Oshkosh is on track to join over 60 other cities as part of the “Greetings Tour” project, which creates postcard-inspired murals to encompass a city’s local culture.

“We love working with communities to create something that everyone can take pride in,” Greetings Tour muralist Victor Ving said.

Ving and photographer Lisa Beggs began the mural project in 2015 after completing their iconic “Greetings from Chinatown’’ mural in New York. 

They took a year-long trip to California, which inspired the artist duo to take their work on the road.

Since then, they have been traveling full-time in their RV with the goal of creating murals in all 50 states.

Ving said he and Beggs didn’t expect what was at first just a year-long road trip would evolve into a vast project.

“In 2015, we officially started the “Greetings Tour,” packing our lives into a 24 foot RV and leaving New York City,” he said. “What we didn’t anticipate was that one year on the road would lead to almost six years of living full-time as traveling muralists, creating over 60 murals in more than 25 states.”

The “Greetings from Oshkosh” mural will be the third annual mural since 2021, an addition Downtown Oshkosh Business Improvement Director Jessica Meidl said she believes will be welcomed warmly by the community.

“I can already tell the community is really excited about it from the announcement we made on social media,” she said. “We see residents, students and visitors taking photos in front of our current murals all the time and the ones we have right now have made such an impact on our community.”

Each mural features large, block style letters reminiscent of mid-century postcards incorporating key features of specific cities.

Ving said he does this by collaborating with local figures and other artists.

“We take great care to ensure that our murals incorporate important landmarks, cultural references, history, nature and local artist collaborations when possible,” he said. “We draw inspiration for the imagery directly from the community we’re painting in, but we also strive to help narrow down concepts that are truly unique to the city.”

For example, one of Ving and Beggs’ murals in Chicago features the city’s famous sports teams, the city skyline and even Chicago-style pizza.

The “Greetings from Oshkosh” mural will also feature work from indigenous, Green Bay-based artist Cainen Shooter, who is commissioned to create one of the block letters. 

Meidl said that although the final images included in the “Greetings from Oshkosh” mural are not finalized yet, she has a few ideas of some key aspects.

“The letters and background [will] represent the water that surrounds our community, the history that shaped our city and includes art, architecture, landmarks, events and businesses we’re known for all over the world,” she said.

Meidl said she hopes the collaboration between locals and the final mural will improve the experience of community members and tourists alike.

“This project will continue to be a catalyst for public art and will add to the quality of life in Oshkosh,” she said. “Projects like this continue to add to the quality of life in Oshkosh and the more things we continue to do like this only makes our city more appealing to shoppers, tourists and residents.”