Mural festival to give Eastern Market artistic face-lift

Detroit already has festivals devoted to jazz, electronic music, light-based art and African culture.

Now the city is getting its first festival devoted to street art.

Murals in the Market, a nine-day festival planned for September, promises roughly 45 national and local artists to create dozens of large-scale pieces of authorized street art in Eastern Market. The festival, to be formally announced today, underscores the increasingly visible role that outdoor murals are playing in revitalizing Detroit and how street art has moved from the shadows of illegal graffiti to sanctioned murals embraced by businesses and city hall.

The co-creators of the festival are the nonprofit Eastern Market Corp., which runs the market, and 1xRUN, an Eastern Market-based publisher that operates Inner State Gallery, which specializes in fine art prints and online sales. Organizers hope to make Murals in the Market an annual event.

"The point is to have all of these traveling artists painting next to the local artists in a collaborative environment that will enhance the experience of the market," said Roula David, festival project manager and chief operating officer of 1xRUN.

"All of the murals will be inspired by Eastern Market and Detroit," said David, who also is director of Inner State Gallery. "We're trying to create a moment to discuss finding fresh food and produce in an urban area where people think that it's unavailable. Ultimately, we wanted to do a mural festival with a cause."

Organizers are planning daily festival programming including artist talks, block parties, mural tours, bike tours, panel discussions with farmers and more during the event, which will run Sept. 17-25. Some partners and sponsors, such as the special event producer Paxahau, will also create evening programming.

David said organizers will be looking to raise the estimated $50,000-$75,000 to produce the event. She said that 1xRUN was prepared to absorb all of the costs if it had to. David said artists will not be paid for their work, though all materials, travel, accommodations and some meals will be provided. The festival will pay the cost of preparing the building surfaces.

In addition, artists will have opportunities to create prints and sell them online through 1xRUN.com.

Participating artists will be announced today, but one of them — Los Angeles-based David Hooke, an Australian-born artist who paints under the name Meggs — was at work Monday afternoon on a new mural near Eastern Market's Shed 5. It's to be unveiled today.

The central image is of two interlocking hands, one weathered and one younger, representing multiple generations of Detroiters forging a community. Flowers, vines and other symbols of growth are also pictured.

"Murals in the Market is a project that just brings a little more life, a little more interest, a little more attention to Detroit," said Hooke, who last year painted a mural in Poletown on the city's near east side featuring the image of a huge tiger accompanied by the words "Rise Up." (The piece was commissioned by the building owner and facilitated by Inner State Gallery.)

Eastern Market — best known for its farmers market that draws tens of thousands on peak Saturdays, butcheries and a growing restaurant and retail trade — is already a hotspot for street art. Since 2011, Inner State Gallery and 1xRUN have worked with Eastern Market Corp. and building owners to curate more than 30 large-scale murals in the market and more than 100 throughout the city. The market also is home to many unauthorized works of graffiti, ranging from simple name-tagging to fully realized works of art.

The work in Eastern Market is one of many similar efforts around town aimed at beautifying the city through street art, including the Southwest Urban Mural Arts Project, Grand River Creative Corridor and projects spearheaded by the downtown Library Street Collective gallery.

Authorized murals often have the effect of eradicating the everyday graffiti so prevalent in the city, because street artists working in the shadows tend to leave commissioned work alone out of respect for fellow artists.

"When these people do the beautiful art, the other kids don't even touch it," said Luis Garza, owner of El Asador Steakhouse in southwest Detroit.

Garza's restaurant facade is decorated with a mural by Victor Quinonez, a Mexican-born artist based in Boston and known professionally as Marka 27. Inner State Gallery connected Garza with the artist.

Still, there recently have been several high-profile examples of conflict between the outlaw roots of street art and mainstream forces that are trying to tame it.

In May, the Los Angeles-based street artist Shepard Fairey, best known for his famous "Hope" image of President Barack Obama, painted an 18-story mural at One Campus Martius that was commissioned by businessman Dan Gilbert's Bedrock Real Estate, Meridian Health and Library Street Collective. But after Fairey was alleged to have surreptitiously tagged several properties without permission, Detroit police last month issued a felony warrant for his arrest — an embarrassing turn for those who brought Fairey to town.

Last year, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, in an effort to aggressively crack down on illegal graffiti, had to apologize after his administration issued dozen of tickets to city building owners for blight violations — for failing to clean up murals the owners themselves had approved.

"The problem is that sometimes you're in this middle ground," said Anthony Peters, owner of Detroit Sausage Co. in Eastern Market and an enthusiastic advocate for authorized murals and the upcoming festival.

"Signage is supposed to be regulated by the city, but you get into any inner city that's beaten down and you get graffiti. But things are starting to change. The artists have gotten better and older and many of them don't want to break the law anymore," Peters said. "I would rather help them do something legitimate and in tune with what's going on than be against it. You're not going to win that battle."

Contact Mark Stryker: 313-222-6459 or mstryker@freepress.com