CVB/Visit Joplin collaborates with World Street Painting Foundation for local art show

Three street artists—Naomi Haverland, Chris Carlson and Nate Baranowski—have traveled to Joplin to give its citizens a fun, cultural experience with the famous Route 66 Highway in mind.

The Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau/Visit Joplin is teaming up with the Netherlands-based World Street Painting Foundation for a signature event celebration of the Route 66 Centennial featuring 3D street art.

“This is definitely an honor and I feel honored to be asked to be here,” Haverland told NewsTalk KZRG. “There are only three artists this year, so it’s really cool to be one of them. This is the first year and the start of something big, so it will be fun to see where this leads and how it grows into something awesome.” 

This is just the first of three celebrations for the World Street Painting Festival: Route 66. 

Over the next three years, 28 international and five U.S.-based artists will create the world’s largest collection of 3D street art along the entirety of Route 66.

During this year’s rendition, the trio of artists got to work on creating their street paintings themed around the centennial celebration of the historic Route 66 on Wednesday and will continue to work through Friday before there will be a public viewing Saturday morning from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“With the optical illusion, it’s so fun to see people look through their cameras and see the 3D effect and the look on their faces after,” Haverland said about the excitement about revealing her artwork to the public. “I love to see how people are creative with their photos and how they pose with the art. There is a lot of creativity and it is sort of a collaboration with the artist and how they want to interact with it.    

In 2025, the World Street Painting Festival: Route 66 will expand to 10 artists to continue to build local support while also garnering national international awareness, and there are plans to continue and expand the celebration in 2026.

The event spans five days, but the art, which was created with acrylic and latex paint, will be left on the premises for several months for the citizens of Joplin to enjoy.