Bill Martin says he just wanted to find a way to support local artists.
Back in 1987, the developer worked with Marsha Chamberlin, then president of the Ann Arbor Art Center, to commission fourteen paintings of local scenes. A year ago, as his business, First Martin Corporation, prepared to celebrate its forty-fifth year, Martin decided to expand the collection to forty-five.
He again called on Chamberlin, now an independent art consultant. Martin says he didn’t have any preconceived ideas about the new pieces he wanted, other than that they had to be Ann Arbor scenes done by Michigan artists: “Marsha was the one who was the talent director.”
Chamberlin built a database of more than 500 artists, contacted them all, and opened a Facebook page to spread the word. She says “eighty to eighty-five” responded with a resume and five samples of their work.
Three judges–Chamberlin, local artist Julia Jickling, and First Martin VP Bob Gates–whittled the list down to twenty-three. Each was asked which three Ann Arbor scenes they’d most like to paint. The committee assigned each artist one or more scenes and asked them to submit sketches, along with the proposed medium, size, and price of the work. The asking prices ranged from $800 to $8,000. To avoid breaking Martin’s budget, some prices were negotiated.
By May of this year, Chamberlin’s Liberty Loft condo was filled with sketches for Martin to review. Some were almost like finished paintings, some were very rough sketches, and one was a torn-paper collage. Martin gave his approval and the artists went to work.
The collection includes a gorgeous pastel of Argo Cascades by Observer cover artist Laura Strowe–“she waited until the black-eyed susans were in bloom,” says Chamberlin. Jill Wagner painted Washtenaw Dairy, Marty Walker took on the Rock at Washtenaw and Hill, and WanChuan Kesler did a haunting rendering of Nickels Arcade. Other scenes include Martin’s own First National Building and the Big House at night–Martin oversaw its renovation during his ten years as U-M athletic director.
Martin says he’s spent close to $100,000 on the project. By early November, a relieved Chamberlin reported, all the works were finished and stored in an empty condo in Liberty Lofts.
The new pieces–along with reproductions of some of the earlier ones–will be on display at the Art Center’s second-floor gallery through December 22. Once the show ends, Gates emails, “they’ll be scattered about the buildings in First Martin’s portfolio.”
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This article has been edited since it appeared in the December 2013 Ann Arbor Observer. The number of paintings commissioned in 1987 has been corrected.
