Sixteen artists spent Friday, Sept. 11, painting murals on blank canvases lining both sides of Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

The second annual Street Art Encounter, organized by the Main Street Area Association, ran from noon to 8 p.m. The free event featured live mural painting, chalk art, interactive installations, musical performances, in-street dining and family-friendly activities, according to event details published by AADL's Pulp.

Artists from across Michigan worked in the open as families walked between stations, watching pieces take shape and talking with the painters. The lineup included lead artist John Vasquez of Saginaw, known for the Shine Bright Saginaw Mural Project that transformed large grain silos into colorful murals. Three Ann Arbor artists participated: tattoo artist Elizabeth Ann Darling, Samuel Turner and Polina Poplavsky. The roster also drew from Detroit, Flint, Kalamazoo, Ypsilanti and other Michigan cities.

The event was free.

On West Liberty Street, the Ann Arbor Art Center hosted a community art activation from noon to 5 p.m. Staff painted the inside of the center's front ceramics studio windows white to create a blank canvas. The center provided window paint so visitors could add their own artwork to the outside of the glass, along with chalk for the sidewalk. Kelsey Hofe, the center's education events manager, and her staff managed the supply tables and encouraged passersby to pick up a brush.

DeVaughn Collins, an airbrush artist from Saginaw, said the event brought people of all ages together. "Art makes a community. Events like this, you get everyone outside. The kids, the adults — they're all bonding through art," Collins said, according to The Michigan Daily.

Collins, who is in his 50s, said he has been making art his whole life and that every piece still feels like a new experience.

Darling said art is universal, noting it's taught in schools around the world and brings people together.

Ashley Schafer, executive director of the Main Street Area Association, said in a statement on Sept. 10 that the encounter was "about creating an experience that brings people together through art." She attributed the decision to bring it back to the strong community response to the inaugural 2025 event.

The community artwork at the Art Center stayed on display overnight, with studio lights left on for evening viewing.