There are new murals to check out across the city of Detroit from local and nationally renowned artists. It's all part of the BLKOUT Walls Mural Festival that is happening this week.

Sydney G. James, artist and co-founder of BLKOUT Walls Festival, is putting the finishing touches on this mural entitled "Message in a Bubble."

"I designed it to be a 360 experience. So you can see it from Canada, and you can see it from Detroit, and both sides speak to each other side," James said.

James's cousin is featured on the side facing Canada, where members of his family live. James and co-founder Max Sansing say they created the BLKOUT Walls Festival because there was a lack of representation at other festivals around the country.

"It was never very many other Black artists getting too many mural opportunities, so we created this space so we could create opportunities for other artists," James said.

Five of the artists this year are from Detroit.

"I think public art is just a visual representation of the cultures and the people there," said Sansing.b"I think if you strive to make each mural mean something bigger than yourself, it ceases to become just another mural. It becomes something that people kind of like cherish and honor and want to see and want to have in their day-to-day and in their communities."

The community is invited to attend a celebration this Saturday from 1-5 p.m. at Spirit Plaza in downtown Detroit. It's free to the public and will feature live music, food trucks, local vendors, and opportunities to meet the artists.