WORCESTER, Mass. - POW! WOW! Worcester, now in its fifth year, kicked off this past weekend. 

This year's theme is “Celebrating Youth.” 

On Monday, artists were out at several locations in Worcester’s Main South neighborhood painting 11 different murals. 

Artist Ryan Gardell was using house paint and spray to create a mural on a wall on Beacon Street. 

He says it's always nice to beautify old walls and buildings in the city. 

“It really reshapes the whole perspective of the city,” Gardell said in an interview on Monday. “That’s what it’s really about. It’s like the attitude and the way you look at the place where you live or where you’re from. It shifts from a negative to a positive when they see people like us, mural artists, are putting time and love and attention and sweat and blood into their work to change the environment. It gives you pride in the city.”

Since it started in 2016, POW! WOW! Worcester has created more than 160 pieces of public art.