"I think these sorts of murals can really help shape the identity of a place, and being in the historic district, it's very important to remain relevant to the location it'll live."
Christopher Catalogna said that to Lowell's First Look about his three-panel mural in the historic district on E Main St. The mural is about Lowell's industrial heritage where the Flat and Grand rivers meet. His wall is one of four Muralocity sites around town. On Saturday, October 10, the murals get their formal dedication at 3 p.m. on the Riverwalk, at 113 Riverwalk Plaza. A short ceremony comes first, followed by a narrated walking tour of the mural sites.
That hour falls at the end of the Lowell Area Chamber's Harvest Celebration, which runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. the same day. The festival takes place on the Riverwalk, along Main Street, and on the Showboat. Three of the four mural walls are on or next to that route. If you spend Saturday at the festival, you've already walked past most of the town's new public art. The dedication puts names and stories to what you've been looking at.
The Day, in the Order It Happens
The schedule runs from the trail at dawn to the river at dusk:
- 8:30 a.m., Harvest Hustle 5K Run/Walk. The start is near North Grand River Riverfront Park, out of the Impact Church parking lot at 11840 Fulton St. The route uses the Lowell Area Trailway, both riverfront parks, and the wooden footbridge.
- 8 to 11:30 a.m., FFA Pancake Breakfast, with apple tasting from 9 a.m. to noon. Both are at 11715 Vergennes St SE, hosted by the Lowell FFA and the Wittenbach Wege Center. $5 covers breakfast and a Michigan apple tasting, and the money supports WWC programs. The center's native plant gardens and trails are open while you're there.
- 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Autumn Marketplace. Vendor booths line the sidewalks along Main Street and the riverwalk.
- 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pumpkin decorating on the Lowell Showboat VI. Lowell Light & Power hosts, Heidi's Farmstand & Bakery donates the pumpkins, and it lasts while supplies do.
- 1 to 3 p.m., Chili for Charity Cook-off. Tasting and judging need a wristband, and the chili runs out when it runs out.
- 3 to 4 p.m., Muralocity dedication and narrated walking tour from 113 Riverwalk Plaza.
The chili ends just as the dedication starts, and the tour finishes when the marketplace closes at 4. The utility that hosts pumpkin decorating on the Showboat also has one of the murals on its building, so you may pass the Lowell Light & Power wall well before the tour reaches it.
Parking is free at all Harvest Celebration activities, and the day goes on rain or shine. The Chamber notes that October can be cold, so dress for it.
Wristbands Go On Sale Tuesday
Only one part of the day needs planning ahead. The cook-off is capped at 350 wristbands. They cost $10 online from Tuesday, October 6 at 9 a.m. until Friday, October 9 at 3 p.m. Any left after that go on sale Saturday at the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce booth starting at 10 a.m. Tasting starts at 1 p.m., three hours after the booth opens, so anyone waiting until Saturday is betting the wristbands last the morning.
Four Walls, Four Hometowns
Lowell Arts asked muralists to apply and heard from almost 200 artists around the country. WZZM put the exact number at 197 applicants for four spots. Here's who was chosen and where Lowell Arts lists each one:
| Artist | Home base | Site | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tess Marhofer | Fife Lake, MI | Creekside Park concessions and restroom building | Plants and animals found near Lee Creek, painted on all four sides |
| Christopher Catalogna | Fort Wayne, IN | E Main St, historic district | Three panels on Lowell's industrial heritage where the Flat and Grand rivers meet |
| Sitki Dogan | Palm Beach, FL | Lowell Light & Power | A science-fiction-style portal into light and energy |
| Wendy Popko | Sterling Heights, MI | Riverwalk | Wildlife in and around the Flat River |
Each mural is about the spot it's painted on. Dogan's energy portal is at Lowell Light & Power, on the site where the town's electrical infrastructure once stood. Marhofer's Lee Creek wildlife is in Creekside Park. She's a board-certified medical illustrator who has been making public art for six years, and her murals are also in Brighton, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Novi, and Wayland. She told Lowell's First Look she hopes the piece "encourages people to slow down and explore both nature and art."
Popko hadn't been to Lowell before she was chosen, so she drove out to look around first. "I love it down here, the Flat River, where is just few steps away," she told WZZM, and she mentioned the restaurants, boutiques, and antique shop she saw that day. She also said community art projects usually get "a little pushback here and there," and that she hadn't seen any in Lowell.
What $100,000 Paid For
Lowell Arts set a $25,000 goal for its Patronicity crowdfunding campaign, which ran for about a month through July 31, 2026. It raised $26,835 from 39 donors. Clearing the goal unlocked a matching $25,000 from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Public Spaces Community Places program, and that match completed the $100,000 project budget.
Paint is only part of that budget. The money covers artist fees, wall preparation and materials, anti-graffiti coating, apprenticeships for emerging artists, and community programming. The murals are also built to last. Muralocity is the first program of Lowell's Public Art Initiative, developed with the Lowell Downtown Development Authority, with early support from the Lowell Area Community Foundation and the DDA. Lowell Arts and the City of Lowell finished a Public Art Policy that sets quality standards and a long-term maintenance plan for art on city property. For the historic-district walls, Lowell Arts worked with the Historic District Commission to meet preservation guidelines.
So the walls on Saturday's tour are a permanent collection, with an owner and a plan to keep them up. Catalogna hoped his mural would stay "relevant to the location." In the historic district, the murals also had to meet the commission's preservation guidelines.
Three Finished, With More Still Coming
As of its current project page, Lowell Arts says three Muralocity murals are complete and more are still planned for downtown. A fifth mural is planned for 2027, Lowell Arts' 50th anniversary, and the organization says its theme will be shaped with the community. The town gets at least one more wall next year, and residents get a say in what goes on it.
The Rest of the Arts Calendar This Fall
The dedication opens a busy stretch for Lowell Arts. Its production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) runs October 16 to 18 and October 23 to 25. The first Songwriter's Workshop Weekend is October 23 to 25 at Sound Check, at the United Methodist Church of Lowell, 621 E. Main St., and ends with a public performance. From November 5 through January 16, 2027, the Lowell Arts gallery becomes a holiday shop for the Artist Market.
Two other dates fill out the season. The Lowell Area Historical Museum marks its 25th anniversary on October 15 from 5 to 7 p.m. and opens a new Military History gallery that evening. Christmas Through Lowell follows November 20 to 22, with more than 70 participating homes and businesses and over 350 artists and crafters.
The team at Clark & Clark keeps up with what changes on Lowell's streets, from new murals on the Riverwalk to the dates on the Chamber's calendar. If you have questions about a downtown Lowell property, or about what's changing near a home you already own, we're happy to talk it through. Contact us.
