Does This Michigan Main Street Have the Best Murals?

Howell — I may be a little biased because I've lived in Livingston County my entire life, but I've always been a sucker for downtown Howell.

Even though it was voted the No. 1 Best Main Street in America by the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards in 2024, people still find plenty of reasons to criticize it. But it’s inarguable that, in recent years, Howell created a beautiful collection of public art.

Thanks to a project that started back in 2019, Howell has quietly become a hub for colorful painted murals. There are beautiful, unusual, and quirky murals everywhere you look downtown—some tucked away in alleyways and others stretching across the sides of buildings high above the street.

And the newest addition to that collection was just unveiled.

Last month, a massive new "Welcome to Howell" mural was unveiled on the side of Thai Café right as you're coming into downtown. It welcomes residents and visitors with a colorful tribute to the community's history, landmarks, traditions, and people.

The idea to put murals in Howell started with the Howell Art Project, an initiative organized by Howell Main Street.

Organizers raised a ton of money and hired mural artists from all over the state to come to Howell and start painting. Together, they transformed blank walls downtown into colorful and unique works of art. During the project's first year, four large murals were completed.

The effort was such a success, and more murals have continued to appear ever since.

One of the original people selected for the project was Detroit artist Sheefy McFly, who's known for bold and bright art styles. He painted a massive set of eyes mural on the Walnut Street Marketplace. He spent a week in Howell working on the project and later described it as one of the most welcoming communities he ever visited.

Sick Fisher, Kelly Beacome, and Cheyenne Bolin were among the numerous other talented artists who contributed murals to downtown Howell.

Now, a new public art initiative is helping add even more art to downtown Howell.

The latest addition is part of a new project called ART Doing Good, a nonprofit founded by local artist Susan Pominville. The organization raised more than $50,000 to support public art projects throughout downtown Howell, with the Thai Café "Welcome" mural serving as the first major installation.

The mural was officially unveiled on June 23 and showcases many of the places, events, and traditions that Livingston County residents know and love, including the Historic Livingston County Courthouse, Howell Carnegie District Library, Howell Opera House, Bennett Field, and Thompson Lake.

It also includes odes to Balloonfest, Fantasy of Lights, the Legend of Sleepy Howell, and even Howell's famous melon ice cream. The project was designed using community input, and some residents may even recognize their own handwritten notes hidden throughout the artwork.

Creating the mural was no small task. Instead of painting directly onto the tough wooden exterior of Thai Café, Pominville first created the artwork as an original oil painting. This painting was then photographed in extremely high resolution and reproduced using a custom installation system designed specifically for the building.

This way, the texture and look of the original oil painting is preserved, but it ensures the artwork will last against Michigan’s unpredictable and ever-changing weather. And according to Pominville, this is only the beginning.

ART Doing Good plans to continue adding public art throughout downtown, with future installations already being planned for additional locations around the city.

While I've personally always thought downtown Howell had plenty going for it, there's now another reason to stop by Main Street.

If the weekly farmers market and Friday night concerts were never enough for you, maybe Howell's growing collection of colorful murals will be enough for you to want to make the trip.