New Hampshire Artists Transform Building Into Real-Life 'Donkey Kong' Level

By Ben Blanchet

Artists led by the nonprofit Positive Street Art reportedly spent about 100 hours over a two-week period on the homage to “Donkey Kong.”

Sep 22, 2022, 08:49 AM EDT

A New Hampshire apartment building has a fresh look that’s straight out of the iconic arcade game “Donkey Kong.”

Manuel Ramirez and Cecilia Ulibarri, co-founders and artists with nonprofit Positive Street Art, helped finish a “Donkey Kong” mural on the back of a building in Concord on Tuesday, the Concord Monitor reported. (Check out more photos of the mural there.)

Artists reportedly spent about 100 hours over a two-week period on the homage to “Donkey Kong.”

The five-story mural features Mario wielding a hammer and Princess Pauline waiting for a rescue, with Donkey Kong looming in between.

The artists’ nonprofit describes itself as hoping to “inspire a passion for the urban arts in a productive way and to build strong communities” via art, educational workshops and community events.

Ramirez and Ulibarri said the “Donkey Kong” mural was one that “excited them more” than previous projects, according to the Concord Monitor.

“Not everyone is appreciative of this type of art, and we understand that, but we are really excited about this project because we have never been asked to do something like this that was inspired by actual architecture as a baseboard,” Ulibarri told the newspaper.

The nonprofit shared several snaps of the mural’s progress ― including up-close pictures of the video game level’s “ladders” ― on Twitter last week.

Ramirez and Ulibarri have had a hand in many projects over the years, including painting concrete barriers set up to block off traffic as outdoor dining exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“I just think towns and cities, they need more local art that’s accessible to the public without somebody having to pay a ticket, whether it’s traditional art, whether it’s street art, whether it’s sculpture installations,” Ramirez told NHPR last year. “It’s good to have it outdoors.”