Holland's Eastcore neighborhood invited to block party, mural festival

Carolyn Muyskens, The Holland Sentinel
·2 min read
A mural on the wall of Winning at Home, 21 W. 16th St., Holland. July 28-30, artists will be adding murals on the walls of De Waard Interiors and Sammy's Nails on the same block of 16th Street.
A mural on the wall of Winning at Home, 21 W. 16th St., Holland. July 28-30, artists will be adding murals on the walls of De Waard Interiors and Sammy's Nails on the same block of 16th Street.

HOLLAND — The Eastcore neighborhood will soon be getting several new splashes of color at the end of this month and the whole Holland community is invited to the big "reveal."

Eastcore's neighborhood organization 3sixty is holding what the group hopes will be the first of several annual mural festivals. The events, over the last weekend in July, include a block party for the Eastcore neighborhood, a meet-and-greet with the mural artists and a neighborhood walk to view the new works.

Artist Chris Garcia has been commissioned to design and paint murals on three Eastcore neighborhood businesses: De Waard Interiors, 16 W. 16th St., Sammy's Nails, 380 Central Ave., and Columbia Avenue One Stop, 405 Columbia Ave. Work on the murals, by Garcia and a team of assistants, will begin on July 28.

A fourth mural, on a second wall at Columbia Avenue One Stop, will be a collaborative, interactive creation. Anyone is invited on the morning of Saturday, July 30 to contribute to the mural with his or her answer to the question "What does a flourishing neighborhood look like?" under the guidance of Garcia.

Htownink tattoo parlor owner Chris Garcia discusses the preparations his shop has made prior to reopening Monday, June 15. Monday was the first day personal services like salons and barbershops could reopen following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's lockdown orders because of COVID-19.
Htownink tattoo parlor owner Chris Garcia discusses the preparations his shop has made prior to reopening Monday, June 15. Monday was the first day personal services like salons and barbershops could reopen following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's lockdown orders because of COVID-19.

On Friday, a meet-and-greet with the artists from 5 to 9 p.m. at Tulip City Brewstillery will honor the mural festival sponsors and raise money for 3sixty.

Saturday afternoon, 2-6 p.m., is a block party at 14th Street Christian Reformed Church, 14 W. 14th St., complete with music, food, carnival games, kids' activities, pinatas and a visit from the Holland Department of Public Safety's Polar Patrol. The murals will be "revealed" in a walk around the neighborhood and inside the church 3sixty will offer history and information about the Eastcore neighborhood, which is bounded by 13th Street, 24th Street, River Avenue and Lincoln Avenue.

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Lori Appeldoorn, a "neighbor-to-neighbor connector" for 3sixty, said one of the goals is simply to help people in the Eastcore neighborhood meet their neighbors after the isolating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's also a celebration and a party. "One of the things I've heard often from neighbors is just, 'can we have a party?'" Appeldoorn said. "People are really hungry to connect, to know their neighbors and to make friends."

But Appeldoorn also stressed everyone is invited, even those who don't live in Eastcore.

"It's a way to show what our neighborhood is about and what we are trying to do to make our neighborhood a better place for people to live, work and play," she said.

The hope is to grow the mural festival into an attraction drawing visitors to explore more parts of Holland beyond the downtown shopping district, Appeldoorn said.

Learn more about the festival and get involved in sponsoring or volunteering at 3-sixty.org.

— Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens. 

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland's Eastcore neighborhood invited to block party, mural festival