Here’s how to get a city-sponsored mural on your building

If you’ve driven around Detroit in recent years, you’ve probably noticed a proliferation of murals on commercial buildings.

at’s been on purpose, a tactic o cials have deployed as part of the City Walls program, considered a beauti cation and blight remediation strategy that’s also one piece of a larger e ort to tackle blight through things like murals, alley cleanup and other e orts in Detroit’s vast network of commercial corridors.

ey’ve certainly not just been cropping up in Eastern Market, long known for its constellation of public art pieces.

A large recent one at Mack and Van Dyke called “ e Spirit” by Waleed Johnson is an eye-catcher, for example.

So what if you’re the owner of a commercial building in Detroit and you want to participate?

First, there are some ground rules, said Zak Meers, division head for the blight remediation division, which oversees City Walls.

“So as a property owner, if you’re going to donate your wall, then you’re part of a process,” Meers said. “You’re one vote in a larger conversation. It’s public facing art.”

An FAQ for building owners recently posted to the city’s website says there are a few community engagement meetings and it generally takes three to four months to produce. e city also notes that for property tax purposes, murals will not be considered improvements, so that won’t a ect your tax bill.

In addition, the mural curated — at no cost to the building owner — has to t within some guidelines.

I’ll use a couple examples Meers did: If you’re a landlord and you have a dog you really love, you can’t have a muralist paint the dog on your building. Likewise, if you’re a plumbing company with a building, the mural cannot be a toilet as that could be considered an advertisement. e City Walls program has been around since 2017 and has a budget this year of $400,000 from the general fund; in addition, it has another $400,000 from private funding, Meers said.

In a separate but complementary e ort, the Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship department said it is spearheading an e ort to create another 200 neighborhood murals by 2025. at is funded through the city’s Public Art Fund, plus money from the Ford Foundation and Kresge Foundation.

To take part in City Walls, get in touch with the program through either its website or Instagram page. At that point, the city would set up a meeting to look at the wall, determine whether it meets certain criteria — what kind of shape is it in, is it public facing, is it in a high-impact location, Meers said.

If the wall is selected, the owner “must be open to a group project process,” Meers said.

Of note: Artists signing up as part of City Walls are asked to waive their rights under the Visual Artists Rights Act. If that sounds familiar, that’s because it came into play when the building now known as Chroma was going through a potential ownership change and redevelopment proposal.

As a result of that waiver, the landlord could paint over the mural, remove it, renovate the building and otherwise tamper with the mural. However, the artist has the rights to reproduce it elsewhere, Meers said.

Of note for artists, Meers said: Over $600,000 is available for Detroit artists to create murals and that period closed March 19. A second wave of open calls opens May 29.

Since it was started, more than 125 murals have been completed on more than 193,000 square feet of wall space.

$415,000 awarded to developers of color

Capital Impact Partners has awarded $415,000 in grants to 19 developers working on 16 di erent projects in Detroit and Highland Park.

All the awardees are graduates of CIP’s Equitable Development Initiative, which focuses on training developers of color.

In all, the developments proposed to redevelop or build 293,000 square feet with 262 residential units with 93 a ordable for those making at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income, plus 29 commercial spaces, according to a release. ose receiving funding are: Anthony Askew; Darius Bennett and Cecily King Plummer; Chase Cantrell, Damon Dickerson and Brandon Hodges; Edward Carrington; Ponce D. Clay; Yvonne Cross; Charles Dickerson III; Rashard Dobbins; Samantha Jenkins; Karasi Development Group LLC; Bobby D. Lewis; Alisha Moss and Je rey Policicchio; Chad Rhodes, Clayton Neal and Kishon Harbert; Tanya Stephens; Luis Antonio Uribegan; and Terence Willis.

Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB