Small and Mighty

Year: 2025

Medium: Exterior Latex on Cement

Artist Statement: At first glance, the Poweshiek Skipperling butterfly might seem insignificant...just a thumbnail sized butterfly barely noticeable in the tall grasses of the prairie fen. Yet the more I learned about this endangered species the more I saw a reflection of myself and of so many others who’ve felt small, soft spoken, or unseen. This mural puts the viewer in the butterfly’s perspective: a small child sits atop a Black-Eyed Susan, the skipperling resting next to them. The child represents a quiet strength, that soft kind of hope we carry even when we’re overlooked. Set at sunset, we honor the brief but beautiful life of the skipperling most of which is spent hidden, surviving, waiting. And then for just a few weeks...it flies. This piece is a reminder that even that smallest, most subtle things are significant. That persistence, no matter how quiet, is still powerful. And that our gentleness is not a weakness it’s part of what makes us magnificent.

Partners: Pleasant Peninsula, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., David Pavlik of John Ball Zoo + more

Location: Underpass near GVSU and 52 Front Ave NW —>Find this mural on my mural map