SpraySeeMO

About the founders:

Jason Harrington, known as Rif Raf Giraffe, is an American artist born and raised in Kansas City to parents of Lebanese and Irish descent. He attended Johnson County Community College before transferring to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied Painting and Film.  Harrington lived in Chicago for a decade and produced much work there, including many short films and hosting many successful solo exhibitions before returning to his hometown in 2013.  Since returning to Kansas City, he has painted murals extensively across not just this city, but around the country and across the globe in cities such as London, Barcelona, Akumal (Mexico), and Honolulu. His personal work is strongly focused on telling narratives that promote identifiability through relatable characters and objects and by developing powerful compositions through vibrant expansion.

 Throughout his travels, he experienced the street art of other communities and became inspired to cultivate a richer, more diverse scene in Kansas City.  Along with his wife and business partner, Ami Ayars, Harrington founded the annual SpraySeeMO Mural Festival in 2017. After years of production, the festival has helped turn the Crossroads Arts District into one of the largest and fastest growing outdoor mural parks in the country, showcasing world-class muralists from across the globe alongside KC’s own local painters.  SpraySeeMO also has a sister festival in Miami, FL, called aWall Mural Projects, which is a non-profit led by Registered Artist that aims to transform low-income schools one wall at a time and bring the power of art to the next generation.  From this foundation, Harrington and Ayars went on to found the SpraySeeLA Mural Festival, which launched in July of 2021 with similar goals of brightening low-income schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District with vibrant new murals to inspire and promote creative expression. 

In addition to all the above, Harrington & Ayars also curate and manage Kansas City’s only street art focused gallery, Upper Level Gallery.  A fellow native to Kansas City, Ayars earned her BFA in Ceramics from the University of Kansas and also holds minors in Art History and the French Language. She extensively studied Alternative Photography as well as Iron Casting and Sculpture. Both founders are practicing artists themselves and continue to show their studio work in group and solo exhibitions around the country. Harrington was also recently named one of Kansas City’s 11 Most Influential People due to his efforts pertaining to the SpraySeeMO Mural Festival.