‘Lansing Shaped’ continues Dustin Hunt’s goal of creating murals ‘people can connect with’

If you’ve noticed fresh pops of color around town lately, thank local muralist Dustin Hunt.

Hunt is the founder of Muralmatics, which creates commissioned murals across the Midwest that are designed to “amplify regional narratives, local histories and socially responsible missions.” The studio also offers mural camps for youth and hands-on training for emerging artists through a paid apprenticeship program.

Hunt’s latest undertaking is “Lansing Shaped,” a series of three large, vibrant murals that depict three generations of one Lansing family. “West” stands at Scribbles & Giggles Child Care Center, formerly Verlinden Elementary School; “South” is close to completion at Alfreda Schmidt Community Center; and “North” will round out the trio at the former Otto Middle School.

“The best public art has a utility to it,” Hunt said. “I view public art with utility as something beneficial to a neighborhood, the same way that the South Side Community Center is a utility and serves a very specific function to the neighborhood.

“I’m just trying to complement the function of the spaces and add to the communities in a way that’s useful, dynamic, creative and colorful.”

Hunt uses a boom lift to spray paint “West,” which is nearly 35 feet tall and 30 feet wide.

Hunt hopes to unveil the finished project in October. After that, visitors will be able to scan QR codes on the murals to hear three generations of the same family share their thoughts on how living in Lansing has shaped who they are today.

“There’s something cool about hearing from three generations of one family talking about the same place, but their unique experiences in that place,” Hunt said. “These are long-time southsiders — the mom was born and raised on the south side. Her husband is from Chicago, but he’s been here for decades.”

He found the family through one of Muralmatics’ camps.

“I did a mural camp in downtown Lansing, and one of the kids was just super dynamic and fun to work with. He was especially energetic and athletic — he was doing backflips off everything,” Hunt said. “Then I met his parents, and I recognized them through social media stuff and entrepreneurial things. I thought, ‘How cool would it be if we got to hear from each of these generations?’ I proposed the idea to them, and they were way into it.”

Hunt was inspired to create this project by Lansing’s influence on his own life. He calls himself a “Michigan artist,” having moved around the state throughout his life, but he spent his formative years in East Lansing and Lansing, returning to attend Lansing Community College and later Michigan State University, where he earned a bachelor’s of fine art and a teaching certification. He completed his student teaching at Everett High School.

Hunt’s interest in art began with drawing in elementary school. He was “painfully shy,” partially because he moved four times during those years, but his intuition for art impressed his classmates and became a “superpower” for him, he said.

“Going from school to school, I could develop a reputation with this skill and wield some kind of power with it,” he said.

In middle school, one of his mother’s friends introduced him to graffiti art.

“Something I loved about graffiti, which is somewhat still true to this day, is that you need to find your own access points into it. You need to know someone already involved, you need to know where to go, you need to know the etiquette, the history, or else you’re doing something super foolish,” he said. “Luckily, I met some classmates with the same curiosity who had just a bit of experience and knowledge to pass down. Once I gained the courage and had a basic understanding, I tried my hand at it and was hooked.”

When Hunt began his teaching career, he had to leave illegal graffiti behind. But his interest in public art never dwindled. After seven years teaching in Portland, Oregon, and Minneapolis, he moved back to Michigan and began looking for a way to continue educating and supporting the community without being confined to a classroom and public school red tape.

Hunt is working on finishing up his second “Lansing Shaped” mural, “South,” at Alfreda Schmidt Community Center in south Lansing.

“The youth were always the best part of teaching. It was more so the systems around teaching that I struggled with, especially in terms of what is funded in public education. In my experience, it has not been creative programming or visual arts,” he said.

The idea for Muralmatics was inspired by one of his students in Portland, who was late to class one day after getting held up doing court-ordered community service.

“I asked him what led to the community service. He shared how he had got caught up in the court system for riding public transit without paying, which led to a ticket he couldn’t pay, which led to a court date he missed, which led to community service he had to work off,” Hunt said. “I kept my cool in the moment, but I was livid and crushed at the same time. Why design a system that punishes a person this way, as repentance for riding transit without fare they didn’t have?”

He continued, “In that moment, something in me snapped. I started dreaming up creative ways to engage young folks in meaningful, creative, community-based projects that could potentially qualify as ‘community service.’ I thought about drawing from my experience working with spray paint and designing professional-looking murals, made by young folks.”

Hunt said he finds public art projects that are specific to a place are the most engaging.

“Art can present a barrier if it’s not made for or of the general public, which is why I’m so moved to create pieces that people can connect with,” he said. “I’m always looking to build context around projects and to sort of dangle a carrot in front of the viewer to pull them in.”

To make the “Lansing Shaped” project even more immersive, the QR codes will allow viewers to upload their own videos to the site and share how Lansing has shaped them.

“I’m so excited to see how this project evolves once the public starts participating in it,” Hunt said.