Excitement is building for the painting of Washington’s first mural on the east side of the State Theatre, with events going on throughout the week for the community to embrace their artistic side.

The Washington Chamber of Commerce and LET’s Center for the Healing & Creative Arts invites the public to attend an Alive After 5 open house from 5-7 p.m. tomorrow at Cafe Dodici to meet Walldogs, the artists who Chamber Event Coordinator Alisha Davis says will soon be getting to work on the mural, “They’ll begin on Wednesday, July 28th and go through Friday and it should be completed by Saturday, July 31st the mural will be complete. But this is the first time we’ve really had a community mural project and that’s thanks to our hotel/motel funds and also our art committee.”

The mural was also supported by a Washington County Riverboat Foundation spring small grant. Artfest will be held from 5-7:30 p.m. Thursday in Washington’s Central Park, with free art activity booths hosted by local businesses and organizations, and registration for the Chair-a-Thon auction will last from 5-6 p.m. with bidding starting at 6 p.m. at the bandstand. Residents have been donating redecorated chairs for the past year to be auctioned off to help support the State Theatre mural, as well as community murals in the future.