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Boarded up windows transformed into art

Local artists create murals around the city of Grand Rapids with the message of peace, love and unity.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A scene of collaboration and peace. Local artists from across West Michigan came together in downtown Grand Rapids to paint a mural of unity and strength.

Amelia Volwiler-Stanley is a local professional artist who helped organized the mural creations. She says she feels a special connection to the new art in downtown Grand Rapids. She says the boarded up windows are a symbol of trauma after the eruption of anger in downtown on Saturday night.

"It's something that I think there's just so much tension and I think if we can come to a place of peace and love that will help us toward change faster," Amelia says. "The violent acts, they get blamed on protesters who are so rightfully in their place being there holding strong for the black community for our community. And I I thought if we put something positive in there to make that place more comfortable for protesters to be and say, and feel welcome, we can get to change that we want."

Maggie Bandstra is an art educator and artist in West Michigan. She has connected with local businesses and buildings to organize mural painting to display messages of hope.

"The destruction that happened was due to trauma that happened and I want to acknowledge that and in now way do I want to cove that up," Maggie says. "But I do want to pour into the people who are grieving, and the only way I know how to do that is to put paint on canvas or boards. I saw all these boards going up on Sunday and I just thought if any buildings want a mural, I can do that."

Another collaboration between CWD Real Estate and local art workshop Lions and Rabbits will bring additional murals to downtown Grand Rapids. They encourage the public to experience the art downtown and to support the small businesses the murals now decorate. According to a press release, the murals will begin to appear throughout downtown Grand Rapids beginning Friday, June 5, 2020. The full list of CWD properties that will mural installations are: 37 Ottawa, 40 Pearl, 50, Louis, 80 Ottawa, 111 Lyon, 125 Ottawa, 169 Monroe, 180 Ottawa, 201 Michigan and 250 Monroe.

"The lead time is gonna be 4 to 8 weeks to get all these glazings in place," says Sam Cummings of CWD Real Estate. "So let's do something cool in the meantime in the spirit of Grand Rapids, a city full of art hungry funsters and reach out to local artists some local artists to commemorate that spirit of West Michigan."

The local artists hope their bright messages of hope will help to heal the community.

"I know that especially for the black culture there's a lot of weight on our shoulders," says local artist Jamari. "So I think that seeing this art will definitely uplift everyone's spirit."

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