CENTRAL U.P. — Towns in the central region of the Upper Peninsula, such as, Iron Mountain and Manisitque,  were able to receive an art place making grant to bring some more local art projects to the area.

 

Towns around the Central U.P.  received a grant to produce projects in the goal of expanding art and culture within these areas. A few of the towns are using the grant to participate in the Power of Words Project. This project will involve voting on a certain word which will be used in the mural paint project for the downtown locations.

These murals will be done by a native artist known as Mia Tavonatti who is world renown and was originally from Iron Mountain. She has already brought some of her work to the Town of Iron Mountain and has a goal to bring more of it to the U.P.

“Mia would love to see a mural, two murals, and probably 5 murals in each town in the U.P.,” said, Program Director for Development in Iron Mountain, Paula Craven. “It doesn’t matter the size of your community, she’s excited to just bring art, and you know it adds so much value to downtown’s, especially ours which we are so thankful to have these murals in our downtown.
Not only have these murals brought the communities together to work on these projects, but it also is giving some of the communities hope for their economy to boost after the project is completed.

“These murals draw both the community itself together but also brings tourist around to visit those murals and add to our local economy,” said, Executive Director Schoolcraft Tourism and Commerce, Alan Barr.

Even the power of art can benefit these towns and has the potential to do so much more for the communities of the U.P. This includes bringing up people to see the beauty of this part of Michigan and to learn about the Upper Peninsula culture.

“I really do believe in the power of art to draw people and to pull people together,” added Barr. “So this is both a local benefit in terms of our community and it’s kind of collectiveness in collaboration, but I think it’s also part of drawing people to the Upper Peninsula to visit these art projects.”

The $460,000 grant will not be going all towards the Power of Words Project. This grant will also go to other developments in towns around the central U.P. who may want to pursue other projects.
The deadline for the grant ends December 30th 2019.