Next time you drive past 25th and Southwest Boulevard, be sure to check out a new Royals mural.
This is KC’s first #RaisedRoyal mural.
Phil Shafer, the artist behind the mural, shares the significance of it.
“Back in the Spring of 2015,I painted the mural inside the Kauffman Stadium and it was kind of like a charm for the team,” Shafer said. “Now we’re just trying to do a bigger good luck charms for the rest of the season, something to inspire the fans and the players too, and you know everybody who drives by.
Shafer said his inspiration comes from taking angled shapes and using action lines to interpret a slower game of baseball.
“Baseball [is] on of those methodical ports at times, but I like to put this motion with the shards in there to kind of show that it’s got some action to it as well,” he said.
Shafer said he used the silhouette of Lorenzo Cain at bat and pitcher Yordano Ventura.
“I love the angle of Cain's swing. Cain's got one of my favorite swings. Which might sound weird, but he's got that lean back kind of just give it all you got kind of swing,” he said. “And it's undeniably unmistakable Yordano Ventura, the way he kind of has these bird wing arms when he flaps and so he's got such a picturesque motion to his pitch that everyone was going to know, ‘Oh, that's him. And that's why I used him.”
Shafer also incorporated family references into the mural as well, his late uncle and grandfather.
“I had to reference my grandfather. Him and I went to the game quite a bit the last few years of his life and it meant a lot to him and it meant a lot to me to share that time with him. And so I'm glad I'm able to kind of give him a shoutout on this mural for sure,” Shafer said. “One thing if he ever went to the game with me, the Royals won.”
Shafer said he’s excited for the home opener.
“I think the Royals have done a lot for the city and bringing back a lot of pride. A lot of entertainment value,” he said. They've been fun to watch and it's just been an exciting time to be a Royals fan.”
Shafer has been painting murals since 2012.
He encourages fans to stop by and take a picture underneath the crown and use the hashtag: #RaisedRoyal.
