🎨 Mural Unveiling + Ribbon Cutting with Dustin Hunt of Muralmatics
📍 Stage One | Sycamore Creek Eastwood
📅 Friday, August 22 | 9:00 AM
📣 Free + Open to the Public
Join us for a vibrant morning as we officially unveil the stunning new mural installation by Lansing’s own Dustin Hunt of Muralmatics—his largest canvas in the city yet! Located at Stage One at Sycamore Creek Eastwood, this mural is more than art—it’s a celebration of creativity, community, and hope.
🖌️ Meet the artist
🎀 Ribbon-cutting ceremony
🎙️ Brief press conference
☕ Light refreshments
Come snap a photo, hear the story behind the art, and be part of the moment as we mark a new chapter in Stage One becoming a truly unique Arts Hub in Lansing.
Here's the original announcement of the mural:
🎨 A Bold New Look for Our Big Building Starts August 4
Dear Stage One Friends,
Something big, and colorful, is about to happen to the outside of our building.
Beginning August 4 and continuing through August 22, nationally-renowned muralist, Dustin Hunt of Muralmatics (muralmatics.com), will be painting a brand-new mural on the exterior of our building. If you’re familiar with Dustin’s work around Lansing, you know he’s considered one of the most significant mural artists in our area, often painting representational portraits of people and community.
But what he’s painting on our building is different.
It's bold. It’s non-representational. Some might call it abstract. And honestly? When I first saw the mock-up, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. It made me a little anxious. It didn’t look like any of Dustin’s other work I’d seen before. But then I sat down and talked with him, and everything clicked.
Dustin had met with me and with Chad Swan-Badgero, Artistic Director of Peppermint Creek Theatre Company, and he listened closely to what we’ve been doing at Stage One. He heard something remarkable: that under this one roof we’ve brought together people, groups, and ideas that usually don’t get put together. Church and theater. Entrepreneurs and artists. Worship and performance. Hoppy Hour and Easter egg hunts. Church in a diner and church in a pub. Things that don’t normally belong together… but do here.
And that’s what inspired Dustin’s design.
He told me: “You can’t change the shape of the church building, but you can put something on the outside of it that usually doesn’t go on a church. Something that makes people stop and ask: Who would paint a church like this? What kind of people meet in there?”
That’s us.
The mural will spark curiosity. It will raise questions. It might even create tension. And that’s okay.
You might have hoped for something more literal, a mural of dancers or musicians or scenes from the community. And if what you see catches you off guard or unsettles you a bit, I want to invite you into a holy act: just describe what you see. Share what you notice. I’ve heard people say the mural feels like a river, or like fish swimming together, or like our church’s brand colors merging with Peppermint Creek’s. What do you see?
And if it brings up discomfort, try naming that too: What’s underneath that tension? What expectations did you bring to the canvas?
This mural will mark our building as the creative, diverse, artistic hub that it has become. And we believe it will be a new landmark for the northeast side of Lansing. One day soon, we won’t be the church across from McAlister’s Deli… they’ll be the deli across from the building with the crazy-cool mural.
We’re planning a ribbon cutting and press event once the mural is complete. Details are still being finalized, so stay tuned.
Even more exciting: Dustin will join me as co-host in worship on Sunday, August 17, where we’ll talk about the vision, meaning, and creative process behind the mural.
Friends, this is a bold step. It’s not just a fresh coat of paint. It’s a public declaration of who we are and the kind of world we’re building together. I hope you’ll come with open eyes, open hearts, and maybe even a willingness to be surprised by beauty in a form you didn’t expect.
With curiosity and excitement.
Peace,
Pastor Tom
P.S. This mural is being paid for by a generous grant from the Michigan Arts and Cultural Council and a matching contribution from Peppermint Creek Theatre Company!
Also check out other Arts events in Lansing, Fine Arts events in Lansing, Theatre events in Lansing.
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