EAST LANSING, Mich. — On Thursday, Sept. 29, the East Lansing Public Library (ELPL) will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new mural created by Dustin Hunt of Muralmatics.
The new mural, located on the west-facing exterior wall of the ELPL’s Maker Studio, delves into some of East Lansing’s civil rights history.
“We are so thrilled to bring this mural to the East Lansing Public Library,” said ELPL Director Kristin Shelley. “This mural will be an incredible tool for community members to learn more about civil rights, past and present, and it will be a great addition to the library as a place centered on sharing information and community learning.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. in front of the library, located at 950 Abbot Road in East Lansing. The ceremony will include short remarks from City of East Lansing and library officials as well as the artist. Community members will be able to learn more about East Lansing’s history and the details that went into the mural. Light refreshments will be provided. In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved inside the library to the large Meeting Room.
The people depicted in the mural are modeled after real East Lansing residents. In the mural, they’re sitting at the kitchen table discussing current social justice issues, with historical artifacts from East Lansing’s civil rights history scattered through the scene. The mural tells the story of these East Lansing residents, while also educating the public on the City’s past and illustrating how conversations on justice continue today.
In the near future, the artist will install a QR code near the mural, which will allow interested community members to explore the mural in a more interactive way. Through the QR code, people will be able to read about the significance of certain details in the mural and how it relates to East Lansing’s own history.
This mural was paid for with funds approved by the East Lansing Arts Commission from the Percent for Art Program’s Public Art Fund.
East Lansing’s Percent for Art program (Ordinance No. 1339) requires developers to commit one percent of their project’s cost (with a $25,000 cap) to public art, through the installation of a piece of public art within their project, the donation of a piece of public art to the City of East Lansing or through a payment to the City’s Public Art Fund for future commissions of public art.
Original source can be found here.
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