East Lansing is moving toward becoming an arts-based community, and this summer ASMSU will be providing a mural in accordance with Mental Health Awareness Week.
The week, which was held during the end of March and beginning of April, was meant to raise awareness and spark discussion regarding mental health.
A mural was set to be painted during this time, but because of inclement weather and not having complete permission from all parties involved, it was postponed.
On Thursday night, Bryn Williams, ASMSU community liaison and political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore, and studio art senior Tia Rogers presented the final project to the East Lansing Arts Commission.
“We wanted to talk to the city and make sure everything was good there because we really value our relationship with the city,” Williams said. “We definitely wanted to do this the right way because it will be a permanent installation.”
The mural will be painted on the Mackerel Sky Gallery of Contemporary Craft building across from the CVS Pharmacy pick up, where there is a lot of foot traffic.
He said the process also involved receiving approval from the owners of the store and the realtor of the building.
Now with a space to paint and the necessary permission, painting of the mural will begin when weather conditions are better.
Williams said the mural idea came from bouncing ideas off city employees and because of the desire to have more work in town.
Megan Clark, assistant to the East Lansing city manager, said the city is all for public art, especially something as meaningful as a mural for mental health awareness.
“We have been wanting to really increase our public art downtown,” Clark said. “Obviously that takes funding and time and it’s not something we can facilitate every time.”
Rogers said the mural will be more abstract with no words, but there will be a plaque to let people know what it is for.
“It won’t be a billboard for mental health awareness, it will feel like mental health awareness ... a little more psychological feeling,” Rogers said.
Rogers said people will help her prep the area for painting, but she plans to paint the mural alone and estimates the project will take her more than 100 hours to complete, as the mural will take over the whole wall.
She said she is excited but also nervous to start working on the mural.
“I think it’s every artist’s dream to have something out there that everyone can see but with that comes some vulnerability,” Rogers said. “Not only is it a way for me to get my art out there but the message of mental health awareness across which is really exciting.”
Down the line, Williams said there will always be someone with ASMSU who is skilled in art and will be able to maintain the mural.
“We are working on putting it in the job description of some people. ... I don’t think it’ll be an issue finding someone to maintain it every year,” Williams said.
Williams said he hopes the mural will be completed by the end of the summer and will be debuted once it is finished.
