A sign to get through the times: Our Savior’s Lutheran Church brightens up the Lansing community with its Positive Sign Campaign

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

Feeling stressed and frustrated? Need a lift? Then take a drive, enjoy the changing fall leaves in the scenic countryside and drive through Lansing to see the brightly-colored, positive signs on Main Street.

Humans have a natural tendency to dwell on the negative, to worry about the “what ifs.” “What if” those worries and negative thoughts were replaced with positive ones?

The new public art project from Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Lansing, dubbed “The Positive Sign Campaign,” aims to do just that. Using recycled pallet boards, these paintings with upbeat and funny messages are meant to be inspiring to all who read them.

The idea began with Pastor Laura Gentry, who is also an artist, laughter yoga teacher and motivational speaker. She’s long been interested in the power of positivity. Research shows that positive thinking can lower stress levels and boost overall health.

The Mayo Clinic’s website, mayoclinic.org, cites a number of these studies. The Mayo Clinic’s research shows that positive thinking can increase life span, lower rates of depression, and lower levels of distress. In addition, positivity can offer greater resistance to the common cold plus encourage better psychological and physical well-being. Positive thinking can increase coping skills during hardships and times of stress.

“We’re all so exhausted and frustrated right now,” said Pastor Gentry. “I just thought we needed a shot of positivity and art is a great way to accomplish that.”

Pastor Gentry designed, collected the positive statements from a variety of sources, and built the prototype. Then volunteers from her congregation and the community assisted in painting the boards and filling in the letters. One community volunteer said, “I love the fall colors of the boards and letters.”

Marlene Duffy, Ann Fields, Susan Cantine-Maxson and Pastor Gentry painted the background colors on the wood pieces. The pallet wood was prepared for the project by Mike Schweitzer.

One sunny Sunday in September, a group gathered at the Lansing City Park to begin the letter painting. After that, Pastor Gentry and church members did the finishing work on the 23 signs, assembled them and got them placed in the planters on Main Street and other locations, including the United Methodist Church and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

Behind each sign is a QR code which people can scan with their phones. This offers the source of the quoted phrase and encourages people to take a picture with the sign and upload it to the project’s website: lansinglutherans.org/positive-sign-campaign. All the signs are displayed on the website.

“It is exciting that so many people took part in bringing this vision to life!” Pastor Gentry explained. “Art brings people together, especially public art, but it’s even better when the community can take part in the creation of that art. I’m inspired that it happened with this campaign.”

Another community member stated, “I just love these! What a positive vibe for those who are passing through Lansing.”

The Positive Sign Campaign is the second public art project Our Savior’s Lutheran has created for Lansing. Several years ago, they painted a series of large butterflies for the planters downtown. Each had a different design as well as a written message. They were displayed for a couple of summer seasons.

Pastor Gentry added, “Public art gives cities more value and meaning. Displaying art in public places makes it accessible to everyone and gives a feeling of belonging. We hope to offer more projects like this in the future.”

Research shows that practicing positive thinking every day can be a habit which changes not only health but attitude. John Hopkins Medicine advocates smiling more in order to increase resiliency, which allows people to adapt to stress and change. The Positive Sign Project hopes to offer a way to increase smiles and those positive attitudes.