Public Thread is a for-profit business working to address social and environmental issues through the art of textiles. We are a textile upcycling company that diverts textile waste from our landfills and supports living wage jobs in the cut & sew industry.

Janay: I think getting this mural will be the beginning of a change in the black and brown communities. It’s not just a painting, it speaks emotion, pain, truth, and justice. It speaks to Industries that have not necessarily been equitable to the people who worked in them. This mural will begin to gather people who have different lived experiences in our communities and begin conversations that can start to heal our now and change our collective future.

Lisa Knight: Public Thread started in 2016 in the Founder’s kitchen. Since 2016 Public Thread has diverted more than 80,000 lbs of textile waste from our community’s landfills.
During Covid we pivoted, with the intense help of our community, to design and bring to market a three-layer, high-quality reusable face mask within 7 days of the call from the community that we needed them. In 2020 we made 70,000+masks.
We are so excited about the mural being added to the building. It will not only be a beautiful addition to an industrial area of the community but also a symbol of welcome for everyone that passes our building. We aim for our space and what we do inside to be a haven for creativity, innovation, community, and connection and we believe that adding community-led art across the 49507 area will catalyze positive growth for our local Black and Brown Creative Community/Economy and reflect on the outside of our building the kind of work we are doing inside our building and alongside our community.
Thank you for this opportunity to partner and support our community’s creatives and incredible creative talent.