A new mural depicting Champagne, a live farm animal who calls Hess-Hathaway Park home, was unveiled yesterday on the exterior of the park's Maintenance Barn in Waterford Township, with local officials and residents on hand for an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting that included refreshments and a meet-and-greet with the animal herself.
The Detroit Institute of Arts celebrated the new artwork as part of a ceremony covered by CBS News Detroit, which reported the mural was created through the museum's Partners in Public Art program. Titled Champagne's Chateau, the piece was painted by Flint-based artist Johnny Fletcher, according to the Charter Township of Waterford, which noted Fletcher previously developed public murals through the Flint Public Art Project. The mural sits on the barn at 825 S. Williams Lake Road, a high-visibility spot near the park's public trails.
A Portrait Rooted in the Park's Farm Legacy
The mural centers on Champagne, a live animal resident at Hess-Hathaway Park, and it weaves together the property's agricultural past with the activities that draw visitors today, per the township's account of the project. That history runs deep: the 165-acre park sits on the site of the former Lone Cedar Farm, a dairy operation once owned by Myrtle Hathaway Hess and William Hess, according to the Historical Marker Database. Myrtle bequeathed the land to Waterford Township in 1985, and the township opened it as a public park in 1988.
Before Fletcher put brush to wall, Waterford Township and the DIA ran a community survey in February to gather resident input on themes and ideas for the artwork. Results from that outreach directly shaped the design that went before the township board that April, according to the survey process the township helped organize.
Township Commits to a Decade of Upkeep
Accepting the DIA's mural grant came with strings attached. The Waterford Township Board of Trustees passed a formal resolution committing the township to maintain the artwork for a minimum of 10 years, a standard obligation tied to the museum's partnership agreements for long-term public art preservation.
Waterford was one of eight Metro Detroit communities chosen for the DIA's 2026 mural cohort, joining Allen Park, Grosse Ile, Livonia, Armada Township, Shelby Township, Oak Park, and Wolverine Lake, according to the Detroit Institute of Arts. The museum works with roughly eight municipalities each year with the stated goal of eventually serving every eligible community in the region, and each mural is tailored to feedback from that community's own residents.
How the Program Fits Into Tri-County Arts Funding
Partners in Public Art has been running since 2018 and has now completed 32 community-driven murals across parks, libraries, and municipal halls throughout Metro Detroit. The program draws its funding from the Tri-County Arts Millage, the same tax that gives residents of Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb counties free general admission to the DIA's Detroit museum.
The mural arrives during a busy stretch for the DIA, which Hoodline has covered hosting public programming at its Detroit Film Theatre this month, alongside broader institutional news including staff unionization efforts at an affiliated cultural institution and record crowds for a major exhibition earlier this year.
