MAJESTIC MONARCH BUTTERFLY MURAL

Is a sprawling mural depicting several monarch butterflies in a native flower field. Created by Michael (otherwise known by Mikey) K. Knutson, work on the mural started in 2022, and was finished later in 2023. The mural was commissioned by the City of Garden city to be painted on the side of the Garden City municipal court building. In total it ended up taking nearly 400-500 hours to complete.

A Garden City native, Knutson currently teaches art at the Garden City Community College. He has been creating pieces professionally since around 2010 where he was enrolled in the fine arts program at Fort Hays State University. Around this time, he also completed his first work of public art at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays. He now creates close to 50 finished pieces of art per-year to sell locally and on his website. 

The creation of the mural took lots of time to not only execute but also plan. Before anything could move forward the City Council had to approve everything at their monthly board meeting. Once the planning was completed, Mikey enlisted the help of a few skilled friends and community college students to get the ball rolling. Among these was Cassian McCallum, Glenda Travino, Louis “Henry” Valletta, Sunny Prince, and Abby Killingsworth. With their help, Knutson began creating the infamous Monarch Butterfly mural in Garden City. Due to the heat in June, you could often find Knutson painting at odd hours starting around 8pm and working into the night until about 2-3am the next morning. Finally in 2023 work on the mural came to a stop, and the Majestic Monarch Butterfly mural, created to pay homage to the beautiful native plants and significance of the monarch to our community, was completed.