Boarded up windows at several downtown businesses will be brightened up by murals thanks to some local artists.

Local artists have begun painting bright murals over the drab boarded windows placed in businesses following Saturday night's rioting.

The first business to get the art treatment was the Old World Olive Press on Monroe Center, a business already reeling from the CoVid-19 shurtdown.

“I felt the tension of everything and I was worried about all our people, and just the emotions that needed to be healed," Amelia Volwiler-Stanley told our news partner, FOX 17 Wednesday.

Volwiler-Stanley received the permission of Old World's Shasta Fase to begin the project, which will feature the work of several local artists.

Early work by Darda Brooks was posted to his Instagram page Wednesday and features a bright, sunny landscape, butterflies, and hands of all colors reaching toward the Black Lives Matter heart in the center.

"Because it's in a public place, it democratizes the art. It brings it to the people. It's a boots on the ground type of approach,” Volwiler-Stanley said.

Fase told FOX 17, “I really feel that this is almost a pivotal point for the business, a let's reflect, what have we learned, how can we be better, what can we do to help community. Each and every one of us, and I really think that's the lesson I’ve taken away."

Magic 104.9 logo
Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Cleaning Up Downtown Grand Rapids - May 31, 2020

More From Magic 104.9