According to the artist, viewers who see Kobayashi’s mural could interpret the piece as portraying the mountains on the left and the beach on the right edge with a sun in the middle of the painting. This interpretation captures the way the artist sees Columbia as a hub of radiating energy connecting different areas of our state. “When I was approached by One Columbia and the Vista Guild to paint a mural, we strolled throughout The Vista for potential sites. The wall at 808 Lady Street immediately caught my interest. As a standalone wall, it had the powerful presence I wanted for my work,” said Kobayashi. “The bright colors and bold shapes I would use would be intensified by the site, speaking to the liveliness of the area.” Osamu Kobayashi (b. 1984, Columbia, SC) lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y.  He has exhibited widely in the United States and abroad, including solo exhibitions at Underdonk Gallery in Brooklyn, AplusB Contemporary Art in Italy, and the 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia. He has participated in group exhibitions at the Lissone Contemporary Art Museum, Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery at Stony Brook University, Bronx River Art Center, and the Columbia Museum of Art. In 2013, Kobayashi was awarded the Hassam, Speicher, Betts, and Symons Purchase Fund from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has been reviewed in The L Magazine, Artcritical, and Hyperallergic.