May 2, 2018

SVSU to help brighten downtown Bay City with new murals

Downtown Bay City will receive new colorful murals just in time for summer. Saginaw Valley State University students have produced 10 painted panels depicting notables from the history of Bay City.

The murals are being installed on the exterior of the Bayshire Building at the corner of Saginaw and 4th Streets in Bay City. A public dedication event is scheduled for Wednesday, May 2 at 2 p.m.

The project is funded by the Bay City Downtown Management Board; the Studio23 Art Center assisted with coordination. 

“Community murals are the highest form of painting in our time,” said Mike Mosher, SVSU professor of art/communication and multimedia, “because they probe the question: how can art and democracy interact and progress together?”

The subject matter for the murals was inspired by an informative talk to Mosher’s SVSU art class, community murals, during the winter by Eric Jylha, a retired broadcaster and noted Bay City historian.

The panels depict Civil War soldiers, fire rescue, local athletes and eccentrics, lumber industries, and rock music associated with the city are all honored in creative contemporary interpretations by SVSU art students. Visitors are likely to notice pop music star Madonna, a Bay City native, leading the Tall Ships.

The nine SVSU students who created the murals are: Zainab Al Mahdi, Nyesha Clark, Eric Kroczaleski, Jocelyn Lewis, Matthew Massey, Carly Peil, Anna Slavin, Breonna Smith and Kyle Will. Each student designed and produced an individual panel, as did Mosher.

The SVSU art department is committed to providing students with opportunities in community art research. SVSU students have produced a number of murals that can be seen in Saginaw, Bay City and Midland. For more information, and to view examples of past murals, visit www.svsu.edu/care.