The Flint Public Art Project’s annual Free City Mural Festival is about painting murals onto walls, obviously – this year, 19 artists from around the world will paint 17 walls in the city between August 29 and September 8. But it is also a celebration of community.
“Everybody’s their own person, everybody’s so different, but through the artwork, I just get to meet so many people from so many different walks of life,” said Flint artist Michael Cobley, one of the participating muralists this year. “Everybody is just really open and happy to talk. I don’t know, it just brings out joy in just about everybody that I’ve ever met.”
As a Flint native, the yearly festival takes on even more meaning for Cobley. His background in art started as a graffiti artist – he jokes that he “was probably one of the reasons they (Flint Public Art Project) started doing murals, because all the blight I was putting up.”
But about six years ago, he said he had some changes in his life that made him want to give back, and the Flint Public Art Project was an entry point for him to do that. Cobley owns a commercial and residential painting company, so his initial involvement was through helping scrape and prep walls for artists to paint. Eventually, he began contributing his own murals – he estimates he’s done around 10 now over the years.
“I just wanted to give back, you know?” he said. “So, once that changed for me, my whole life just started changing. I actually live in Flint too, so it takes on a little different vibe for me because I’m a hometown guy and I’ve been here my whole life. I’m real blessed to just be a part of this whole thing.”
For Steven Barber, board president of the Flint Public Art Project, having the opportunity to bring together a mix of local artists with international ones is one of his favorite parts of the Free City Mural Festival each year.
“Personally, I like when the artists kind of converge in and bring different perspectives and cultures to diversify the art we have here,” Barber said. “It’s really great to be able to add to the massive public art portfolio we’ve amassed over the last seven years, and also to get the community involved and interested. A lot of people in the community see the art once it’s finished, but they don’t always get to see it go up. So it’s always fun to see their shock and awe during the progress. These muralists are pretty impressive in terms of how fast they work.”
In addition to Cobley, artists participating in the festival this year are: John Vasquez, Charlotte Art, Nico Cathcart, Brother Lightheart, Race One, Registered Artist, Curtis Glover, Krystal Cooke, 1.4.4.0, Camouflage, Pauly Everett, Zach Curtis, Remix Uno, Venazir, Seba Center, Britt Paints A Lot, Everyday Research, and Patrick Kane Mcgregor.
Barber said that the artists are working at locations throughout the city. Flint Public Art Project always works to ensure all regions of Flint are as represented as possible when determining mural locations. This year, there are also Flint Public Art Project directional signs at locations artists are working, so passersby can potentially catch a mural going up.
There are also other events planned to learn more about the artists and interact with them. There will be an artist meet and greet at Soggy Bottom Bar on September 2 and a farewell artists barbecue from 6-8 p.m. on September 7 at Spring Grove Nature Preserve (799 W. 2nd Street in Flint). The barbecue is open to the public, with food available there to purchase. There are also interactive youth workshops planned. The Flint Public Art Project Facebook and Instagram pages and website contain information about the festival and the artists participating.
The community aspects are vital to the festival, as Flint Public Art Project’s mission is focused on connecting art and creativity directly to people right at the neighborhood and grassroots levels. Those experiences are as powerful for the artists working as they are for the kids watching them.
“ I had a ground mural I did and it was for kids, it was like a little expressway or neighborhood for kids and it was like 7,000 square feet on an old tennis court,” Cobley said. “That was probably one of my favorite murals of all time because we had like a ribbon cutting with the mayor and as soon as we cut the ribbon, we had like 25, 30 kids run out onto it and start playing on it. It was really cool to see how interactive that mural was for children. And that was like one of my favorite ones ever because it was more than just artwork. It was something they could actually play on and that was really cool.”
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