Are you a life-long resident of Whitehall? Or did you grow up here, move away and then recently return? Or are you new to the beautiful White Lake area? This call is for you! The Arts Council of White Lake – Nuveen Center is seeking feedback from area residents of all ages to help us determine a theme for a large mural in the new pocket park being developed on Colby Street between CatchMark Technologies and Bell’s Furniture.
For the past two years the ACWL-Nuveen has been collaborating with the City of Whitehall and CatchMark Technologies on the idea of showcasing a vibrant new mural on the prominent 40’x12’ eastern wall of the CatchMark building. This new mural, scheduled for completion in the summer of 2025, has the potential to tell a bold visual story about our beloved community making the site a destination for local residents and visitors to downtown Whitehall.
We hope you will join us at two upcoming community events where we will be soliciting both written and visual ideas for the mural. Our first public event will be held at the Whitehall – Montague football game on Friday, September 20 from 5:30 – 7:00pm. We will be at the Whitehall football field for the pre-game fun with tables set up near the concessions stand. The second event will be held at the White Lake Community Library on Friday, September 27 between 12:00 and 2:00pm - stop in any time during those two hours to submit your suggestions. If you miss these events, residents will have an opportunity to share their ideas in the feedback boxes placed at Whitehall City Hall, the White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, other local businesses and of course the ACWL-Nuveen. All of the community feedback gathered will be evaluated and then narrowed down to one or two themes which will be shared with the selected muralist.
In October we will be posting a request for qualifications – RFQ – seeking community-based muralists across Michigan to apply. A selection committee made up of City of Whitehall representatives and staff from ACWL-Nuveen and CatchMark Technologies will review all applicants. Our goal is to find a talented experienced muralist who is interested in conducting further engagement sessions with the community to help inform the final design of the mural. An artist will be awarded the commission by the end of January 2025 so they can prepare to design and install the mural by the end of August.
We look forward to hearing your feedback on this exciting new community-informed public art project for downtown Whitehall. If you have questions or comments, you can reach us at 231-893-2524 – or email – nuveen@artswhitelake.org.
Comments