Photo by Sally Bjork
“This is a very cool mural!” says Dyke McEwen about December’s feature. It’s “the tree mural on the Red Yoga wall at 421 E. Liberty,” writes Silvia Ruiz. “Facing the Tomukun patio,” writes Shannon Kohlitz, “along the pass-through between E. Liberty and Washington,” adds Sara Kitzsteiner.
“Weren’t these paintings designed to cover up graffiti?” asks Dan Romanchik. “If so, they’ve done a pretty good job.” “A successful effort to limit graffiti,” confirms Dave Bicknell who identifies the mural as “one of the locations for the tree stencils done by Rebecca Arends.” Her murals were created “using stencils from the [NYC] artist Cate Tinsley,” writes David Karl. “She reasoned that because it was nature who would mess with that? I guess she was right.”
Related: Liberty St. Murals
Arends’s experiment started over a decade ago with her own business space where she painted an oft-tagged wall with stencils that discouraged graffiti. She then did a project for a psychology course at EMU in 2015, painting ten walls in Ann Arbor and monitoring them for a year. Her efforts generated funding from the DDA, mentorship from the AAPD, and assistance from others in town. It is estimated that the stenciled walls reduced tagging by 90 percent that year.
We received 15 entries identifying the tree mural off Liberty. Our winner, drawn at random, is Jane Thurston. She will enjoy her gift certificate at the MilkShake Factory. To enter this month’s contest, use the image and clue below and send your answer to the address above.
Hint: Cathedral? | Photo by Sally Bjork