Muralist Malachiah Curry hoped to capture the experience of live music with his paintbrush.

His new large-scale mural, “Echoes of the Rockies,” one of two new murals at the award-winning Ford Amphitheater, does just that. The warm reds, oranges and yellows depict a performer on stage, crooning into a mic, while the audience goes wild in front of him. In the background, the Rocky Mountains are depicted in cool blues as the sun sets.

“My piece is about energy,” said the Denver graphic designer. “The kind you feel at a live show, but also the connection between people, music and the environment. I wanted to capture that moment where everything feels alive, and people are in the moment, not just observing it.”

Colorado Springs graphic artist Tyler Haynie’s mural, “Front Row Colorado,” is also now up at Ford. His piece also features a performer on stage, silhouetted against the setting sun, while they play to an enthusiastic audience.

The two murals, almost 13 feet tall and 31 feet wide, are placed next to the lawn at the top of the bowl will greet visitors as they arrive.

VENU Arts and Culture Foundation, a nonprofit that operates in partnership with Ford Amphitheater and is dedicated to supporting access to live music and the arts through community programming, grants, education, community concerts,and partnerships, issued a statewide open call for original mural designs to be installed inside the venue. Around 50 artists applied.

“We asked for artists to submit something that honored the energy of live music and what we have here in Colorado, with the mountains and landscape,” said VENU President Chloe Polhamus. “And the foundation and what we stand for — the vitality and the partnership with Ford.”

Both winners received a $2,500 grant plus an additional grant for doubling the size of their original dimensions.

The new season at Ford Amphitheater kicked off on May 14 with comedian John Mulaney. Upcoming concerts, which run through early fall, include Yo-Yo Ma with the Colorado Symphony, AJR, Dierks Bentley, Lindsey Stirling, and the Star-Spangled Symphony on the Fourth of July with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.