New mural added to downtown Berkley business

BERKLEY — The side of Nova Chiropractic in Berkley has been decorated with a brand-new mural.

The finishing touches of the mural on Nova Chiropractic, located at 2745 Coolidge Highway, were done during the Berkley Street Art Fest on July 16. The mural features a colorful portrait of a lion surrounded by paint splatter.

The conception of the mural began after an accident in which a vehicle smashed into the side of Nova Chiropractic. The damage to the wall, as well as the upcoming Street Art Fest, led chiropractor and owner Nick Novakoski to redo the mural, which had stood for five years. The Downtown Development Authority helped pay for the mural, covering $5,000 of the cost.

“It was kind of an abstract mural, but (the accident) made it more abstract,” he said. “So we decided to paint over it.”

Novakoski was put into contact with artist Luna Shaaya, who spent two weeks this month creating the mural. Novakoski wanted Shaaya to do her own thing, but he did find on her website her previous art featuring lions, which he liked. That led to the lion’s inclusion in the mural.

“She had a bunch of really cool lions on there, and I’m a big Detroit Lions fan,” he said. “I was like, lions are kind of cool, so I ended up with (this design).”

Shaaya, a Southfield resident and professional artist for six years, stated that the lion is one of her staples and most-requested art pieces. The idea of including paint splatter around the lion was done because Nova shares its building with Pinspiration, a crafting studio in Berkley.

“I kind of wanted to incorporate both brands and incorporate the lion as well. So that’s kind of how I came up with the colors and the splatter and the lion,” she said. “I incorporated just, like, a bunch of their colors, and I just kind of turned it into this whole cluster of brands and the concept he wanted to go with.”

Shaaya said it took approximately 20 to 25 hours to complete the mural during the two weeks. She attributed the longer time frame to the weather and rain in early July, which dragged the process up to the Street Art Fest.

The Berkley mural was Shaaya’s fifth one this year. Seeing the final design once she was done was cool for her, as it turned out to be more than what she had originally planned.

“I envisioned it to be a little bit more, like, sectioned out as far as colors, but I just kept adding more detail,” she said. “It was just more than what I expected it to be, and I think because of the weather too and the reason why I dragged on for two weeks, I just kept adding more and more and more, and then it just turned out the way that it was.”

Shaaya added that, because of this job, she has been hired to design and create two more murals in other cities.

Novakoski said he loved the final design of the mural — especially the bright colors, as opposed to the black wall that was there before.

“When the wall was all painted black, we kept having patients show up late to their appointments. Now that it’s bright, people are back on time and stuff,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything but positive feedback from the entire community. People really like it. It looks really cool. We got a lot of exposure during the Street Art Fest, too.”