Murals on Main Festival in Rogers City

A “celebration of art, community and creativity,” the Murals on Main Festival in Rogers City draws local, national and international artists to create public art installations on unused walls throughout downtown, creating local pride and enduring vibrancy.

The Rogers City Main Street program was inspired to create its own festival by the Bright Walls Festival in Jackson, an initiative that showcased how public art and festivals drive economic vitality and create more vibrant and resilient downtowns. 

Following the model of Bright Walls, which received support from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s (MEDC) Public Spaces Community Places (PSCP) program, the Rogers City Main Street program looked to the MEDC and its local community for assistance to pull off its own mural festival. PSCP is a public placemaking initiative where residents can use crowdfunding to be part of the development of strategic projects in their communities and be backed with a matching grant of up to $50,000 from the MEDC.

The first crowdfunding campaign for the Murals on Main Festival launched in April 2024 and raised $60,014, earning a $50,000 matching grant. The week-long festival held that June welcomed artists Blaine Fontana, Irene Lopez Leon, Kevin Burdick, Anne Charney and Rachel Klein to create murals.

“It’s been so exciting to be part of something that’s bringing life and color to our quiet community,” said Jen Winter of the Murals on Main committee. “Murals on Main isn’t just about paint on walls – it’s about energy, pride and people seeing Rogers City in a new light. Watching tourists come here and fall in love with our town the way we have is such a powerful feeling. We’re truly thankful for our partnership with the MEDC, because their support has helped us turn big ideas into real experiences for our community.”

Following the success of the campaign and 2024 festival, Rogers City launched a crowdfunding campaign in May 2025 to support a second year of the festival with six new mural artists and additional activities throughout the festival, including food trucks, an art walk and family day. The campaign raised $28,335 of its $25,000 goal and received a matching grant from the MEDC. Held in June 2025, the festival welcomed artists from around the country, including Bunnie Reiss, Patrick Maxcy, Erica Sedler, Zach Curtis, Blaine Fontana and Brady Myers, an artist from Rogers City.

Plans are underway for the third annual Murals on Main Festival in June 2026, a testament to the event’s popularity within Rogers City and the lasting impact public art contributes to our communities.

See a Google map of the 2024 and 2025 murals and locations here.

Rogers City: A Michigan Main Street Community

Rogers City became part of the MMS program at the Select level in October 2021. MMS and the Main Street framework build local capacity by providing communities with best practices that create lasting change. Through the MMS program, Rogers City has had access to structured strategy, technical assistance and tools that turn ideas into implementation. The Murals on Main Festival reflects the Main Street approach in action: community-led, volunteer-driven, data-informed and aligned with a larger transformation strategy.

As an MMS community, Rogers City set a clear vision in its Downtown Transformation Strategy: a refreshing, clean and vibrant downtown that attracts local residents, families and visitors with year-round activity, diverse businesses and recreational opportunities. The Murals on Main Festival is a visible expression of that vision coming to life. The festival directly supports the community’s goal of creating active gathering spaces and anchor events in every season, increasing foot traffic and bringing new energy into downtown.

“Since becoming a Main Street community, Rogers City has done nothing but grown in positive directions,” said Tim Pritchard, chairman of the Murals on Main committee. “Becoming a Main Street community has taught us the importance of the four principles of Main Street and the great success of our committees and sub committees. One of these success stories is our Murals on Main Festival. We are coming up on our third year and 16 Murals. Not only have these murals transformed walls that were in disrepair into beautiful pieces of art but have also brought many visitors to our community in search of these murals. Our mural committee is devoted, energetic and extremely dedicated, yet we could not have accomplished this without MEDC partnership.”