As the work of 10 artists from across the globe was celebrated inside Cannery Brewing, Community Week for Penticton's Ignite the Arts Festival officially got underway.

The fourth annual Mini Mural Project took place inside the local business on Friday night, March 21.

After around 60 artists submitted their work to a committee of about eight Penticton judges earlier this winter, 10 murals were chosen to be unveiled during the kick-off of Ignite the Arts' opening weekend of festivities in 2025.

Paul Crawford, curator of the Penticton Art Gallery, said he was excited to see artists from outside the Okanagan, including from as far as the United Kingdom, enter the contest.

"It's neat to see it expand like this and crazy to think this guy in England found out about what we do here," Crawford said. "We got some from Alberta and from across B.C., and while we try to focus on arts in the Okanagan, we did accept them and it's kind of cool."

Each artist received $500 for their work, with the art gallery and Cannery Brewing contributing $250 each.

"I love supporting the artists," Crawford said. "I know it's not a huge amount of money, but it's incredibly tough to be an artist these days. Hopefully, this gives people a greater idea that living with art is valuable."

All 10 murals will be displayed inside Cannery Brewing from now until October, the month when they'll be auctioned off during a special event.

Seven of the 10 artists selected, meanwhile, attended Friday's event and provided a brief speech on what their mural means to them.

Crawford said that one of them, Caroline Anders, came up with the idea to have a mini mural project more than two decades ago when the two were residents of Wells, B.C.

The artists selected to have murals on display at Cannery Brewing:

• Caroline Anders (Wells, B.C.)

• Benji Andringa (ÁðÁ§ÉñÉç, B.C.)

• Barbara Fresz (Lumby, B.C.)

• Jan Little (Rock Creek, B.C.)

• Joie Paré (Westbridge, B.C.)

• Libby Parsons (Penticton, B.C.)

• Kirsten Robertson (Naramata, B.C.)

• Paityn Savoie (Calgary, Alta.)

• Otto Schade (London, U.K.)

• Raymond Thomas Syrja (Summerland, B.C.)

The Ignite the Arts Festival is a 10-day celebration of arts and culture in Penticton.

Seven of those days will be dedicated to Community Week, which kicked off Friday night.

Performances and events, including the popular art walk, will be taking place all week.

A full schedule can be found