Street Art Scavenger Hunt offers locals, tourists ways to traipse about local art scene

The City of Waynesboro and a Staunton-based app developer have launched a Street Art Scavenger Hunt to give locals and visitors a way to discover works of art.

The tours and the content within will be managed using Traipse, a free, Staunton -based smartphone app for “puzzle hunt” tours of local attractions and businesses. Traipse is like virtual geocaching, where visitors engage with each location by answering questions that can only be completed by physically being present at each site.

At each stop, complementary information is given to visitors allowing them to learn more about the location through articles, photos, and video.

“We love street art for its ability to surprise urban explorers and to brighten cityscapes, and the numerous murals in Downtown Waynesboro make for an excellent scavenger hunt,” said Austin Auclair, director of creative content at Traipse. “We’re excited to partner with the City of Waynesboro to give folks a way to easily find and learn more about these works of art.”

The Virginia Street Arts Festival (www.vastreetarts.com/) has called Waynesboro home for the past five years, which has produced about a dozen unique and eye-catching murals.

“We wanted to provide a way for everyone to get out and experience all of our wonderful murals, and by using the Traipse app, we’ve created a fun and free activity for people of all ages,” said Jennifer Callison, tourism and marketing manager for the City of Waynesboro. “We also feel that in the time of COVID-19, a self-guided smartphone app provides a safe and socially distanced way to explore the city.”

Founded in 2014, Traipse is a free smartphone application that leads users on a walking tour of landmarks and local businesses. At each stop on a Traipse tour, users get information about that site and are challenged with a location-dependent riddle or puzzle. Traipse “gamifies” the experience of visiting a tourist attraction or leisure destination, or attending an event while also involving local businesses and organizations.

Traipse is freely available for iOS (Apple) and Android devices and can be downloaded at: www.traipse.co/wayneboro.