VALA Eastside recently announced the sponsorship of resident artist Vikram Madan by Redmond Town Center (RTC) as he creates a water feature mural entitled “Imagination Northwest!” in Center Court of the shopping center.

The VALA Artist in Residence (AIR) program was started in 2013 as a way to give local artists the opportunity to develop, create and implement art projects that instill strong connections to the local community.

“I am honored and delighted to have been selected as VALA’s artist in residence for creating the Redmond Town Center water feature artwork. When my kids were younger, we spent a lot of time around the water feature and I am excited to have the opportunity to create artwork for the space that will not only engage and appeal to kids, but will also take inspiration directly from their imaginations. I will be painting the artwork inside the VALA Eastside space and would love to invite community members and families to drop in and watch its progress,” said Madan.

Madan’s residency at VALA Art Center & Studios, located next door to Z Gallerie in RTC, will take place Sept. 25 until the mural is installed at the end of October. He invites children to submit drawings of imaginary creatures at RTC’s GoodFest to take place Saturday.

Madan will then select a subset of these submissions and recreate them as part of an “Imagined Northwest Landscape,” populated with imaginary creatures directly inspired by the selected submissions. The landscape will be painted on panels inside VALA Art Center & Studios during the first three weeks of October, with site installation planned for the end of October.