It all started with a mural in New York City's Chinatown six years ago.
And it's continued this past week in East Lansing. Artist Victor Ving and his wife, Lisa Beggs, are creating a mural on the wall of The Roadhouse Pub.
“We’ve been traveling the country since 2015 kind of creating these postcard mural landmarks from coast to coast,” Ving said.
Not only is this one special because it's their first in Michigan, but it's also a milestone.
“It's mural 50 for us," Ving said. "One of our bigger goals is to do one in every state.”
The East Lansing mural had been talked about for years.
“This whole project in East Lansing started way back, probably like 2018," said Ving. "This has been almost like three years in the works.”
When planning out the design, they made sure to talk to local people to decide what went in the letters.
“We always work with the locals to come up with ideas because you guys know best what really represents your city,” Ving said.
The Broad Art Museum, Division Street Garage, a sculpture, and Sparty all made it into the mural.
“We even tried to represent all of the seasons in the letters with the exception of the snow because we’re excited to see pictures of the mural with snow on the ground,” Ving said.
It wouldn't be complete without a squirrel sitting right on top.
Ving said they're painted in all weather conditions.
“From like 104 heat, sun blazing on the wall," Ving said. "We painted up in Alaska.”
He has no doubt this will survive Michigan winters.
“We use the highest quality exterior paint there is and it gets coated with like a UV coating after as well as a anti-graffiti coating," said Ving. "So, I have no doubt it will last.”
Ving said they couldn't have done it without the help of a couple of local artists.
“We had a local artist help us with the background here, Samskee, and then also another regional artist from Detroit come down to help out,” Ving said.
After making a stop in North Dakota, the duo looks forward to making their way back to Michigan later this year.
“We’ll actually be back in September to do one in Jackson,” Ving said.
The Greetings From East Lansing mural is expected to be complete early next week.
To learn more about the traveling duo and see their other murals you can visit their website.
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