January 17th, we unveil the Downtown TC Community Mural!

We did it, friends. We created a 48-foot-long work of public art, made up of 432 individual pieces.

So much more than just art, the project is the traces that each of us leaves as we participate. Traces of us: our memories, our emotions, our time, our brushstrokes, our curiosity, and our creativity. 

We wanted to do more than just unveil the finished mural; we wanted to get out on the street and celebrate all of the public art and community hubs that make up our homeplace. So our creative team and community partners, including the incredible Sara Klebba of the Downtown Traverse City Association (DTCA), came up with the title Community Canvas for the unveiling event. Which nods to the research aspect of the project (remember those surveys you filed out? More on that magic soon!) and celebrates the city that enabled us to come together: Traverse City.

We’ll unveil the completed mural January 17th. Join us at Crooked Tree Arts Center–Traverse City’s Winter Exhibits Opening from 3-5. At 3:30, we’ll dedicate the mural we made together, grab maps of the Community Canvas, and then walk to the mural; enjoying a winter evening in Northern Michigan, our incredible community. Learn more on the DTCA Community Canvas event page.

And then in the days, weeks, months after, we invite you to return, wander, and experience the work as part of our public commons.

More about the Look Wonder Discover Mural Companion:

This map is more than a set of directions. It’s a guide for paying attention.

Designed to be walked rather than completed, the map invites you to move through downtown with curiosity, connecting the mural to other moments of public art, gathering places, and local businesses. There’s no required order and no single path. Instead, the map is a framework for noticing how art, place, and everyday life overlap, and how a city reveals itself differently when you slow down and let attention lead. And take lots of deep breaths along the way! Watch for another newsletter next week with an early link to the map.

Original Art Prints are on their way to you!

We're nearly done fulfilling all of your orders for prints! They are beautiful, we can't wait for you to see them. Watch your mail!

Thanks to over 100 of you we are very close to raising the funding needed for installing the mural. We have a lovely human standing by with a $500 matching donation, if we can raise $500 this next week, before the mural is unveiled. Please consider donating, even if just $5!

We're looking for participant 379 and a lovely person named Shirley and a few of you did not give us complete info for mailing address.

If you happen to be them, please reach out to us, you requested we send you art or prints but we need more info from you, please reach out! And if you expect to receive art from us but do not, contact us as you might be one we need more info from!

Last but certainly not least: a mental health check in!

In times when a lot is going on—now—taking a pause to check in with ourselves is essential and often seems pretty impossible: so much to do, so little time to just breathe. Here are a couple of the mental health check-ins our team has been digging lately:

If you have time to dip into a book: Authors and twins Amelia and Emily Nagoski in their fabulous book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle recognize how so, so many of us are stuck in stress cycles we can’t seem to escape from. Their science-backed exploration and resources feel like a breath and a quick jog away from the holiday gathering dressed as a tiger many of us are gearing up for.

If you don’t have time to explore the Nagoski siblings’ work: take a moment to check in with how your body is holding, feeling, and processing all of it with Abby VanMuijen’s emotion wheel worksheet.

Curious about the art on this page?

The 6 lines of color are 54 of the 432 paintings made during the Art of Emotion | Emotion of Art explorations last fall at 5 different events. Can you begin to imagine how all 432 of them might look together?! Join us on Saturday, January 17, and you can see the magic with your own eyes. See you then!