SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — If you’re driving through North Park, a new work of art might catch your eye.
A new mural has popped up near University Ave. and 30th St.
“It’s just a way to let people in Lahaina know that we’re thinking about them in San Diego,” said Kolten French, the artist behind the mural.
According to French, the mural is titled “Lahaina Loveletter.”
“What they’re going through is incredibly tough. And after spending time in Hawaii and feeling the love and support from those communities…I know that if anyone can bounce back from that, it’s these people,” he said.
French says he chose to paint a rooster – something that reminds him of his time painting a mural in Hawaii.
“We kept getting visited by the same chickens and roosters everyday and it just reminds me of Hawaii. They seem to be a piece of the community there roaming around,” he said.
After seeing the devastation on Maui, French says he and other artists around the world are coming together to sell prints of their art to benefit families affected by the wildfires.
“All of the proceeds are going to be going to survivors in Lahaina and nonprofits that are specifically supporting those people,” he said.
People purchase print online at studiohale.com.
“It goes through the end of the year because we anticipate that people are going to continue to need help,” he said.
French says he hopes that when people walk by his work that it strikes a chord – especially for anyone who has experienced the magic of maui firsthand.
“We probably owe it in some way to try and help as much as we can…it’s a place of refuge of paradise for everybody…so why not try and make that place as strong and as beautiful as we can,” he said.
