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SALT LAKE CITY — A few Salt Lake City artists are striving to spread art around the city in a unique way — by giving away free paintings.

University of Utah student Hansi Kiessner said he is a fan of the underground graffiti art movement, but he said he noticed it doesn't always have "good attention." He decided to come up with a legal and positive way to promote the graffiti of local artists.

The project is simple — find a passerby on the street and give them a painting.

"Our project is about brightening a stranger's day," Kiessner said. "It is about giving an everyday person something to think about that they otherwise wouldn’t have. It is about opening minds in a society that is increasingly letting itself get distracted from the beauty of life and the universe. Ultimately, our project represents what graffiti is when it is done with the right intentions: a beautiful representation of our existence."

Kiessner teamed up with five local artists including neo-surrealist- psychedelic-cubist artist, Alex Lucas. The artists will all contribute to make the original, handcrafted paintings.

While the paintings are completely free, Kiessner said each painting costs the artist about $10 to make. The group started a Kickstarter account to help them pay for the canvas and supplies. As of Friday afternoon, the Kickstarter fund had raised $1,230 and was the top ranked project in the painting category on Kickstarter.

Kiessner said that backers who donate $40 to fund their supplies will receive a signed poem that he has written as well as a 14 by 18 painting. He said if their Kickstarter account reaches $10,000, they can give away almost 1,000 paintings to residents of Salt Lake City.

"This is a positive outlet for graffiti artists that I'm working with — a legal outlet as well," he said. "Which is something I think the city needs to work on, is (having) more legal graffiti walls. Us giving away these paintings helps us give a new perspective on the graffiti art movement."

The artists have given away six paintings so far.

*KSL.com has not verified the accuracy of the information provided with respect to the account nor does KSL.com assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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