BRANSON, Mo. — Some local artists were hired to create a 200 foot colorful mural in a park in Branson.

Branson Parks and Recreation Department teamed up with the Southern Missouri Art Connection to paint the wall at Murphy Park in hopes of discouraging graffiti vandals.

The wall at Murphy Park was divided into sections and each artist painted a positive theme such as love and nature.

“They wanted to make it pretty enough that they wouldn’t want to paint over it,” said Lacey Finchum, one of the artists.

There were a few challenges that the artists had to overcome to create the mural.

“On our actual third day it poured down rain and so some of us that weren’t done still had our chalk marks on the wall,” Finchum said. “So, the next day there were no chalk marks. We had to come back and rechalk everything we’d drawn in.”

College of the Ozarks art graduate, Ariel Smith, displayed her talents on the wall.

“It got much more attention than what I anticipated because my landlord actually called me and said, are you the Ariel Smith that worked on the mural,” Smith said.

There were seven artists that worked on the mural and it took a total of three days to create it.