One of a Kind, Three-Dimensional Art Works found in Joplin, MO along Route 66
There is more than one reason to stop along Route 66 in Joplin, Missouri close to the corner of Oklahoma and Kansas. Do you know about the Three-Dimensional Art Works along Route 66?
In the middle of everywhere, Joplin savors being located at the intersection of East-West Route 66 and the Jefferson Highway. Route 66 runs for 2,448 miles from Chicago to California. The Jefferson Highway links Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and New Orleans which is 2,300 miles away. In short, Joplin is the destination of two of the oldest and longest famous roadways in the US. 
A Unique Way to Celebrate this Famous Roadway
Joplin enjoys celebrating being a centerpiece of these famous roads with their 3-D World Street Art Festival which happens during the first week of June thru 2027. What’s eye-popping about this unique event is that 3-D Street Painting is an art style that creates an optical illusion, resulting in a three-dimensional image that appears to pop right out of the ground.
Visit Joplin, partnering with the World Street Painting Foundation of the Netherlands, worked to create a Route 66 Centennial-themed collection of 3-D Street art. The event will continue to take place in the first week of June in 2025, 2026 and 2027, featuring paintings by world-renowned street painting artists.
The art form challenges the perception of space and reality. By distorting an image across a surface, artists can make it appear correct only from a specific viewpoint. That’s why the art is best viewed from standing atop the footprints painted below each painting. The events highlight Route 66 in a way that makes it one of a kind and marks the start of the Mother Road centennial celebration.
The 2024 editions were painted by three diverse U.S. artists, each employing slightly different techniques. Their works are still displayed outside the Harry M. Cornell Entertainment and Arts Complex on Joplin’s Route 66.
Aiming to Set a World Record in Joplin
In addition to the three existing pieces from 2024, creations from 10 artists will be added in 2025 and 20 more in 2026. In the end, 33 pieces will become a world record for the world’s largest collection of 3-D Street Paintings in one community. The artwork will be preserved through 2027, when the centennial of Route 66 concludes for the next 100 years.
For more information connect to these links. This one is on www.travelbyways.com
https://nsbfoundation.com/nb/historic-route-66-byway-mo/. Also see the Visit Joplin website, https://www.visitjoplinmo.com/.