By NICOLE NOECHEL
If you’ve noticed fresh splashes of color around town lately, you can thank local muralist Dustin Hunt.
Hunt is the founder of Muralmatics, which creates commissioned murals throughout the Midwest that are designed to “highlight regional narratives, local stories and socially responsible missions.” The studio also offers mural-painting camps for youth and hands-on training for aspiring artists through a paid apprenticeship program.
Hunt’s latest project is “Lansing Shaped,” a series of three large, vibrant murals depicting three generations of a Lansing family. “West” is at the Scribbles & Giggles Child Care Center, the former Verlinden Elementary School; “South” is nearing completion at the Alfreda Schmidt Community Center; and “North” will complete the trio at the former Otto Middle School.
“The best public art has a utility,” Hunt said. “I think of public art with a utility as something that benefits a neighborhood, just like the South Side Community Center is a utility and serves a very specific function for the neighborhood.”
“I just try to complement the function of the spaces and enrich the communities in a useful, dynamic, creative and colorful way.”
Hunt hopes to unveil the finished project in October, after which visitors will be able to scan QR codes on the murals to listen to three generations of the same family share their thoughts on how life in Lansing has made them who they are today.
“It’s cool to hear three generations of a family talking about the same place, but about their unique experiences in that place,” Hunt said. “These are long-time South Siders — the mother was born and raised on the South Side. Her husband is from Chicago, but has been here for decades.”
He found the family through one of Muralmatics’ camps.
“I did a mural painting camp in downtown Lansing, and one of the kids was super dynamic and fun to work with. He was especially energetic and athletic – he would do backflips off of everything,” Hunt said. “Then I met his parents, and I recognized them through social media activity and entrepreneurial activity. I thought, ‘How cool would it be if we could hear from each of these generations?’ I pitched the idea to them, and they were totally into it.”
Hunt was inspired to create this project by Lansing’s influence on his own life. He describes himself as a “Michigan artist” and has moved around the state throughout his life, but spent his formative years in East Lansing and Lansing, returning to attend Lansing Community College and later Michigan State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Art and a teaching certificate. He completed his teaching degree at Everett High School.
Hunt’s interest in art began with drawing in elementary school. He was “terribly shy,” partly because he moved four times during those years, but his intuition for art impressed his classmates and became a “superpower” for him, he said.
“By going from school to school, I could build a reputation with this ability and thereby exert a certain amount of power,” he said.
In middle school, a friend of his mother introduced him to graffiti art.
“What I love about graffiti, and what still holds true today, is that you have to find your own way into it. You have to know someone who has already done it, you have to know where to go, you have to know the etiquette and the history, otherwise you’ll do something totally stupid,” he said. “Luckily, I met a few classmates with the same curiosity who were able to pass on a bit of experience and knowledge. Once I had the courage and a basic understanding, I tried it and was hooked.”
When Hunt began teaching, he had to leave illegal graffiti behind. But his interest in public art never waned. After teaching for seven years in Portland, Oregon, and Minneapolis, he moved back to Michigan, looking for a way to continue teaching and supporting the community without being tied to a classroom and the bureaucracy of public schools.
“Youth has always been the best part of teaching. I’ve struggled more with the systems around teaching, especially the funding of public education. In my experience, it hasn’t been the creative programs or the fine arts,” he said.
The idea for Muralmatics came from one of his students in Portland who was late for class one day because he was held up by court-ordered community service.
“I asked him what led him to the community service. He told the story of how he ended up in court for riding public transit without a fare, which led to a ticket he couldn’t pay, which led to a court date he missed, which led to community service that he had to complete,” Hunt said. “I kept my cool in that moment, but I was angry and devastated at the same time. Why would you create a system that punishes a person in that way, as remorse for riding public transit without a fare when they didn’t have a fare?”
He continued, “At that moment, something inside me snapped. I started thinking of creative ways to engage young people in meaningful, creative, community-based projects that could potentially be considered ‘community service.’ I thought about using my experience working with spray paint and designing professional-looking murals to be done by young people.”
Hunt said he finds public art projects that relate to a specific place most exciting.
“Art can be a barrier if it’s not made for the general public. That’s why I’m so motivated to create work that people can identify with,” he said. “I always try to build a context around projects and dangle a carrot in front of the viewer, so to speak, to entice them.”
To make the Lansing Shaped project even more immersive, viewers can use QR codes to upload their own videos to the site and share how Lansing shaped them.
“I’m so excited to see how this project evolves once the public starts getting involved,” Hunt said.
