A new mural designed by students at Michigan State University will be installed in downtown East Lansing this spring.
Members of art and design fraternity Gamma Epsilon Tau created several options, which they then narrowed down to three finalists before presenting their favorite to the East Lansing Art Selection Panel this week.
The winning design, created by advertising creative seniors Nia Kalinovic and Mackenzie Huber, features the message “get a move on” in multicolored gradient letters set against a black background with white figures moving throughout the scene.
Abby Dewhirst, a senior studying graphic design who founded the fraternity’s chapter, said the mural is meant to be encouraging for students and features a hidden reference to the fraternity’s letters, "G-E-T."
“There’s little icons and characters with graduation caps on and gowns and it’s just kind of saying—kind of supposed to be an inspirational quote for the students that see it, whatever grade they’re in, it’s just saying keep going,” Dewhirst said.
The final design will be printed on vinyl and installed in the alley behind Target on Grand River Avenue.
Wendy Sylvester-Rowan, a creative placemaking specialist for the city, said the mural will make the alley more welcoming for pedestrians.
“In many respects, it brings joy to people. It makes people feel like this area has been cared for,” Sylvester-Rowan said. “It’s not a lonely, dark alley, you know, it’s vibrant, it’s engaging, it gives you something to look at.”
She said having students work with the city on creating the mural helps bridge the divide between MSU’s campus and downtown East Lansing.
“Bringing students over makes our downtown a more dynamic place,” Sylvester-Rowan said. “Downtown East Lansing isn’t just for residents, and campus isn’t just for students.”
Printing the final design on vinyl allows it to be completed more quickly, since the students don’t have to spend time painting it, which city ordinances wouldn’t allow to begin until mid-April, Dewhirst said. And it opened the contest up to students focused on graphic design and other digital art forms.
The city hopes to have the mural installed by the time students graduate in May, Sylvester-Rowan said.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.