Muralists began trickling into Flint in early October of 2019.  The leaves hadn’t quite started to change and it felt like a race to see if the trees or the artists would add more color to the city. Some artists, enamored since their first time in Flint, were returning for a second or third time. For others, Michigan soil was new territory. For some, Free City Mural Festival presented an opportunity to shine in their hometown. There was a buzz of excitement vibrating through the rectory, an apt location for housing so many devoted artists. After visiting their respective walls, muralists exchanged ideas, made brush and cap selections, and selected their colors from the freshly delivered pallet of Kobra paint. 

COlabs has been collaborating with Flint Public Art Project for nearly four years, but every time we return to Flint we discover another of the city’s treasures. Last spring we found ourselves enchanted by the Golden Leaf Club. Lauren Watkins first led us to the storied speakeasy in celebration of Nomad Clan’s mural workshop at Southwestern Academy. Many hours and too many drinks later, we tumbled from the Leaf’s unassuming green door, half wondering if what we’d experienced inside was real. 

Armed with an understanding of the Golden Leaf’s value to the community, Nomad Clan set out to develop a design that would salute the venue’s musical legacy while preserving the character of the structure. Employing a muted color palette inspired by the antiqued facade, the drum and inspirational message honors the original wall and the history it contains, unifying past with present in signature Nomad Clan style. Once again, we found ourselves celebrating the completion of a Nomad Clan mural by throwing back drinks and meeting new people inside the historic venue. 

Despite three visits to Flint within the last year, this was the first time our involvement spanned the city. Covering more ground introduced us to more members of the community. At Legendz Beauty and Barber, Johnny Tarajosu engaged passersby, including positive words that resonated with them into his painting. A portrait in profile looks at the Flint water tower, with rays emanating out from it. Within these rays are the hopes and values people shared with Tarajosu as they discussed their hometown with the artist. The words suggest a way forward for Flint. The community ripples with positivity and hope. The words they shared with Tarajosu reveal a way to process the collective harm inflicted by the water crisis and other problems that have plagued the city. 

Because we return regularly to Flint, we develop relationships with artists and watch them grow. Demetria Mull, one of the students we previously worked with at Southwestern Academy, designed her first mural with the help of Argentinian artist Mariela Ajras. Mull also painted alongside Ajras and artists from Florida and Los Angeles. 

Mull was not the only local talent to shine. Despite seven broken ribs, Pauly M. Everett gathered a crew and painted a sweeping mural on the underpass on Grand Traverse Ave. A central Frankenstein figure with David Bowie vibes is flanked by two women holding phones, besuited men with mummy-wrapped heads and goggles, and piles of skulls that create a visual palindrome. The piece evokes pop art blended with street and punk sensibilities. 

Kevin “Scraps” Burdick painted his largest mural to date. Next to the Capitol Theater a sandhill crane spreads its wings, dominating the five story building. In the bottom corner of the wall, Scraps preserved a smaller mural of a stamp that was over a decade old. The fishermen in the boat are perfectly suited to the watery background behind the crane. A small piece of Flint’s history is now joined with the present and the wall reads like a postcard, perfect for sending greetings from Flint. 

Despite some lift breakdowns that stalled her progress and blocked the television satellite of the indulgently patient building owner, Krstyal Cooke successfully painted the second mural in her career. An artist and musician who recently settled in Flint, Cooke’s painting evokes a nostalgic past. An old Mobil station is nestled along a scenic stretch of Route 66. A car and a couple of old trucks cruise along the roadway that connects the Midwest, via Chicago, to Los Angeles and the West Coast. 

Flint native Charlie “Wakenpaint” Boike paid homage to hometown hero Claressa Shields. The Olympic gold medalist and female middleweight boxing champion of the world stares out confidently at passersby. G.W.O.A.T. is inscribed above her shoulder, not that anyone in Flint needs to be reminded that she is the Greatest Woman of all Time. Shields is testament to the positive things that people from Flint have accomplished. 

Los Angeles-based artist Eric “Zoueh” Skotnes also paid tribute to a native Flintstone. Actor and football player Terry Crews charges out of Skotnes’ wall, garbed in uniform and helmet. While labelled “Terry Crews,” the blank space inside the helmet leaves a space to imagine new faces of Flint residents who will go on to accomplish their goals. 

At the end of the week blue skies turned steely and a cold rain came in. Clad in a paint-splattered snowsuit she had fortuitously brought from Vancouver, Animalitoland didn’t let the weather dampen her spirits. Perhaps fueled by a seemingly bottomless cup of mate tea, she continued to dance in front of her wall. In her mural, a child in greyscale sits with eyes closed, beaming. Surrounded by bubbly clouds in deep reds and oranges, glowing yellow figures suggest the vitality found in imagination. 

Part of a contingent of Argentinian artists, Animalitoland was joined by Seba Cener and Magda Love, both of whom had painted in Flint before. Added to the mix was Mariela Ajras, one of the founding members of AMMurA, the Association of Female Muralists of Argentina. Working with students from the International Academy of Flint, Magda directed the collaborative design and creation of mural about unity. A single heart beats at the center of the painting, uniting the two students. Not far away, Ajras painted a young woman with her signature glitch, here transformed from her usual vertical lines to pool and become more aqueous. A break in the composition recalls a film strip and engages with the theme of memory and documentation that pervades her work. When added to Seba’s hyperrealistic works, Flint now offers a snapshot of the diverse talent coming out of Argentina. 

Imagination can also be a place for reflecting on loss, aging, and erasure. In “Never Forget: An American Manifesto,”  Jayemaich depicted a haggard-looking old man who stares out at you. His weather-beaten face, cataract eye, deep wrinkles, and scars suggest he has more than a few stories to tell. The white dripping of paint down the left side of his face recalls the bird poop that adorns Radagast in Lord of the Rings. Rather than comedic, the effect here underscores the sense that this is a man who has seen some shit. The figure is also starting to disappear--his right shoulder as well as the top left of his head are painted over in white. The mural is a reminder that art can help us remember all kinds of stories and histories, even the ones that don’t make us comfortable. 

In addition to the murals, the festival hosted several panel discussions and capped the week off with a street party and live music featuring local bands and performers. One of these panels, hosted in partnership with the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, focused on equity and queer community in the arts. Zippy and I joined Nomad Clan, Joe Schipani, and Phillip Barnhart on the panel. We spoke about the importance of using privilege to create and hold space. We are all committed to using art to celebrate community and to make different communities visible. There is power in visibility. We also discussed the importance of not colonizing public space. The conversation spotlighted the recently formed Pride Fund that was created to support Flint’s queer community and the many ways that art is helping amplify the voices of all of Flint’s residents. 

Art in public spaces makes people stop and take notice. In the last year the world has been given over 100 beautiful reasons to look at Flint. Artists from Flint, Florida, Indiana, Texas, Los Angeles, England, Argentina, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and so many other places have come to this city to celebrate its people and add beauty to its streets. This influx of creative attention doesn’t deny the problems the city faces. Rather, it celebrates the beauty, history, and future of the city and the strength and resilience of its community. We’re thankful for all that Flint has shared with us and look forward to many more years of collaboration. Happy Valentine’s Day to a city we love!

words by Christopher