GRAND RAPIDS — When you see a storm drain on a street, do you ever wonder where it goes? Artist Lea Friesen has been working with the city of Grand Rapids to help raise awareness about where storm drains end by painting fish and other wildlife on sidewalks near drains in a few areas around town.
One example is a 9-foot muskie on the sidewalk median at the Grand Rapids Area Library parking lot.
While Friesen’s paintings are whimsical, they have a bigger purpose: to inform the public about best practices for taking good care of storm drains. In Grand Rapids, stormwater largely ends up in the Mississippi River.
Things that can affect waterways connected to storm drains include littering, improper disposal of pet waste, washing cars and applying lawn chemicals.
Not all Friesen's artwork is mega-sized.
“There's a couple spots by Crystal Lake. Those are actually life-size fish," Friesen said. "So they're very small. I didn't realize life-size was going to be, like, tiny.”
“... I wanted to paint the fish so they looked like they were swimming down the sidewalk with shadows and things to kind of make them look real.”
She looked for images of the animals taken from above to use as a reference.
"I would have loved to have done a heron, but I couldn't figure that one out,” she said.
Friesen says she's proud to be involved with this project.
“The city of Grand Rapids is kind of taking lead on just really advocating for clean water," she said. "And I feel like that is wonderful and it makes sense. I'm really glad to be a part of that. I've really enjoyed the project.
"It's amazing when you walk by one of your paintings and you see a bunch of little kids like sitting on it because they think they're riding this big fish. It's wonderful. It's fun to do public art because then you feel like you're really tied to the community.”
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The Bright Spot is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
