The brightly colored mural that stretches along the entire back wall of the recently opened Sterling Heights Athletic Hub might read "Greetings from Sterling Heights."
But to muralistWendy Popko, it weaves in her hand-painted images of some of her favorite things in the city, where she has lived for 30 years, including her 13-year-old dog, Bailey, who died in February.
Among the scenes: The "Two Bears" sculpture at the library, Music in the Park, and the Community Garden and Butterfly House. Dodge Park, Sterlingfest, the Clinton River, and the new Athletic Hub with pickleball courts and table tennis.
It also features thesplash pad, "The Seed" sculpture; the farmer's market, which becomes an ice rink in the winter; the Cultural Exchange, the Chaldean
Community Foundation and the African American Coalition.
And lastly, there are skateboarders and cyclists.
Popko, 53, who grew up in Dearborn, said she likes to work with bright, vibrant colors and often creates pieces that are a little bit more abstract. The 182-foot-long and 20-foot-tall mural took her out of her comfort zone. It was her first "Greetings from" postcard-style mural, and it's also her largest one.
"It's gigantic," she said during the mural's unveiling Tuesday, Oct. 20. "This was quite the challenge for me. But I was excited to bring in some of the elements that I love about our city."
The mural, the city's most recent piece of public art, will be added to Sterling Heights' online public art and sculpture map, which as of May listed 45 pieces of public art around the state's fourth-largest city. The map includes the name of each piece, artist, location, description and background information.
The "Greetings from Sterling Heights" mural is visible from Brougham Drive, behind the Athletic Hub, which is along Van Dyke Avenue between 15 Mile and 16 Mile roads.
Popko's design was selected from 14 submissions and cost $30,000, said Melanie Davis, the city's community relations director. The mural was one of four that Popko said she painted over the summer in Michigan. The other murals were in Caro, Lowell and Flint.
Popko, who has other pieces of public art around Sterling Heights, said the mural is not finished as she needs to paint a cyclist on part of the "S" in the word "Heights," which also has a skateboarder on it. She said she hopes to have that completed in a week.
She estimates 30 to 40 gallons of paint will be used on the mural, which included painting on downspouts and garage doors on the building. Special equipment was needed for the job, which Popko said she painted by hand with a brush and roller. She even earned a certificate to operate a piece of equipment needed for the job.
Popko has created other public art installations inMacomb County, including in Utica, Mount Clemens andEastpointe.
Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor, who attended the unveiling with other city officials, said: "This is probably my favorite mural in the city."
Taylor said the city has unveiled several pieces of public art over the last few years and will continue to have more.
He said it brings vibrancy to the area and noted that crews are updating the monument markers at the mile roads on Van Dyke, which are also a part of the public art program. The city is pressing forward with more public art in future years, and officials have meshed some of the pieces with its parks and recreation efforts.
"We want to make art accessible to all," Davis said.
The city's IT department developed the art map, which uses GPS technology to identify the locations of major city-commissioned pieces, according to thecity's website. Among the listed pieces is "The Halo," a 35-foot-by-35-foot gold icon in the median of Hall Road near Lakeside Mall that cost $180,000 and was the butt of some jokes and anger regarding its price tag in 2019.
The city began its public art mural program in 2018.
Under the program, interested businesses fill out a form on the city's website identifying their building and designated wall for the purpose of public art. If selected, the business owner will be required to sign the city's lease agreement for $1 a year for five years, for a total of $5. The city then commissions the artist and installs the public art mural, according to the website.
The selected businesses are invited, but not required, to attend a city arts commission meeting to share any thoughts about theme or motif for the mural, but the city will select the design.
Murals generally are installed between May and October.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: This Michigan city unveils new mural as part of public art. And it's big.
