A team of painters, including 13 students from the visual arts program at Red Bank Regional, worked on the mural throughout the day Saturday and into early Sunday. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Racing to finish before an expected rain, a team of artists and volunteers painted a two-story mural in downtown Red Bank over the weekend.

Overlooking the parking lot for Buona Sera restaurant at Monmouth Street and Maple Avenue, the mural promotes a film festival scheduled to light up movie screens in town next month.

The mural, seen here from Maple Avenue, was completed at 4 a.m. Sunday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Designed by Brooklyn-based artist Misha Tyutyunik, the psychedelic image on the westerly wall of 74-76 Monmouth Street promotes the Indie Street Film Festival scheduled for five days in July with screenings at multiple locations.

Tyutyunik oversaw the daylong project, which involved more than a dozen students from the Red Bank Regional High visual arts program, said festival co-founder Jay Webb, of Ocean Township.

With rain in the forecast for Sunday, the crew had hoped to wrap up by midnight Saturday, but worked until 4 a.m. Sunday to complete the image, Webb said. Even passersby got into the act by adding a few brushstrokes with Tyutyunik’s encouragement, Webb said.

The rain held off until Sunday evening.

For years, the wall featured an ad for a hair salon before that image was painted over in black. In recent years, the black paint had begun to peel away.

Building owners Chris Covert and Trish Reddington, who own Elsie’s Subs, gave their consent to the project, which won approval from the borough council last month.

The mural could last 15 to 20 years, Webb told the council, but the portion of it that touts the festival will “most likely” be painted over after this year’s inaugural edition of the event, which he said organizers are hoping will become an annual one

For more details about the Indie Street Film Festival, see redbankgreen‘s coverage here.