Graffiti News

Residents are invited to help paint on September 12

Kalamazoo residents are invited to join public artist and illustrator Patrick Hershberger for a mural painting session on Saturday, September 12, 2026, from 1 to 4 p.m. According to M Live Michigan’s September 11 report, the event is planned for the side of the Clark Logic building at 436 W. Willard St. in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The wall faces North Westnedge Avenue.

The invitation gives residents a role in making a public artwork, alongside the artist leading the project. For people who follow murals, that makes the painting process part of the story: the work is intended to portray local cycling, while the event opens its production to the community. The report announces the session; it does not establish that the event has taken place or that the mural is complete.

The mural connects neighborhood cyclists with a local trail

The planned mural, titled “Riding the KRVT,” will feature neighborhood cyclists and pay tribute to the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail. M Live Michigan describes the project as a way to add color to a prominent corridor while recognizing the area’s outdoor activity culture. The trail provides the reference behind the initials in the artwork’s title.

That subject gives visitors a useful way to read the image. The figures are connected to an activity associated with the surrounding community, and the title points to a named local trail. A building wall becomes a place to represent movement through the area. For mural followers, the connection between subject and setting is worth considering alongside the finished composition. The report does not identify individual riders who will appear or describe every element of the design.

Local committees helped shape the selection

Clark Logic selected the mural concept after recommendations from Bike Friendly Kalamazoo’s citizen and board art committees, according to M Live Michigan. The selection therefore links the company providing the building with a local organization focused on cycling. The reported process involves committee recommendations and the company’s choice; it is not described as a public vote.

Bike Friendly Kalamazoo is a nonprofit working to make the greater community more welcoming to bicycles. Its activities include organizing Kalamazoo Area Bike Week and the Fall Bike Celebration Weekend. Those activities explain the organization’s connection to a mural honoring cycling and the trail. They also place the artwork within a broader set of local efforts centered on bicycle use.

Clark Logic is based in Portage and works in real estate development, logistics and transportation. Its role in the report is concrete: the company selected the concept, and its Kalamazoo building supplies the mural’s setting. The community painting invitation adds another form of participation to that arrangement.

Hershberger brings experience in local public art

Patrick Hershberger has made numerous murals around the Kalamazoo area and previously chaired the Kalamazoo County Public Art Commission, M Live Michigan reports. His public art and illustration explore local and historical subjects through visual storytelling. That background provides context for his leadership of a project about neighborhood cyclists and a regional trail.

For viewers, the artist’s experience is a starting point for understanding the commission, rather than a guarantee of particular visual details. The planned subject and community session are documented, but the source does not provide a completion date. It also does not explain which parts of the wall residents will paint or how their tasks will be assigned during the three-hour event.

The address and wall orientation identify the site

The reported location is the side of the Clark Logic building at 436 W. Willard St., facing North Westnedge Avenue. Keeping both details matters when locating a mural: a street address identifies the building, while the orientation identifies the relevant wall. The source does not specify parking, a designated viewing area or an access route.

The announced 1-to-4-p.m. window on September 12 is the community painting session, not a stated schedule for viewing a finished mural. Readers planning around the announcement should keep that distinction in mind. No registration procedure, materials list or age requirements are supplied in the report. The confirmed invitation is to contribute to an artist-led work celebrating local cycling.

Explore other public artworks through the Wallscape map.

Source: M Live Michigan