An eye-catching floral mural welcomes visitors to Mother’s Pantry in Inkster, MI, offering a preview of the positive spirit inside: As the area’s only client choice food pantry, they allow clients to shop like a grocery store, selecting items to suit their families’ dietary needs. Supporting its community’s health is a critical mission for Mother’s Pantry, and one its staff and volunteers take seriously.
“We pride ourselves on having nutritious food, not just canned goods, which can be high in sodium,” says executive director Pastor Velma Jean Overman. “Our population is primarily people of color, and we often have health disparities.”
Begun in a church basement during the Great Recession of 2008, Mother’s Pantry now operates out of its own 1400-square-foot building. It also partners with organizations like Gleaner’s, Forgotten Harvest, and the National Kidney Foundation to serve its clients even better.
We wanted to celebrate all the nourishment Mother’s Pantry offers by giving its building a fresh face. Honoring hardworking organizations like Mother’s Pantry is exactly why we teamed up with Benjamin Moore on the Paint It Forward project. Benjamin Moore is invested in its communities, with independently owned stores staffed by knowledgeable — and local — paint experts.
This building’s crown jewel is its sweeping orange-and-blue floral mural on the side wall, painted by students from Camp Inspire, an educational STEAM summer camp for girls. When determining Mother’s Pantry’s new color palette, designer and visual artist Sara Weissler was inspired to incorporate the mural’s colors. She chose Benjamin Moore’s Regal Select Exterior paint in the soft and serene color Blue Jean 2062-50 for the front wall and refreshed the front door in the energizing color Tangy Orange 2014-30.
“The mural was the jumping-off point,” Sara says. “Blue Jean 2062-50 provides a subtle backdrop that allows the upbeat Tangy Orange 2014-30 to pop. This combination of colors adds personality and a welcome feel to the facade.”
To balance out all that color — and freshen up the mural’s backdrop — Sara went for a classic neutral. She choose crisp and fresh Intense White OC-51 for the remaining walls and shutters. It’s also used on the trim, window frames, flower boxes, and mailbox to give the whole look a cohesive feel.
“The side and back of the building needed a solid, clean color to allow them to sit well beside the front wall and side wall with the mural,” Sara says. “Since the background for the mural is white, painting the other two walls white creates balance.”
This bright and crisp refresh matches exactly what community members will find inside: a cheerful and supportive space for everyone.
