02 Jun 2024 Couple of the Month: Austin and Haley Watt
Artists Austin and Haley Watt have worked closely with the city and government entities, as well as small businesses, to create beautiful murals throughout the city of Conway. You’ll see their work at The Rogue Roundabout’s interior and exterior as well as the OTT Insurance Building, Royal We Building, Conway Emergency Shelter, Tucker Creek Trail, Prince Street Bridge and at Round Mountain Coffee.
HER STORY:
I am a Christ-follower, a proud wife and mom, a creative individual/artist and someone who finds joy in the little things in life!
Native of: Conway
Children: Saylor Watt is 2 years old and Oakland Watt is 2 months old.
Education: I have a Bachelor of Science in interior design and architecture from UCA.
Place of employment: I am the social media and marketing manager for Round Mountain Coffee and am Austin’s best assistant (haha) at Kefi Design Collective.
honors you’re especially proud of: Over the last 10 years, I’ve won many awards and been featured in many art shows, but I think my greatest honor has been becoming a mom to two beautiful babies and achieving a college degree as a young mother. There’s no greater job than pouring into them each and every day!
Community activities: Austin and I have found a second home in Round Mountain Coffee. We’ve met many of our best friends there, celebrated many big moments, and now we both have wonderful jobs there! By working at RMC, we get to serve and pour into our community every day.
Hobbies/special interests:
My hobbies/interests include spending time with Austin and our kids, traveling to national parks (we’ve been to 17 so far!), finding a good cup of coffee everywhere we go, creating art and spending lots of time outside.
What do you love about living
in the 501? I’ve grown up here and have lived every bit of life right here in Conway! I love our community and the beauty found in our state. There’s so much growth happening in our state, and it is so neat watching it unfold. Austin and I love seeing the addition of colorful murals and artwork becoming such a celebrated and desired trait in communities.
HIS STORY:
I’m a follower of Jesus, created in His image, to constantly love Him and the people I encounter to the best of my ability. I’m a creative at heart and always have been. I love traveling and being close to my friends and family. I would rather choose the mountains, a tent and a campfire over a mansion and money any day of the week. My favorite places on the planet are Rocky Mountain National Park and the Buffalo River.
Native of: Conway
Education: I have a Bachelor of Science in interior design and architecture from the University of Central Arkansas.
Place of employment: I am a self-employed mural artist and my business’s name is Kefi Design Collective. I also work in marketing for Round Mountain Coffee.
honors you’re especially proud of:
I was proud to be featured in the magazine “At Home in Arkansas” for our mural at Rogue Roundabout, and I am proud to be featured in “501 LIFE”, of course!
Community activities: We are heavily involved with Round Mountain Coffee in Conway. We have met our best friends and work to serve our local and state community through craft specialty coffee.
How did you get into painting murals:
My love for street art and graffiti started in high school when I was working on my AP art portfolio. I had to choose and focus on a theme for my work. Through the next few years and into college, I fell in love with the story/history of graffiti as much as I did with spray cans. Graffiti, or what most people initially understood as tagging, was a way for the unrecognized or misunderstood to have a voice. It gave people without a chance an opportunity. It started with “kids” in rough situations with the desire to say, “I exist!” Graffiti blossomed into these same kids taking an amazing gift that would have never seen the light of day onto train cars and walls all over the world. It’s human nature to want to be recognized, and these kids paved the way for what is now the widely accepted world of street art and murals.
How do you determine the design
of A mural: A design typically starts with a client’s direction, and then we take an idea and incorporate our style. This often looks like quick sketches and sporadic right-brained ideas that eventually become fully rendered concepts.
Their STORY:
Ironically, we met through art! We were heavily involved in advanced art classes in high school and found each other to be very talented. We began getting close and quickly bonded over our love for traveling, nature and, of course, art. We began dating in 2015 while we were still in high school. Over the next four years, we graduated and started college at UCA, went on many adventures, and, most importantly, found we loved working together.
We got engaged on Aug. 18, 2019, at Hawksbill Crag, a beautiful hike in the Ozark Mountains! It was an easy and eager “yes!” We were excited to take our teamwork even further as we prepared for marriage. As we were planning our big day, COVID-19 began and all of the restrictions threw a curveball at our wedding plans. We shortened our engagement and got married on May 2, 2020, in a beautiful backyard off of Beaverfork Lake with 40 of our closest family and friends. Although it wasn’t what we expected, it was the most beautiful and special day to celebrate our love for each other!
Since then, we have graduated college, turned our love for art into a business, had the pleasure of painting murals in our hometown, had two beautiful babies and have traveled all over, drawing inspiration from God’s beautiful creation and developing lasting memories outside. We truly are each other’s best friends and look forward to a lifetime of creating and traveling together. God has blessed us in many, many ways!
