'It's all love': Detroit artist kicks off second year of Plntng Seeds in Monroe

Rick Williams was excited to visit Monroe.

The esteemed Detroit artist and entrepreneur picked the perfect weekend to work outside. Clear skies, the sun shining, and unseasonably hot temperatures greeted Williams as he looked at the blank canvas along the wall of the Monroe Community Ambulance station at East First Street and Conant Avenue.

That wasn't all that greeted Williams and his partner, Ghost Beard, as they started work on an intricate public art mural along the building's facade. During breaks in the three-day long project, they devoured some "amazing" Detroit Beach Pizza and enjoyed interacting with members of the community who stopped by to watch the work.

"There were lots of people coming by with lots of encouragement," Williams said. "A lot of people stopped by and said thank you. All positive. It's all love."

Williams' mural was the first in a series of public art pieces going up around the city this spring and summer as part of the second year of the Plntng Seeds initiative.

More: Plntng Seeds initiative bringing more murals to Monroe in second year

In its inaugural year last summer, Plntng Seeds helped connect local businesses with accomplished artists to help bring an extra splash of color, culture and community to Monroe. In total, the initiative created six pieces in its first year with another 7-8 planned for this summer.

In a way, it all started with Williams.

"A previous piece of Rick's work was a significant inspiration for the creation of Plntng Seeds," said Woody Hoffer, the founder and creative director of Plntng Seeds. "I was looking for the opportunity to collaborate with Rick and bring his energy and creativity to our community."

That previous piece was a mural that Hoffer stumbled across in Detroit's Eastern Market. It was one of Williams' early works, created in 2017 in partnership with Brandan "BMike" Odums for the city's annual Murals in the Market showcase.

The mural features a young Black girl with her arm raised in a power fist and flowers clutched tightly between her fingers. The words, "They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds," are painted next to her arm. An early iteration of Williams' signature camo pattern splashes across the background.

Williams refers to that pattern as "horizon camo."

"It represents the sun, new beginnings, the source of life, a lot of different things," Williams said. "It represents joy, peace. It's something that was inspired by my morning meditations and now I'm kind of spreading it throughout the world."

The pattern has evolved over the years. Williams added a color gradient to the style and more striking colors to evoke a feeling of the sun piercing the darkness as it rises from the horizon. He has used the camo in eight different public art pieces, but only four use the current iteration − including Monroe.

Most of his work can be found in Detroit with murals at Third Man Records, the Shinola Building, and the campus of Wayne State University. His work also has touched Pontiac and the headquarters of his Distinct Life agency in Royal Oak.

Williams started Distinct Life with his wife, Yolanda, as a creative lifestyle brand collaborating with companies to help them develop their image through art, music and design. They've partnered with both small startups and major corporations like Comedy Central and Beats by Dre.

Distinct Life was born out of Williams' background in sneaker design. He has worked extensively with footwear brands like Reebok, New Balance and Adidas and has an upcoming partnership with Puma celebrating Detroit's hip hop scene.

Williams also is partnering later this year with the Detroit Pistons to create more public art pieces, and he is opening his first solo art show called "Hip Hop Raise Me" at Spot Lite Detroit on June 17.

"He's a creative genius in the design industry for really two decades now," Hoffer said. "His reputation really proceeds him. He's an extremely talented, multidisciplinary creative whose work has shaped the culture. … His work always has a purpose about it that aligns well with Plntng Seeds."

Hoffer said that Plntng Seeds never found the right project to feature Williams' unique style last summer.

He was eager to bring him on board this year.

"For me, the effort is always collaborative with myself and the building owners," Hoffer said. "I didn't offer Rick to anybody last year, but this particular building was a challenge and was one I thought worked well with the style of Rick's work."

Mark Cochran, Monroe's director of economic and community development, agreed. The city owns the MCA station downtown where Williams painted his mural just a little over a week ago.

"I was excited when they showed me the building," Williams said. "I was excited, but I didn't know how challenging it would be. It was a lot more paint than I anticipated. But it just made the piece that much more special because the building was so unique with those pillars that pop out.

"We were able to play a bit. If you look at it from different angles, we had to make those shapes come out. It was interesting doing that. It was a first. … I learned a lot painting those walls."

The final result is an eye-catching and bold work that fits perfectly with the Orchard East neighborhood at a prominent intersection into the city. Hoffer hopes the mural will serve "as a reminder that positivity and creativity can thrive even in unexpected places."

The community has already been vocal in their embrace of the work, Cochran said.

"We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on Rick's mural from those who have seen it completed and those who observed Rick's process in creating the work," Cochran said. "As this building is a gateway into our city for those travelling off I-75, it's location was strategically chosen as a gateway feature into the neighborhood and city. We look forward to seeing the other exciting planned installations coming this summer throughout the whole city."

The other artists participating in this year's Plntng Seeds project are scheduled to work almost synchronously around the city throughout the first week of June.

Hoffer said there will be programming associated with the impromptu art festival that week, and he encourages the public to come out and interact with both the local and regional artists while they work.

"They welcome interaction from people in the community," he said. "Don't be afraid to approach the artists, ask them about their work, ask them about themselves, and share your thoughts. … That's part of the reason they're here. We don't just want to house their work; we want to interact with them and be inspired by them."

Williams will be back that week, too.

He purposely left part of his mural unfinished so he could be part of the festivities. While he will be busy that week preparing for his art show at Spot Lite Detroit, he did not want to miss a return trip to Monroe.

"I didn't want this whole building to paint during that, but I left a couple things to touch up and I'll come back and sign it and do all that," Williams said. "I'm looking forward to meeting people and feeling the energy while everybody is painting."

Williams was honored to kick off the Plntng Seeds this spring and hopes his mural and all of the others can help inspire the community the same way that it has for Detroit.

"I hope it gives people a feeling of joy and happiness when they see it," he said. "They can interpret what they want from it, but what I can tell you is that it comes from a place of good intentions and a place of love.

"That's what it means to me."

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Detroit artist kicks off second year of Plntng Seeds murals in Monroe