2025

mural festival!

2025

The cat’s outta the bag!

Coming in 2025, we’re bringing a NATIONAL MURAL FESTIVAL to Grand Rapids, Michigan!

We intend to bring over 20 local & national artists to GR for week-long mural mania. This is an opportunity for artists near & far to gather, flex their skills, & build lasting, nationwide community.

Over the last three years,

Pleasant Peninsula has brought to Grand Rapids:

3

Art & Activism Fairs

7

Ecology murals

32

Educational Speakers

50

Native Fish Mini Murals

Pleasant Peninsula is comprised of artists, educators, and community organizers dedicated to environmental action. Through public art projects and grassroots initiatives, we further conservation efforts, champion biodiversity, and promote environmental education in a radically accessible way. By bridging the gap between art and science, we lay the foundation for widespread curiosity about Michigan’s unique ecological landscape!

what we do!

Environmental education through public art!

here’s how we’re…

platforming artists!

At Pleasant Peninsula, we’ve worked with almost 100 unique Michigan artists and makers. We celebrate and showcase local talent, foster national artistic connections, and build lasting ties between artists, environmentalists, and neighborhoods.

We are redefining our city; not as a place of contest, but as one of mutual aid and artistic opportunity.

expanding community access!

Lack of representation, financial barriers, and limited accessibility in natural areas cause many to feel unwelcome in nature spaces.

Public art sparks interest in the natural world; from there, environmental education expands outdoor literacy. Together, we aim to reach our neighbors who may not typically feel safe, comfortable, or interested in exploring Michigan’s natural beauty on their own.

speaking for native ecosystems!

By highlighting native plants and wildlife in public art, we create opportunities for city-dwelling Michiganders to build personal relationships with the diverse species that share our Great Lakes State.

Once a species is recognizable, it becomes special. Once a species can be named, it becomes a friend.

our mission

why a mural festival?

Since the 2010s, Grand Rapids has been known for its international art competitions. Such competitions have brought many tourism opportunities to our city, but also consume a huge percentage of the financial and creative resources of our art community. When so much focus is placed on competition, we often lose sight of our potential for collaboration.

A mural festival exists to celebrate and showcase local talent, foster national artistic connections, and build lasting ties between artists and a neighborhood. We hope that bringing a national mural festival to Grand Rapids will put our city on the map; not as a place of contest, but as one of mutual aid and artistic opportunity.

why THIS mural festival?

Pleasant Peninsula exists to further conservation, biodiversity, and environmental education through public art.

Our festival boosts visibility not only for artists, but for the nonhuman biodiversity found across our Great Lakes State.

Every mural created for Pleasant Peninsula will feature a species on the Michigan Endangered Species List. By rendering these species in such a highly visible way, we provide our landscape both a voice and an audience.

We believe that activism begins with curiosity. Curiosity lays the seeds for casual interest, which has the potential to blossom into a profound appreciation. From this deeper appreciation for our natural landscape, we hope that our community will find a newfound commitment to preserving this one-of-a-kind state that we call home.