Art Seen Festival is set to create three new murals across Midland County this June

The Art Seen Festival is returning to Midland for its fourth year, showcasing mural making and performances by local musicians. The festival will take place June 1 and 2, 2024 and promises to be bigger and better than ever before. This year's festival will feature a community mural in Downtown Midland and two commissioned murals: one in Lee Township and one in The Neighborhood.

The Art Seen Committee invites you to come pick up a brush and become an artist! Help create the community mural for Pizza Sam’s from 10am-5pm. The concept for this mural was created by Saginaw Artist Allise Noble and will be painted on wood panels by the public at Main St and Gordon St, and will later be installed on the Pizza Sam’s wall facing Ashman Street in Downtown Midland. Miranda Wojda, daughter of Gus and Angela, owners of Pizza Sam’s said, “We are so excited to showcase this beautiful art on our building! It’s going to be a great representation of the community that we strive to create and maintain everyday.”

The first of two commissioned murals will be painted during the festival at LaLonde’s Market on the corner of Jefferson and Sugnet, lovingly called The Neighborhood by community members in the area. The Art Seen Festival committee recently made the final selection for the artist who will paint at this site. It’s actually a group of artists called Often Seen Rarely Spoken from Louisville, Kentucky. They are on a mission to use murals as a means of visual storytelling and create imagery the residents feel a genuine connection to. The community members are encouraged to stop by Lalondes between 10am-5pm on both days, to see the mural being painted and engage in fun activities with local businesses on Saturday.

Lee Bar & Grill’s gorgeous blue building in Lee Township on M-20 will be the home of the festival's third mural by Colorado artist David Swartz. His artwork is bright and energetic with a humorous twist as you will see as the unveiling of his artwork comes to fruition over the festival weekend. He strives to use his art to create beauty and connection between people, nature and themselves creating a sense of unity. When asked how he felt about joining us in Midland he said, “I’m excited to join the Art Seen Festival for this year's event! I love the power public art has to transform a space and brighten people’s day. This is an especially cool event as it’s the first one I’m doing that’s not located in a major city. I think art should be accessible to everyone and I’m glad to help facilitate that. My mural will highlight the awesome power of imagination to whisk you away to new worlds. To plaster a smile on your face as you’re rocketed into a new dimension where anything is possible.”

In addition to mural creation, the festival will also offer the opportunity to listen to live music from local musicians, presented by The Blue Light Music Venue. Performances will take place in the evening at the Music On Main stage at McDonald and Main St. from 6-9pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

"We're thrilled to bring the Art Seen Festival back to Midland for another year," said Dacia Parker, owner of Parker Lane Art & Design Studios, which will once again be facilitating the community mural. "Our goal is to create an inclusive and welcoming space for all community members, artists and art enthusiasts alike, to be part of the mural making process, give a platform for local musicians, and in the end have three new murals that beautify and connect to our community that will be enjoyed for years to come."

Admission is free, as is painting on the community mural, making the festival accessible to everyone. There will be festival merchandise to pre-order and available at the festival to further our work in the public mural making space for years to come.

Art Seen Festival is a subcommittee of Public Arts Midland, which is an initiative of the Midland Area Community Foundation. We are thrilled to once again be celebrating alongside the Midland Center for the Arts Summer Art Fair and Creative 360’s Art Speaks Play Festival. This is going to be another incredible art-filled weekend bringing people together!