A Billy King oil.Updated with photo, below, of mostly completed mural.Aug. 25: Longtime Seattle artist and Pike Place Market aficionado Billy King hoped to raise $2,500 to sponsor his ongoing mural project at the Market, being undertaken without government funding. But public donors weren’t buying it–$2,500 was apparently too little to ask for. In the few weeks that King’s project has been posted on Kickstarter, the arts fund-raising website, he’s received pledges of $3,175 from 40 donors, and counting. King, who usually charges $10,000 for a mural, set a project tab of $5,000 for this one, donating half of that as well. Now much of his costs for specialized paints and brushes, scaffolding, insurance, preparation, and a public unveiling party next month will be covered, with any excess donated to FareStart.”All of the support is truly amazing,” says King, an artist 40 years who has exhibited at the Smithsonian and has studios in Seattle and Mexico. “I’m humbled and so grateful to everyone.” The mural, on a concrete wall at the top of the Western Avenue stairs leading to the Market artery, is already more than halfway completed. Its theme is, of course, people and produce. “My memories of the Market begin in the late 1960s,” King says, “so expect a little nostalgia as well as color and line choices that define the market of today.” He’s currently working daily from noon to 5 p.m.Update: King is “almost finished” Sunday Aug. 29:

Follow The Daily Weekly on Facebook and Twitter.