Artist Josh Ellingson Paints a Giant Mural at Factory Two Makerspace in His Hometown of Flint Michigan

While visiting his grandparents in Michigan, the incredibly talented artist Josh Ellingson (previously) hooked up with the Flint Public Art Project to paint a mural on the outside wall of Factory Two, a community makerspace. The building formerly housed the Dort Motor Car Company from 1915 through 1924, so Ellingson included concepts from both current and past building residents in his final design.

My mural features two cartoon robots building a model Dort sedan. When I was a kid, my grandfather let me use his tools and workbench to work on my own projects, so I was thinking about that when I was generating concepts for this project.

This project had a personal element for Ellingson as well.

I was born in Flint and grew up mostly in the nearby towns of Davison and Mt. Morris. Being invited back was a great opportunity to visit my folks and reconnect with some old friends. My artwork is installed at Factory Two, a maker-space located at the corner of Grand Traverse St. and Water St. in Flint’s “Carriage Town” neighborhood. My friends that manage the space also run Flint Local 432, an all-ages venue that I frequented as an angsty teen.

Signed prints of the mural are available for purchase through Ellingson’s site.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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