Bright walls organized another colorful festival this year between Sep 16-18. Bright Walls Mural festival event include live mural painting, concerts, food trucks, dancing, magic show and even a dog-themed event. While they were unable to host international artists this year due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Bright Walls team planned some pop-up art installations until finale in 2022. The festival is a free event open to all ages, and it is held on several streets in Jackson. All the art is free to be viewed and photographed. Along with the mural projects, there were a variety of street vendors and food trucks that cater to the public. I was thrilled to attend my first ever mural event. I mainly went to meet the famous artist couple Lisa and Victor, who create iconic post card murals. I am a huge fan of their art work. The amount of detail in their mural is amazing. I like their artwork which captures the town and display local points of pride. It was such a pleasure to meet this cool couple. Their mission is to paint in every state and to create a collection of timeless landmarks for locals and travelers to interact with across the country. They have created nation wide mural projects and this is their 52nd post card mural across America. This couple came all the way from California to help create a special Jackson greeting. This year "Greetings from Jackson" mural is the highlight of the festival. Each letter features some of the most iconic buildings and a Jackson landmark within it. With the new addition, there are now 41 murals to see in downtown Jackson since the inception of Bright Walls. read more

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Prior to three years ago I didn't know much about Jackson, MI beyond there being a prison there. Around here going to Jackson is usually taken to mean going to jail for a long time. Three years ago I stopped for food on a road trip and discovered Jackson had two competing Coney Islands on the same block that had been open since around the time of World War I, a situation uncannily similar to Lafayette and American Coney Islands in Detroit. That was about all I took away from that short visit. Well, last month I was on another road trip and figured I'd stop to fill my belly at Jackson Coney Island since I'd already tried Virginia Coney Island and Jackson is the bizarro Virginia. I'm not ready to review either yet. They're just Coneys and I'm not ready to wade into the wearisome partisan debate. It's boring enough with American and Lafayette back home. But here, in the third paragraph, I will venture to review Bright Walls because it was such a pleasant surprise and unexpected hour long sightseeing tour. (It's nice traveling on a not so rigid schedule and to be taken away on a tangent like this.) Bold, colorful murals with all kinds of themes and plastered larger than life all around downtown Jackson and they are awesome. I wasn't good about reading all of the placards and you won't get any informative name checking or discussion about specific pieces here like I usually do with art museums but Bright Walls was a beautiful diversion, a definite departure from the drab and dreary Prisontown USA people around here usually picture when they think of Jackson. I can't speak on what goes on when the mural painting actually takes place, watching live painting or if there's special events, but the one other review didn't elaborate on that either. Suffice it to say I like what was left behind. Maybe some year I'll head out this way during the brightening of the walls and be able to provide a more comprehensive update. read more

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An amazing collection of public art murals from around the world. It makes for a perfect day trip to visit Jackson and walk around to see all 40 of the murals. Then, grab lunch or dinner at one of the restaurants like the Grand River Brewery. Pro tip: get on the website to view the map that shows where all of the murals are located. read more

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Bright Walls is a public art spread across all over the Jackson Downtown.It is basically a festival founded and run by the Jackson Young Professionals. In just two years, the festival has hosted artists from across the globe and brought 36 murals to the downtown. I had lot of pre notions about Jackson due to the things I heard but luckily my friend invited me to show around. Jackson downtown seem pretty good and Glad I did this trip and got to see Amazing Art. Good thing is all the murals are in downtown. It hardly take 45 mins to see all of them. Grab a coffee and watch the Bright Walls!!! read more

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Greetings from Jackson! What more can we say? Probably one of the best & well organized mural festivals in a surprisingly small city in Michigan. Their staff of volunteers are all super passionate in helping make their community a better place. Public art can spark such a big positive change and they understand how to do this well! We couldn't be more honored to be added to the list of the prestigious global artists that have painted at this festival. read more

Bright Walls - Public Art Near Me - Jackson, Michigan