Muralists move to town, bring a passion for art – Albert Lea Tribune

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Mural artists Alejandro and Shelby Castañón moved to Albert Lea in May. Before that, the married couple lived in San Angelo, Texas. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

Artists and married couple Alejandro and Shelby Castañón recently completed a mural in the pet washroom at Pet Authority in Albert Lea. It was designed to include a color palette that would be soothing to the animals. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

Artists and married couple Alejandro and Shelby Castañón recently completed a mural in the pet washroom at Pet Authority in Albert Lea. It was designed to include a color palette that would be soothing to the animals. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

Artists and married couple Alejandro and Shelby Castañón recently completed a mural in the pet washroom at Pet Authority in Albert Lea. In addition to dogs and reptiles, the mural also includes paintings the Pet Authority owners’ cats. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

New residents complete mural at Pet Authority; others slated

Mural artists and married couple Alejandro and Shelby Castañón recently moved to Albert Lea and said they are hoping to bring their art to the southern Minnesota area.

Originally from San Angelo, Texas, Alejandro and Shelby said they decided to move to Albert Lea for a change of scenery and a better quality of life. So far they have been met with a positive reception from the community, they said.

The couple recently completed a mural in the pet washroom at Pet Authority in Albert Lea that features paintings of dogs, cats and reptiles. This is the first of several murals they have planned in the city.

Alejandro said he has been an artist for many years, starting out mainly doing portrait work on traditional canvases. He got into the mural painting business about five or six years ago while he was living in Texas. Eventually, he transitioned to primarily doing mural art.

When he met Shelby, he said, he learned she was also an artist, and they now work on murals together.

Pet owners of four cats and a turtle, Alejandro said he and Shelby began looking for a good pet store right away after they moved to Albert Lea. It was then they found Pet Authority and met the owners, Amanda and John Weigel.

As the Castañóns began getting the word out about their mural business, the Weigels expressed interest in having a mural in the store’s pet washroom.

“They gave us kind of free rein a little bit,” Alejandro said.

When planning out what the mural would look like, Amanda suggested they use a color palette with a lot of blues — a color she said is very calming to dogs.

Alejandro and Shelby also wanted to incorporate the Weigels’ cats, Ash, Jenni-furr and the Count, who are at the store and have a lot of interaction with customers.

“The first thing I wanted to capture was, what is the experience of being a pet owner because we know what it is,” Shelby said. She added that connecting with the cats really anchored them to the project.

“I like when projects like this take a long time because I enjoyed the routine of coming and seeing the cats and getting distracted by them. It was really fun,” she said.

Alejandro said the whole process took a few weeks.

“With [the Weigels’] support we were able to push our mural business, you know, along so that people can see what we do and the quality of work that we’re able to create.”

Amanda said she was very happy with how the mural turned out.

“I love how they were able to just capture my cats’ faces,” she said.

Before the mural was even finished, Amanda said, she could look at the unfinished cat paintings on the wall and tell which of her cats they were. She added the mural has also made the pet washroom a more warm and welcoming place.

“It’s beautiful. I absolutely love it,” she said, adding that the store’s customers agree.

In addition to the new mural at Pet Authority, the Castañóns are also working with the city to paint the new warming house in Morin Park. They also plan to work with the Albert Lea Art Center in the future.

They said they plan to go to different parts of the southern Minnesota area to paint murals, citing Mankato and Rochester as two other cities they would be open to painting murals in.

Along with murals, Alejandro and Shelby also have a passion for doing live paintings at local events. They will be doing live paintings at Three Oak Vineyards and Winery starting at 3 p.m. today.

More information about the Castañóns and their art can be found at alejandrofineart.com.