Driving through Midtown or downtown Sacramento, a large public mural is bound to catch your eye. And chances are pretty good that it was painted during last year’s Wide Open Walls festival.

Now the celebration of public art is back for its third year (second under the “Wide Open Walls” name)  — kicking off Thursday, Aug. 9, with 40 artists from Sacramento and around the world.

Founder David Sobon says the festival’s mission is “art for all.”

“It’s making art available for everybody to see, to put it out in the public eye,” he said. “You don’t necessarily have to go to an art gallery or museum to see it.”

360 video from last year's Wide Open Walls festival

Sobon says Sacramento has embraced the event with “open arms” and that he doesn’t see it stopping anytime soon.

“The ‘oohs’ and the ‘ahhs’ and just the amount of people taking pictures and visiting Sacramento from all over the world and writing about this festival ... was the impetus to keep it going,” he said.

Sobon joined Insight along with artists Lin Fei Fei and Jaya King to talk about what’s planned for this year, including a street party and concert on Aug. 17 on L Street in downtown Sacramento from 6 to 11 p.m.

You can learn more about the event at wideopenwalls916.com.