David Zinn's new Library Lane mural may have locals 'Singin' in the Rain' - Ann Arbor, MI - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

Local artist David Zinn has spent much of the last week painting one of the most iconic and beloved images in the history of cinema – Gene Kelly hanging off a lamppost, with a closed umbrella in one hand and the world’s happiest grin on his face – onto the downtown library’s underground parking garage entrance on the west side of S. Fifth Ave., near Liberty St.

Ironically, Zinn and the 2 people (Danijel Matanic and Zinn’s uncle, John A. Copley) who helped him create this image from “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952) had to stop work one day because of – wait for it – rain.

But sweltering heat was more generally the norm, particularly since there’s no shade near that particular parking lot entrance. Fortunately, the heat didn’t have a negative effect on the paint and other materials.

"(The paint) went on just fine," said Zinn, a Greenhills School and U-M graduate. "If anything, the heat just meant it took a little longer to dry, which is good if you're making art. … I just felt kind of guilty about making my uncle stand out in the hot sun for long hours."

The public art project - which is being funded by Ann Arbor’s Downtown Development Authority for approximately $2,500, which covers materials and installation – was proposed by Zinn as a preemptive anti-graffiti measure.

“So far, this space has been safe and clean, so we’re not covering anything up,” Zinn said. “ … By putting this here, we’re signaling that there’s no need to do graffiti here. Someone already loves this wall.”

The project has taken more time than Zinn expected. “If we were to do something like this again, I’m not sure it would still be the same price. But for a first experiment, we thought we could play it a bit more fast and loose.”

Zinn is most widely known for his whimsical chalk art – on display during the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, among other local events – and just 2 of weeks ago, he was drawing on a stoop on Liberty Street when he ran into Susan Pollay, executive director of the DDA.

“She stopped to talk and said nice things about my drawings, … and I’d had this crazy idea and just decided to tell her. She said, ‘Draw up a proposal, and I’ll share it at our meeting in a couple of days.’ So on the same day as the meeting, I think, I got an email that said, ‘Yeah, we’ll do it.’ It was a whiplash kind of thing, going from crazy daydream to making it happen in a really short time.”

And unlike Zinn’s inevitably evanescent chalk renderings, “This (‘Singin’ in the Rain’ image) is painted to hang around on this wall as long as it can.”

Zinn has fond memories of seeing “Singin’ in the Rain” at the Michigan Theater as a high school and college student; and he just learned, while doing this project, that Kelly’s daughter, Kerry Kelly Novick, is a longtime Ann Arbor resident.

But the primary reason for choosing the movie image appears to be the fun illusion that’s created by the real lamppost planted in front of the wall.

Zinn and his team were putting the finishing touches on the work on Tuesday morning, but Zinn had to stop for a few minutes to answer questions from someone patrolling the area.

“Apparently their boss forgot to mention we were doing this, so they thought that this was just a really bold act of graffiti, which did cross our mind (as a possible assumption),” Zinn said. “Some people who have stopped to watch us and have asked, ‘Do you have permission to do this?’

Type of publication: Internet Only When was the article reported?: 09/09/2014 Publication: M LIve Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Arts/Culture

Visit Instructions:
Give the date of your visit at the news location along with a description of what you learned or experienced.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.