[2] The festival sponsors local, national, and international artists who gather for ten days in late August to produce monumental work on structures throughout the metropolitan area.

Fairey conceived the image as part of his “American Civics Project” series and painted the mural in "hopes the artwork will prompt discussion of mass incarceration and the for-profit prison industry in America.

[12] California natives Raphael Delgado and Kirileigh Jones created colorful floral works to large city walls, while British artist (and sometime Sacramento resident) David Puck painted a series of murals concerned with mental health awareness.

[15] After the 2017 festival some local residents raised concerns that an investment in public art within was signaling the gentrification of the city to appeal to the creative class, potentially impacting the cost of living in low-income neighborhoods that are often populated with Brown and Black people.

[16] However, local muralist and WOW contributor Aik Brown expresses his motivation for adding his art on the walls of the community he grew up in, "I feel that my work provides a sense of peace, love, and happiness while also dealing with and discussing societal issues around race, politics, violence by the police, and living in America while Black.