From SpongeBob to the Walls of Klaipėda: Kaz Prapuolenis Leaves a One-of-a-Kind Gift to the City
Lithuanian-American animator and comic artist Kaz Prapuolenis is visiting Klaipėda this year as a guest of the BLON Animation and Video Games Festival. The trip also has a personal significance for him. Asked what he was most looking forward to about coming to the festival, Kaz mentioned the chance to “meet artists, have a good time, and see the city where my mother was born.”
Kaz’s First-Ever Mural
Until now, Kaz had never created artwork specifically for a wall, making the Klaipėda project a first in his creative career. According to the artist, the initial spark came simply from being invited to try something new.
“I was asked to design a mural. It might sound a little funny, but just being asked is inspiring in itself. I wanted to create something that reflects what my mind and my hand naturally want to draw when I’m free to do absolutely anything,” Kaz says.
The mural also contains references to his creative journey, including a pencil, a paintbrush and, of course, SpongeBob.
“It reflects the wild side of me as a comic artist. It’s a world of imagination and fun,” Kaz says.
Kaz’s original drawing was transformed into a large-scale mural by interdisciplinary artist and illustrator Pijus Čeikauskas-Pidžin. The work has found its new home on the wall of one of the buildings in Memelio Miestas, with Bokštelis.lt providing the equipment needed to carry out the work at height.
Kaz’s mural continues a BLON Festival tradition of leaving a lasting creative mark on Klaipėda through the work of its visiting artists. Elsewhere in the city, visitors can already find a mural by illustrator Viktorija Ežiukas on the wall of Herkus Kantas, while Australian-Canadian illustrator and animation director Nathan Jurevicius, who visited Klaipėda last year, left his own artwork on the wall of the Bohema hotel.
This year, Prapuolenis’s work becomes the latest addition to BLON’s open-air art gallery.
“It feels especially meaningful to me that this remarkable piece now has a home here in Memelio Miestas,” says Inga Gusiatina, Chair of the Board of Stemma Group, the company developing Memelio Miestas. “We are becoming a new destination in Klaipėda—a modern yet vibrant neighbourhood where people want to spend time, meet, experience new things and create. That makes Kaz Prapuolenis’s mural a particularly timely and fitting addition.”
For Gusiatina, the mural is much more than a new feature on the side of a building.
“I believe that artworks like this, as well as the BLON Animation and Video Games Festival itself, help shape a new, open and dynamic identity for the Klaipėda of the future. That also perfectly reflects the mission of Memelio Miestas.”
A Gift to the City for Anyone to Discover
What appeals to Kaz about public art is the possibility of stumbling across it completely unexpectedly.
“I like that it can be a pleasant surprise—a kind of reward for walking around the city,” the artist says.
Asked what he hopes people will feel when they see his mural, Kaz answers with just two words: “Beguiling delight.”
Gusiatina also highlights the fact that anyone can discover and enjoy the artwork, inviting both Klaipėda residents and visitors to come and see it in person.
“It’s wonderful to know that this isn’t simply a piece created during the festival, but Kaz’s gift to every resident of Klaipėda and everyone visiting the city. Street art belongs to everyone—and you don’t need to buy a ticket to experience it,” she says.
Although this is only the second public artwork in the neighbourhood, Gusiatina hopes it will be far from the last.
“We are developing an area spanning five hectares, so there is plenty of space. We are open to ideas from other artists as well,” says one of the people behind Memelio Miestas, inviting creatives to help shape a new face for Klaipėda.
The artwork Kaz has left behind in Klaipėda also deepens his personal connection with Lithuania—the country where both of his parents were born.
