By Kate Stockrahm
In today’s economy, it’s rare to get anything for free – but apparently no one told Flint Public Art Project (FPAP) that.
From late August through the first week of September, the organization behind the Free City Mural Festival again brought together nearly 20 muralists to paint Flint’s walls for residents and visitors to enjoy at no cost.
The result? 17 new murals scattered across all quadrants of the city – from Soggy Bottom Bar to the silos on Second Street, from a westside business to a north end barbershop, and hosts of locales in between.
“I hope to see a positive impact on the community,” said Steven Barber, Board President of Flint Public Art Project, of the 2025 festival. “I know the murals have helped a lot of people mentally and, you know, just even turn some of the blight and neglected infrastructure around us into something that’s a little bit more appealing.”
The Free City Mural Festival began in 2019 under former executive director of FPAP Joe Schipani, who would literally house visiting artists in his Carriage Town home during the annual event. Barber said FPAP’s current board believes just as much in showing the muralists – who hail from as far as the Philippines this cycle – that Flint is a wonderful, welcoming community between trips to their paint sites.
“Most publications don’t show the positive [in Flint],” Barber said, which is why FPAP’s focus beyond beautifying disused spaces is “showing [the artists] that there’s more than what’s out there in the news.”
A quick look through the organization’s Facebook posts emphasizes the board president’s point: this year’s cohort of 19 muralists can be seen frequenting multiple downtown businesses, smiling with locals, and enjoying a backyard meal together.
“I mean, there’s very few other festivals that take care of the artists the way we do,” Barber said. “And, you know, that’s a proud moment for the organization.”
Still, it’s been a year of change for FPAP, as Schipani stepped down in early 2025 and the organization is operating with less-than-usual funding – somewhere near $100,000 short of their target, by Baber’s estimate.
He added that he and the rest of the board are learning together — “I’ve certainly never ordered 2,000 cans of paint!” he laughed —and grateful to Schipani for all he’d been shouldering for the organization and its signature festival.
Barber said his hope is to find additional resources and partners in the coming months so as to pay artists more and grow FPAP’s year-round programming in Flint.
But if there have been hiccups this festival, they haven’t seemed to faze returning artist Krystal Cooke, who told EVM she’s honored to paint a wall of the iconic Soggy Bottom Bar.
“When I initially moved tonFlint like seven years ago, Soggy Bottom Bar is actually one of the first places that I got to experience,” Cooke, who now lives out-of-state, explained. “And going to jazz night on Tuesdays was a regular thing – every Tuesday I came to jazz night with all of my new Flint friends.”
She said those early memories, combined with the existing aesthetic of the area, inspired her mural’s design.
“I really wanted to just embody the history and what’s relevant to this space,” Cooke said. “And I figured painting a saxophone player was very fitting for jazz night… I picked kind of like this vintage background to fit the aesthetic outside, and also to kind
of match some of the New Orleans influences on the other side of the building.”
Cooke, who tends to paint portraits and favor hyperrealistic artwork, said her goal is to create for those who call the area home.
“I really want to paint things that are relevant to the communities that I’m painting for,” she said before a group of passersby came over to compliment her partially-completed work on Sept. 3.
Cooke’s completed mural can be viewed on the north side of Soggy Bottom Bar, located at 613 Martin Luther King Ave. She is one of a handful of current or former Flint artists featured at this year’s Free City Mural Festival alongside other national and international muralists. A map of all mural locations and artists can be viewed on FPAP’s website.
A version of this article also appears in East Village Magazine’s September 2025 Issue.
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