A new large-scale fine art mural will take the place of a previous work by Shannon Wallace Norman on the side of Rock Town Distillery.
Norman's SoMa-themed work featured people, music and nature and was in place for the past eight years.
Los Angeles-based artist Drew Merritt began work last week on the latest public art project in downtown Little Rock and is expected to continue painting through the weekend.
This project was made possible by the Downtown Little Rock Partnership's Public Art Grant Program and Rock Town Distillery owner Phil Brandon.
A public art calling was publicized and Merritt was one of 40 applicants.
In a release, the partnership recognized Merritt for merging street art and portraiture and said he is known worldwide for romanticized, renaissance-inspired murals and oil paintings.
On Friday Merritt began outlining his piece but had technical difficulties with his airlift.
"It's like, the painting isn't the hard part, it's all the other stuff -- this breaks, that breaks, I can't spray paint.." he said.
As a New Mexico farmland native, Merritt said he would "figure it out."
The mural is based on previous works that the city liked and has a "fun and interactive" theme, he said.
Recently, Merritt said he has enjoyed traveling to smaller cities across the U.S. to install his large-scale murals.
"I kinda like this because it also brings this into -- not the coastal, Mecca cities," he said. "I feel like cities like Little Rock and ... a lot of places in Texas, Kansas, like all these places, they kind of get overlooked and it's like, they're so cool."
Merritt mentioned that he just came from Beaumont, Texas, where he finished a 10,000-square-foot mural and plans to fly out to New York on Sunday for another one.
"I might be painting up until the flight, I've done that before, go straight from the wall to the flight," he said.
Merritt said his job allows him to be "a local everywhere" as he travels.
"I get to experience new things and in a way that no one else really gets to navigate through," he explained. "I get to skip the touristy stuff and go straight to like, 'where's the good restaurants? Where do I eat? What's fun? Like what do I see?'"
In the midst of trying to repair his new airlift, Merritt said he actually likes overcoming obstacles and it's "satisfying."
"As cliche and cheesy as it sounds, [the mural] brings a lot of joy to people, it's fun to see people walking by and like even if they stop for like two seconds and keep walking, it's like that little, little moment."
Merritt said he got his start after he dropped out of college, began to produce his own art and submit it to galleries.
"I moved to LA and I slept out of my car for like a couple of months, traveled up and down the coast and just tried to figure out like ... What to do, where to go, so definitely an uphill battle. But it was like, full committed, I'm doing this."
After a few years in Los Angeles, he got his first solo show gallery and picked up mural projects, even if they were for free, he said.
"It kind of just snowballed and people started liking my work, and then just like progressed and moved up. Now I can do fun stuff."
Residents can watch the mural progress as Merritt paints downtown and see its completion.