My Experience at the Bright Walls Mural Festival
I’m so excited to share this post about my experience painting a mural at the Bright Walls Mural Festival! Bright Walls is a four-day festival in Jackson Michigan that features music, panels, mini mural contests, dog parades, performances, and of course, lots of bright big art! 2022 was the final year of the festival, and I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of it!
The Bright Walls team brought in 30 artists including local Michigan artists and artists from around the world. There are now 74 gorgeous murals in downtown Jackson, and I’m thrilled to have contributed to this beautiful collection of large-scale artwork!
The Festival and the city of Jackson
I arrived at the festival a few days early to get started on my wall before the festival began. A lovely Bright Walls team member, Meg, picked me up from the Detroit airport and drove me an hour to Jackson. When we arrived in downtown Jackson, she gave me a tour of all the previous murals painted at the Bright Walls event that came before. There were gorgeous murals around every corner and I was truly blown away by the amount of color I saw in such a small vicinity. I instantly knew that Jackson was special and that I was with my people.
I’m originally from the Midwest (where my Indiana people at?!) so it means so much to me to have my artwork permanently living in this part of the country! Jackson actually reminds me so much of my hometown of Evansville, Indiana, and it was extra special for me to have the opportunity to paint a mural in a place that feels like home.
The Inspiration Behind the Mural
I was invited to paint at the festival because of my previous brushstroke wall from the Ladies Who Paint festival in San Diego in 2019. So I knew that I wanted to paint a similar style of rainbow mural for Bright Walls.
2019 San Diego mural created with Ladies Who Paint
Even though I already had an idea of what I wanted to paint prior to arriving in town, I really let the idea solidify as I gathered inspiration from the city of Jackson itself. After touring downtown Jackson I thought, "Jackson IS a rainbow" and knew that the rainbow wall would be a perfect fit for the rainbow of color that fills downtown Jackson!
Meeting Local Young Artists
On the first day of the festival, The Bright Walls team bussed in 1,000 students from the area to experience the artwork. Here I am signing paint cans for a group of emerging artists!
What was so cool is that many of the art teachers had already familiarized the students with the artists they were going to see. I even had a few groups stop by my wall for an impromptu Q&A. I loved that in addition to asking questions, many kids wanted to share about ways they make art and how it makes them happy. I loved it!
My Jackson Television Debut!
During the festival, I was interviewed on TV about my mural and my artwork. My parents had just arrived in town and it was so special to have them cheering me on in the studio during the interview.
Within an hour of the interview, there were already people stopping by my mural to tell me they saw me on TV! It was so fun to see how excited the people of Jackson were about the festival and the artists! You can watch the interview below.
The People
One of the top highlights of this experience for me was getting to meet and interact with the incredible people of Jackson.
Huge shout out to the Bright Walls team and THANK YOU for inviting me to paint in such an important event! The team was beyond organized, thoughtful and enthusiastic. It was also an honor to paint alongside many talented muralists. I’m leaving the event more knowledgable and inspired.
And the locals were so nice & welcoming! They would stop by my wall while I was painting to say hello, ask me about my process, or even just to see if I needed anything. I even had yummy donuts delivered to my wall one morning!
My wall was located on the side of a local business called Beads to Live By. Cassandra, the owner, was so accommodating. I had such a lovely time getting to know more about her business and story. I'm incredibly honored to have my art on her shop (which is filled to the brim with the most gorgeous beads and handmade jewelry). She even made me a pair of earrings inspired by my mural.
I had some EttaVee fans stop by while I was painting who brought my book, The Bright Book, for me to sign. I was so excited and blown away that many of the locals already knew about my art and brand!
The Wall
Now for the reason I flew halfway across the world in the first place, the mural!! My wall measures 89' x 14' making it my largest mural yet! As mentioned above, the mural is located on the back of a bead store called "Beads to Live By" in the parking lot. I love that the mural lives on the back of a building that is tied to creativity! And fun fact – EttaVee started as an online jewelry business, so a bead shop felt beyond fitting! Here’s what the wall looked like before I started.
Here’s a “before” shot of the wall.
And drumroll please….
Here’s how the wall turned out!!
Photo by: Ashlyn @ashsvb17
I’m going to share another post with more details about the process behind painting the mural so you’ll get to see it evolve from start to finish. Stay tuned for that post coming soon!
Thank you again to the Bright Walls organizers and the people of Jackson for welcoming me so wholeheartedly. Your community is truly something special!
If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend taking a trip to Jackson to check out the colorful rainbow of a city for yourself!
xo, Jessi