking at five or six murals that are all outstanding and going, which one do we give first place?”
Every year the awards partners with different host festivals around the country as a way of expanding the reach of recognition for muralists.
Every year the awards partners with different host festivals around the country as a way of expanding the reach of recognition for muralists. “Last year, we went to the Corpus Christi Mural Festival. We came in and did some programming and some educational outreach, and then announced our award winners in person at their festival…We’re doing that again this year in South Salt Lake City for the mural festival they have there. So it’s sort of our blueprint moving forward…give people an opportunity to come out and receive their awards in person.”
Insert image: Debbie Noble-@goddessnoble-003
The standpoint of the National Mural Awards has always been to bring both local and out of state artists together. One of the biggest challenges is reaching artists who might not be as steeped in mural work as others. Tetlak expounded on this guiding pillar, “If you bring artists in from out of town, these local artists now get to learn directly from those artists who are traveling, who have a lot of experience. So you can learn techniques and all kinds of stuff from people, just swapping ideas and influences. Bringing people together is a big part of mural festivals…We did the Jacksonville Mural Festival in January, and one local artist, I think it was only the second time she ever painted a mural. So her painting on a wall next to a lady who travels the country doing this, there was so much transfer of information there, where she was able to ask questions…The mural community is a lot more of helping each other figure things out, at least from my experience.”
Outreach, information sharing, and community building is a key component of the awards. In addition to the knowledge local artists receive from established individuals in the business, the awards has partnered with universities in its efforts to further the proficiency and careers of aspiring arts students.
Tetlak is adamant that the next generation of artists have a knowledge of the business aspects of earning money as a working artist. He explained, “For us, it’s basically, anytime we go into a city, we want to do some educational component…So this year in South Salt Lake, we’re working with the University of Utah. We’ll be going in to their campus to do an artist talk to demonstrate the process of creating murals and getting mural jobs, and talking specifically to art students who maybe don’t understand that business aspect of things…When you’re in art school, you’re taught, how to paint, how to draw, how to sculpt, and then you’re out in the real world like, how do I get paid for this now?”
Outreach, information sharing, and community building is a key component of the awards.
While the goal of such programs is not to burst the bubble of artistic dreams and aspirations, there is a level of reality that such talks bring to those looking to earn a living as a working artist. Painting the wall is only 25% of the endeavour as Tetlak described, “The other 75% is finding the place to do it, building those relationships, emailing back and forth with the property owners, and getting the permissions. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes before you even get to go out and do the actual painting.”
These programs are often expanded to include the general public. The awards brings an awareness to the public of how the beautification of an urban environment is accomplished. For the layman art seems to simply appear on walls one fine day. The public’s appreciation of murals increases with the artist talks and community outreach events designed by Tetlak, his team, and the partnering festivals. He described, “We found that a lot of people really like that background information about the artists and the paintings that they’re seeing…Some people really want to delve into, why is it that subject? Why does it have that text on there? What was your background? People want to learn about the artists.”
The National Mural Awards is constantly pushing the envelope in terms of its ideas for the creation of mural art. One of the latest developments is the 48 Hour Mural Project where artists are invited to create a mural over the course of only two days, a challenge that many relished. The idea for Tetlak originated from Jacksonville’s 48 Hour Film Project where filmmakers are given a set of criteria for the creation of short films. “So we said, All right, we’re going to bring artists in. We’ll give them those same criteria to include in their murals, the same 48 hour time limit, and just like, have fun with it and see what happens. The final products were amazing…There’s some people out there in the middle of the night painting with headlamps, and people out there at the crack of dawn working until sunset. Again, a lot of collaboration, a lot of like building each other up and a sense of community.”
The team is now starting to roll out the idea further to see if it is a feasible option to do in other cities. Tetlak is currently in the midst of talks with people in Pittsburgh about partnering with their 48 Hour Film Project. For Tetlak collaboration has been key in the creation of opportunities to showcase the devotion and work of mural artists across the nation. He explained, “it’s always about adding a little bit to someone else’s project, just so that everybody wins for us. Like we get to come in and put on something cool. You get to have something extra with your festival…If you got something cool going on, we got something cool going on, let’s do them together and make it one bigger project.”
The National Mural Awards is constantly pushing the envelope in terms of its ideas for the creation of mural art.
One of the major goals for the future of the National Mural Awards is expanding the outreach to artists, elevating the awareness of the awards. The call to entry for 2025 recently ended with artists submitting work from 32 states, however, this still leaves 18 states where not a single artist applied. Around 50% of submissions come from California, Florida and the Northeast, geographic areas already heavily immersed and familiar with mural art. For Tetlak and his team, expanding the knowledge of the awards is crucial for the overall goal of the project. “The next thing on our agenda is to build out the organization a little bit and grow internally, so that we can then grow our reach nationally.” The next awards will be held in tandem with Mural Fest in South Salt Lake on May 10th.
When it comes down to it, the main focus of the awards is artist centric. Tetlak concluded, “we’re here for the artists. To make it (the awards) something that they can learn from, or be a part of, or get recognition…We had one artist that said, ‘if we make these awards a big deal, then it will be a big deal. We need somebody to shine the light on the work that we’re doing. We can’t do it for ourselves. So the fact that this organization exists is so beneficial to all of us.’ It was very reassuring to hear that. This was something they were looking for and excited about.”
When it comes down to it, the main focus of the awards is artist centric. Tetlak concluded, “we’re here for the artists. To make it (the awards) something that they can learn from, or be a part of, or get recognition
Leigh Pennington – Hailing from Richmond Virginia, Leigh Pennington has lived, worked and studied around the world. She earned her BA in Anthropology, Art History, and Religion from Concordia University in Montreal. Last year she moved to New York to pursue a Masters in Oral History at Columbia University. Prior to moving back to the US she earned her first Masters from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Jewish Studies. Currently Leigh works as a freelance culture content writer as well as an Op-Ed editor for the Times of Israel. Her writing has been published in major news and opinion media such as Quebec Heritage News, Tablet Magazine and Lilith Magazine.
Instagram: @lb_pennington