Crosswalk Painting Open House Scheduled for Tuesday in Hastings
The Heartbeat Creative District invites the public to an online open house to meet Dominic Laporte & Anais Labreque with DRIFT Mural Co., who are among artists to lead the crosswalk painting project on several First Street intersections in downtown Hastings.
The online open house will be 5 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 in a conference room at Hastings City Hall, 315 W. Third St. The event will be an online conference call between City Hall and the artists, who will provide a short presentation about their crosswalk designs and allow feedback.
Laporte and Labreque are from Canada and were unable to attend the open house on Aug. 20 with the three other artist groups participating in the crosswalk project.
The artists will work with the public to design and paint 19 crosswalks at the intersections on First Street between Lincoln and Colorado Avenues. Painting of the crosswalks is scheduled to take place during spring 2027. Volunteers will be needed.
This project is made possible through a portion of a $100,000 grant from the Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Cultural Endowment. This project is part of the implementation of the adopted Public Art Plan, which identified the community’s interest in various art types within the District.
A mid-block crosswalk on the 300 block of North Denver Avenue, as well as two sculptures, are also planned using grant funds for spring 2028 in conjunction with the Hastings Public Library greenspace project.
The Partners Undertaking Local Solutions for Expression (PULSE) advisory committee for the Heartbeat Creative District developed a Request for Qualifications, which was shared statewide, to solicit responses from artists. The RFQ period was open for artists April 9-June 1, 2026.
The DRIFT Mural Co. artists have a survey to ask for feedback about their designs. That feedback will inform revisions of the designs.
Other artists who have been selected to develop one or more crosswalks include the following:
Danielle Schwinn
Trent & Amy Kelly
Rad Lab
Blair Czarecki & Paige Smitherman
Drift Mural Co.
Dominic Laporte & Anais Labreque
Drift Mural Co. biography:
Co-founders Anaïs Labrèque and Dominic Laporte are dedicated to using large-scale public art to build vibrant communities and celebrate local identities. The mission of DRIFT Mural Co. is rooted in the idea of gradual, meaningful change—the name itself evoking movement that is steady rather than abrupt, symbolizing how public art can continually shape and enrich collective spaces.
Dominic Laporte is an award-winning muralist with over 120 large-scale projects worldwide, including commissions for the Canada Science and Technology Museum, Parks Canada, Microsoft, Lexus, and the Royal Canadian Navy. His style fuses portraiture, nature, and community to create visually striking narratives that reflect the spirit of place. Influenced by early roots in graffiti, urban-contemporary art, and traditional painting, Dominic has developed a visual language that is bold, layered, and thoughtfully composed. His murals are built through the accumulation of imagery and transparencies, using shifts in opacity, gestural details, and vibrant color palettes to create depth and movement. While visually rich, each composition is carefully structured—offering immediate impact from a distance and quieter moments of discovery up close.
Anaïs Labrèque, DRIFT Mural Co.’s bilingual (FR/ENG) project manager, has partnered with Dominic for nearly a decade, ensuring every project runs seamlessly from concept to completion. Her research-driven approach and passion for storytelling help shape murals that authentically reflect the communities they serve. From research and proposals to logistics, on-site support, and documentation, she ensures that each project unfolds with precision and care.
Together, they bring accessible art to public spaces around the world—creating murals that celebrate place, nurture connection, and inspire collective pride.