Behind the Mural: Home (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) by Maddie Chaffer
Today we want to deep dive into the story behind Grand Rapids Artist Maddie Chaffer’s mural from the 2022 Art Seen Festival: Home (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow).
This beautiful mural is located on the back of the Little Forks Outfitters building and was sponsored in full by Members First Credit Union! Stop by and see it in person, in the parking lot behind Little Forks Outfitters, off McDonald Street, between E Larkin and Main St., in Downtown, Midland, Michigan. Check out our map for more details.
Here’s a look into the thoughtful meaning of this mural, from Maddie’s application:
“My work is deeply informed by place; whether that be the business for whom I’m painting, the neighborhood in which a mural is located, or the ecological landscape of a city. Even though I’m not a Midland native, I wanted to approach a design with this same ethos of honoring the city that you call home. Through historic and ecological research, virtual site visits, and feedback from my trusty Facebook foraging group, I’ve designed a Midland-themed mural that I’m truly excited to share with you.
I wanted to explore the broad concept of home in the specific context of Midland. Secondarily, I’m touching on the theme of past, present, and future. A Midland house (based on a real house on East Haley Street!) is the centerpiece of this mural, but humans are not the only species to call this area home. Fungi, plants, and animals have populated this same landscape for thousands of years, and continue to coexist with us to this day. If we take care to preserve our natural landscape, we will continue to share this home for many years to come.
A Midland house is the focal point of this mural to communicate the central theme of “home.” The house is surrounded by a variety of native fungi and plant species to represent how we share this environment with many other lifeforms. Together, this section of the mural symbolizes the present—a peaceful cohabitation.
I’ve depicted oyster and morel mushrooms, wild leeks, apple blossoms, and cherry blossoms. These species were chosen for important reasons. Midland is actually a forager’s dream—the parks and nature preserves are filled with wild leeks and oyster mushrooms, and every spring Michiganders from around the state travel to Midland in search of the elusive morel (myself included). Lastly, the apple and cherry blossoms represent two of the most common fruits grown in our state.
To illustrate Midland’s past, I’ve included a silhouetted woolly mammoth in the upper left corner. A story about an intact mammoth skeleton found in Midland County was actually one of the first articles to pop up in my research. Mammoths were common in this area 24,000 years ago. In the context of the design, the mammoth represents how Midland has served as a “home” for thousands of years. This land has always provided for the lifeforms that live here, and hopefully always will. This brings me to the final branch of the design.
A robin with an unhatched egg symbolizes Midland’s future. At once a sign of hope and a word of warning, the robin egg represents the delicacy of a balanced ecosystem. We have a bright future to look forward to, given that we take the necessary precautions to care for the present. By treating our homes with care, we ensure that our children inherit them in the future.
Obviously, the robin is also our state bird. A few other miscellaneous details are as follows: the moon cycles in the upper left corner represent the passage of time (past, present, future). The eastern shoreline of Michigan is subtly threaded between different elements of the mural, most obviously where the robin sits in Michigan’s thumb. With Saginaw Bay indicated to the right side of the house, it’s implied once again that Midland represents home. Not as subtly is a hand in the upper right corner. A star sits where one would point to Midland. The hand is included as a lighthearted reference to my favorite Michigander habit of pointing to cities on our hands.”
Original Concept Art
Original Concept Details
MEET MADDISON
Maddison Chaffer, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been working as a muralist professionally for two years now and apprenticed for the two years prior. They have worked with Lansing's Below The Stacks (2019) Festival, Grand Rapids' After Dark (2020), Dwelling Place‘s Heartside Mural Festival (2021 and 2022), and Grand Rapids' ArtPrize (2021 and 2022).
Of their work, Maddison says, "I love mural work because, when done really well, it functions as a universal language. Like music and facial expressions, public art can transcend literacy, education level, cultural background, and social class. My murals explore evolutionary science and social history in bright, simple illustrations that aim to render concepts accessible to anyone who passes by. With public art, I can make ideas available to people who may not otherwise feel comfortable in a science/history museum (a lot of reading) or an art museum (kind of elitist; way too air conditioned). I aim to design murals in a way that is engaging and thought-provoking so that folks can continue to find new elements over time.”
Thank you so much, Maddie, for your sharing your time and talents to make Midland an even more beautiful place. We appreciate you and are so glad to now know you!
Learn more at maddisonchaffer.com
Instagram: @son.visual
