Skyjack lifted artists from around the United States and the world to transform unused public space into vibrant art scenes during the recent Sacramento Mural Festival in Sacramento, Calif. During the week-long event, more than a dozen artists painted 14 murals on building exteriors throughout downtown and midtown Sacramento. By turning average buildings into public art, the festival helped activate the neighborhood and reuse vacant space, including former dumps.
“I love art and I saw the Sacramento Mural Festival as an opportunity to support art creation and local communities,” said Ryan Wilkey, regional sales manager at H&E Equipment Services, which spearheaded the company’s partnership with the festival. “It opens the doors to future cooperation between the industrial and art sectors.”
About half of the murals were grand in scale, some reaching up to four stories high, making it difficult to complete without assistance from mobile elevating work platforms.
“Most of the artists don’t have much experience operating a scissorlift or boomlift, therefore it was crucial that Skyjack lifts are easy to learn how to operate,” Wilkey said. “Artists enjoyed working on Skyjack lifts because it also improved their safety at heights.”
Two Skyjack models were chosen for the mural projects: the SJiii 3219 electric scissorlift and the SJ46 AJ articulating boom.
With a working height of 25 feet, the SJIII 3219 is drivable at full height and offers 90-degree steering and zero inside turning radius, allowing artists to navigate around the murals easily without lowering the platform. When artists needed to work together on one mural, the SKiii3219, with a maximum platform capacity of 550 pounds, could lift two people at the same time.
For even taller murals, the artists used the SJ46 AJ, which has a maximum working height of 52 feet and a maximum platform capacity of 500 pounds. Besides zero tailswing, the SJ46 AL features SkyRiser capability, which allows artists to paint different parts of the mural by only moving the basket instead of repositioning the machine.
H&E Equipment Services is a long-time partner of Skyjack. The festival served as an opportunity for both companies to support community development.
“We’re delighted that we contributed to the success of the first Sacramento Mural Festival because at Skyjack we believe in supporting community values,” said Craig Truscelli, territory manager for Skyjack. “It is our goal to provide the best Skyjack experience to rental companies and customers, and to help make our city a better place to live.”
