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Fresh Waves panelists: Art is alive and well in Alpena

By Darby Hinkley 6 min read

ALPENA ­-- Two summers ago, Fresh Waves brought a splash of color to downtown Alpena with the first in a series of murals. Now, the project has gained momentum and continues to provide colorful and meaningful murals downtown, for residents and visitors to enjoy, by artists from near and far.

The presence of bright artwork in visible areas of the city gives it a vibrant energy that showcases the artistic direction in which Alpena is headed, panelists said last week.

"This is a cool place to live, and we're one of Northern Michigan's best-kept secrets," said Cristi Johnson, whose business welcomed the first Fresh Waves mural.

Filmmaker Zachary Irving of Irving Entertainment in Alpena premiered his "Fresh Waves" film last week at Art in the Loft. It details the process of how Fresh Waves came about, and follows artists Aaron Golbeck, who grew up in Alpena, and Chad Bolsinger, who painted the first mural in the Fresh Waves project.

"The arts can push a town in the right direction," Art in the Loft Executive Director Justin Christensen-Cooper said in the film.

He noted that Alpena has a diverse arts community, from the two theaters, to art and culinary classes at Art in the Loft, to the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan, the Thunder Bay Arts Council and many more organizations that seek to enrich the cultural experience for residents and visitors alike.

Following the premiere, a panel of artists, organizers, a business owner and the filmmaker discussed their vision for the arts in the Alpena community.

"I really like that the artists' voice is really loud up in Alpena," said panelist and artist Mark Piotrowski of Bay City. In 2020, he painted the brightly colored mural on the side of Salon 125 on Chisholm Street.

Golbeck and Bolsinger's mural of the girl and the owl can be seen on the side of Family Enterprise. It was the first in a series of murals in the Alpena Downtown Development Authority's Fresh Waves mural project. Golbeck painted the girl, and Bolsinger painted the owl. Golbeck brought the idea to the Alpena Downtown Development Authority, who embraced "creating art for art's sake," DDA Executive Director Anne Gentry said.

"I think the most important thing right now, for arts, and especially public arts, is that artists get the freedom to express themselves freely," Golbeck said during the panel discussion.

The 23-year-old grew up in Alpena and now travels the country painting murals.

"By letting the artists just do their thing, you get, ultimately, the best results," he added.

Gentry noted that there is no theme to Fresh Waves. Each artist chooses their own subject matter based on their creative inspiration.

Johnson noted that businesses need to be open to letting the artist choose what to paint. She said it took her a minute to process the idea of a girl and an owl on her building, visible heading northeast on Washington Avenue, but she quickly warmed up to just letting Golbeck and Bolsinger "do their thing."

"The heart of this project is letting the art tell the story, letting the art breathe, and really just taking that leap of faith," Johnson said.

Irving was excited to document the process.

"This whole project was just a passion project of mine," Irving said at the premiere. "Not only was it a passion project of mine, but it was a passion project of many artists."

He said the idea resonated with him, and he wanted to be a part of it, so filming the documentary was his opportunity to contribute to the goal of beautifying Alpena.

"When Aaron brought it to me and told me about this idea, I was just ready to jump at it," Irving added. "It was a great collaborative group of people that came together, and I don't think it would have happened with anybody else. Everyone was in a moment in their life where they wanted to start something new and give back to their community, whether it was people who left and came back, or people who have been living here their entire lives."

Irving, like many of the contributors, is an Alpena native.

"To have so many natives from Alpena and different types of art forms come together and create not only a mural, but multiple murals, a documentary, even the music was by local musicians. Just being able to work with all these different types of artists not only was inspiring in itself," but it brought more collaboration opportunities for future projects, Irving said.

Irving, 28, sees the Fresh Waves project as a jumping-off point leading into a new era of excitement for Alpena.

"I'm in my 20s, and people that are either millennials or even younger, in rural areas, they want to get out because they feel like there's nothing there for them," Irving noted.

"Rather than just seeing people complain about how there's nothing to do here, there are people who are willing to step up and fill voids that they see," DDA Marketing and Outreach Coordinator Kingsli Kraft said in the film.

"There are a lot of artists that feel there is nothing there for them, but there is something there -- a void that needs to be filled," Irving said. "Alpena is a blank canvas. There are so many different ways you can express yourself here. You just have to do it."

Artist and teacher Sarah Bedford was one of the eight artists who just this summer created unique artwork on panels down at the Alpena Harbor.

"It was a lot of fun," she said, adding that people enjoyed watching the artists paint during the Brown Trout Festival. "I noticed a glimmer in many eyes, honestly."

She even handed her paintbrush to a couple of children who wanted to help. She let them contribute what they could, and she said it would be wonderful if more members of the community could be involved in this type of project.

Golbeck said there are many more large spaces in Alpena that could use murals and continue the mission of celebrating art in our community.

"Let's show the community something that most people haven't seen," he said. "I think it could be awesome to bring in some really large-scale murals."

"It's also helping our town grow, and revive, and live, and redefine itself, and expand itself," Kara Bauer LeMonds said of the Fresh Waves project.

She thanked Gentry and Kraft and the artists for all the work they have put in to make the project a success.

"Even if you don't realize it, you are revitalizing a town that deserves to be revitalized," she said to the artists and organizers. "It is a beautiful place, and it's hiding under moss, and it needs a good power-washing, and you guys are doing that … There are so many artists in this town, and they are just dying to be heard, and this is opening the doors, and everyone is connecting."

For more information, visit Irving Entertainment on Facebook or call 989-464-2168.

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