Making History with History
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. ONH was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, orator. And he once said, “A people without the knowledge of their history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.” So at the beginning of 2022 the Ausable Artisan Village, MACC, Grayling Promotional Association, the City of Grayling, and Kirtland Community College came together to create murals that represent the history of Grayling.
The murals have been installed at three different gazebos around the city of Grayling. The historical figures highlighted by this project are, Cheif Shoppenagon, Karen Hartwick, Fred Bear, and Rasmus Hanson. Many hours went into this project, involving research, painting, and woodworking. The murals were created by Kirtland Alumni Terry Dickinson, along with Kirtland’s lead art faculty Scott Rice. The woodwork was done by Randi Dodgson, the Wood Science instructor for Kirtland along with her students. While the historical research and writing were done by Shawn Witherspoon, who said, when talking about the project, “Being able to do something like this for the community is amazing. So many folks have had a hand in making this possible from MACC who provided the grant, and the Artisan Village who wrote it. And of course the GPA and the City. I hope that these murals will inspire people not only with their beautiful art but their history too.” The gazebos are located at the Grayling Walgreen’s, the Grayling Township Hall, and across from the hospital. See below the process of this project.