Watch video of artist spray-painting 5-floor mural on Saginaw building

Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

A drone view of the completed mural by Flint artist Kevin Burdick on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

A view of the completed mural by Flint artist Kevin Burdick on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

People watch as Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

A drone image of Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

A drone image of Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

A drone view of the completed mural by Flint artist Kevin Burdick on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

A view of the completed mural by Flint artist Kevin Burdick on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

A drone image of Flint artist Kevin Burdick works on his mural on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

A view of the completed mural by Flint artist Kevin Burdick on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at the Saginaw County Health Department in Saginaw. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

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SAGINAW, MI — Flint muralist Kevin Burdick last week finished his spray-painted mural along the southern wall of the Saginaw County Health Department building.

Burdick was hired for the task by Saginaw Community Foundation, which paid him $8,500 from a $60,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

The grant was aimed at providing harm reduction services for citizens struggling with addiction and substance use.

Organizers said Burdick’s mural — which features birds flying free from a cage — was meant to inspire residents seeking help for substance use issues at the health department headquarters, 1600 N. Michigan.

The concept for the mural was inspired by input from a panel that included people recovering from substance use, said Kendra Kempf, program officer with the Saginaw Community Foundation.

”It’s better than any we could have ever imagined,” Kempf said of the mural. “The coloring of it actually fits perfectly with the building for the health department. It looks like it belongs on the building.”

Burdick created the mural Monday to Friday, May 9-13, in part using boom lift equipment to paint on the tallest points of the five-story building across the street from Covenant HealthCare.

Read more on MLive:

To keep Saginaw toilets flushing in right direction, officials seek $7M remedy

Proposal to demolish old Saginaw fairgrounds renews redevelopment hopes

See Saginaw staff’s $32.1M wish list of projects for stimulus spending

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