The city is their canvas. Meet the artists behind some of Augusta's most popular murals

On a stroll through downtown Augusta, it's difficult not to spot at least one mural or sculpture on nearly every street.

A community of talented, innovative artists have made the Augusta area vibrant, colorful destination to live and visit. Here are six local artists who are responsible for some of the most innovative and popular pieces of public art throughout the area:

Addison Niday

The new look for the huge "Augusta Cup" at Wrightsboro Road and Druid Park Avenue has received rave reviews over the last couple of months. The retro revamp was generated by Addison Niday.

This combined two things that Niday has had a lot of success with: Refreshing old signs and murals, like those at the old Coca-Cola bottling company off Reynolds Street, and painting new and interesting designs like the "Happily Caffeinated" canine mural outside downtown Augusta's Buona Cafe.

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"No matter what I'm doing, I always try to keep what I'm doing for the public positive and keep my opinion out of it," Niday said. "What would somebody like to see driving down the road when they're having a bad day?"

He is currently developing an original series called "Because It's There" which is partly based on the passion people have had for his restorations to communicate crucial points in American history.

April Henry King

Augusta GreenJackets fans are always taking pictures in front of the open wings mural at SRP Park. The wall-to-wall Savannah River Brewing Co. painted sign catches eyes. Solo Vino Wine Parlor in Aiken has a mural of "I Love You" in many languages. What do all of these works of art have in common? They were made by April Henry King.

But despite being an artist, covering this much real estate was not initially the plan, and it took some nudging for her to take the leap into these kinds of bigger mural projects.

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"My friend Havird owns Sno-Cap and Southern Salad, and he always just believed in me," King said. "It's nice to have just that one person that believes in you. So he was like 'April, you can do it.' So my first was at Southern Salad and everybody loved it."

Though she's proven herself with these large-scale projects, King's plans currently revolve around family time as a new mom and painting local venues and watercolors at Southern Willow Market in Martinez.

Jason Craig

If you are a local business with hip and trendy branding, Jason Craig has likely designed it. Just a few of them include the one for Villa Europa's new food truck, Jackie M's and Sons 2020 redesign and Augusta University's new strutting mascot design.

But Craig's graphic, meticulous style isn't reserved for branding. He has also made outdoor murals like "Get Up Augusta" next to Pineapple Ink Tavern and the long "RESPECT" piece by James Brown Arena.

"I moved here in 1998 and I really wanted to have an impact on this town," he said. "It's had such an impact on me and, over the years, my stuff has had staying power and, to me, it makes it feel like home to me, and it is my home."

Craig hopes to one day have the opportunity to create something huge, several stories tall, that helps put Augusta on the map. For now, he has a few more small pieces coming up including a mural at the new Trellis Coffee Bar on Walton Way.

Aort Reed

With a name that's pronounced as "Art," Aort Reed was born to be an artist and he has fulfilled that destiny.

When not painting to his heart's delight at Westobou, Reed is bringing some pop to the bare walls of his home town. Some of the most well-known pieces include his murals outside Jackie M's and Son on Milledgeville Road, the innovative one along the Georgia Cyber Center stairs that lead to the Savannah River, and "The Big Idea" on 11th Street.

While Reed is scheduled to do more restaurant murals, including one at the new Taco Madre near the Augusta Mall, he hopes to do more of the larger-scale projects. But no matter the medium, Reed uses these projects to communicate everlasting ideas and to live out his purpose.

"People say 'What's the formula?' and I'm like 'Just do it,'" he said. "If you fall, get back up and just keep going. Just don't give up. If you don't give up, you're likely to make it. But if you give up, you won't make it."

Leonard "Porkchop" Zimmerman

For years, Augusta has been invaded by an army of diverse, smiling robots beautifying the area's walls, T-shirts and buttons. They are all the creations of Leonard "Porkchop" Zimmerman.

His "Happy" robot is probably the most popular as it has appeared on commemorative buttons for nearly every event in Augusta's history. But Happy's square-headed brother Tommy has also appeared on several murals like "Robot and the Moon" next to FIELD Botanicals on 12th Street.

Progress continues on getting Happy up on a downtown water tower. But Zimmerman's portfolio is full of non-robot projects like "Artist at Play," his first show and gallery in awhile at the Westobou Sept. 1-23 featuring pieces that were all about him having fun. Zimmerman also continues to collaborate with other local artists on various projects.

"One of the things about the community in Augusta is that none of us are trying to one up anybody," he said. "We just want to see everybody else do well."

Brian "StewART"

The 523 Gallery on 13th Street celebrates the arts and artists with disabilities. To aid in their mission, the entire outside of the building has been turned into art.

The artist also known as "StewART" is responsible for the captivating "Love Where You Live Augusta" mural on one wall and the illustrated salute to Vincent van Gogh on another. He is currently painting a third wall of the gallery that, when finished, will depict famous artists at an old storefront.

Stewart's artistic hand can also be seen in several spots around Thompson, on the Sugar Magnolia's mural on Reynolds Street, and in plenty of collaborations.

"It's flattering and I'm glad there's a lot of other artists," Stewart said. "It's great to see a diverse group of people doing different types of murals, and I think it's great for Augusta."

Want to see more of the area's best public art and their murals? Check out Visit Augusta's "Must-See Outdoor Murals" page on visitaugusta.com.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Murals in Augusta, Ga.: 6 artists behind popular public art