Bright Walls

Artists Justin Suarez and Sarah Rutherford view their progress while taking a break Monday evening.  Photos by Bart Hawley, JTV. The Bright Walls Mural Festival held a preview ceremony today at Bucky Harris Park and introduced the first two Bright Walls artists participating this year.  Justin Suarez and Sarah Rutherford arrived in Jackson over the weekend to begin their work on a “preview mural” on The Blake Building, adjacent to Bucky Harris Park.  The event today was designed to thank partners and Patronicity donors, serving as an unofficial kickoff to the Bright Walls Mural Festival season.  Bright Walls begins on September 5 and runs through September 10, 2019 in Downtown Jackson. Bright Walls co-chairs Clay McAndrews and Jacque Austin introduced the two artists who most recently have been featured at Color the Creek, Battle Creek’s mural event.  Both Suarez and Rutherford are from Rochester, NY and paint as a team and individually.  These two artists were announced earlier this summer as part of the roster of talent.  They agreed to come in early to paint a preview mural.  The building being painted, The Blake Building, was also a surprise as it was not on the list of previously announced wall…

Downtown Jackson will complete a street art exhibition and festival through a new crowdfunding campaign, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the city of Jackson announced today. The campaign is being offered through Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity. If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $50,000 by August 8, the project will win a matching grant with funds made possible by MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places (PSCP) program. For project details and to donate, please visit: patronicity.com/brightwalls . “Public art has been proven to activate spaces and economic development in city centers across the globe and the Bright Walls project will do the same for downtown Jackson,” said MEDC Senior Vice President of Community Development Katharine Czarnecki. “We are pleased to provide resources for this effort through our Public Spaces Community Places program.” The Bright Walls Team took inspiration from mural festivals around the world and created a vision that would have a lasting impact in downtown Jackson. Last year, in its inaugural debut, Bright Walls hosted 14 artists from around the world. The festival boasted six days of free activities for the community, showcasing the artists’ talents as they painted giant works of art alongside local artists, businesses and musicians. The addition of permanent lighting and signage…