This Kennewick girl is 10. She’s already a commissioned artist

Kaelyn Myers is a sixth-grader. She’s also a commissioned artist, who’s about to make her public art debut.

The 10-year-old has painted three large murals that’ll be on display in downtown Kennewick starting Thursday — in time for this month’s First Thursday activities.

They’re being installed outside a home at 402 W. Kennewick Ave.

Karen Sullivan, the art lover and downtown supporter who lives there, asked Kaelyn to create the murals, which depict the city’s past, present and future.

“She is very, very talented and we all can hardly wait for her to unveil the murals,” Sullivan said in an email.

First Thursday happens monthly in downtown Kennewick.

Businesses are open late and bring their goods outside in sidewalk sales, plus art is displayed in an art walk.

The downtown farmers market also happens at the same time — it runs weekly from June through October. Activities start at 4 p.m.

Kaelyn attends Horse Heaven Hills Middle School in Kennewick.

She’s been creating art since she was a little kid, although she’s never tackled a project quite so big before.

Her mom, Maren Katzaroff, said she worked throughout the summer to get the murals ready — battling the heat and guarding the pieces from the family’s pets, who wanted to scamper across them.

Kaelyn’s older brother, Nolan, helped by hauling them around to different painting spots.

The murals are on plywood. They feature images of a horse pulling supplies, the iconic downtown Roxy building and the cable bridge complete with some flying cars.

She’s happy with the results and is excited for the community to see her work.

“It’s cool to see something come to life, and how the little details can change the whole picture,” Kaelyn said. “I think it’ll be really cool. I hope people just feel happy, and they see the difference between Kennewick in the past and how it can progress to the future.”