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The Bookstore Mural is an outdoor mural by Richard Wolk located on the corner of Liberty Street and State Street in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, US. The mural is an Ann Arbor icon, and is one of the city's most well-known pieces of public art. The work, colloquially referred to as the Bookstore Mural, was painted in 1984 by Richard Wolk [1] and was commissioned by David's Books, the building's former occupants. [2] The mural depicts the headshots of Woody Allen, Edgar Allan Poe, Hermann Hesse, Franz Kafka, and Anaïs Nin. It is approximately 60 by 20 feet (18 by 6 m).
The bookstore mural was painted on the side of the building at 300 South State Street by Richard Wolk in 1984. [1] It was commissioned by David's Books, the building's occupants at that time. [2] The building has been managed by Oxford Company since 2000. [3] Built in 1901, the property has housed several businesses, including David's Books, the Kenmore Restaurant, and Discount Records, where a young Iggy Pop worked before he moved to Chicago. [4] [5] Potbelly Sandwich Works has occupied the building since 2003. [6]
One of the most notable aspects of the work is that the subjects are not easily identifiable, nor is the name of the piece widely known. This is illustrated by the fact that it is often referred to by different names, including: The Poet Mural, [4] Liberty Street Mural, [2] The Bookstore Mural, [2] and East Liberty Street Wall Mural. [7]
Several news sources, such as the Michigan Daily [8] and AnnArbor.com , choose not to refer to it by any name. A 2010 article by AnnArbor.com detailed how the mural was not collectively named, and whether it should be. [9]
In 2010, the mural gained significant media attention as the original painter, Richard Wolk, was hired to touch it up, 26 years after he originally painted it. [9] The mural was featured in several publications, including the cover of the Ann Arbor Observer, and on official movie posters for the 2010 film, Answer This!. [10] [11]
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of government of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the fifth-largest city in Michigan. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Washtenaw County. Ann Arbor is also included in the Greater Detroit Combined Statistical Area and the Great Lakes megalopolis, the most populated and largest megalopolis in North America.
Borders Group, Inc. was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores.
Menominee is a city in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,488 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Menominee County. Menominee is the fourth-largest city in the Upper Peninsula, behind Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, and Escanaba. Menominee Township is located to the north of the city, but is politically autonomous.
Julius Garibaldi Melchers was an American artist. He was one of the leading American proponents of naturalism. He won a 1932 Gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
The Michigan Theater is a movie palace in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, near the Central Campus of the University of Michigan. It shows independent films and stage productions, and hosts musical concerts.
The recorded history of Ann Arbor began with settlers from various eastern states in early 1824.
Fay Kleinman was an American painter. She was also known by her married names, Fay Skurnick, and then Fay Levenson. The medium of most of the works Kleinman created is oil on canvas, but she also produced some mixed-media work and watercolors. She exhibited in museums in New York and Massachusetts and in galleries throughout the country. She was the co-founder of the Becket Arts Center in Becket, Massachusetts.
The Ann Arbor Art Fair is a group of four award-winning, not-for-profit United States art fairs that take place annually in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over 400,000 visitors attend the fairs each year. Prior to 2016, the fair ran Wednesday through Saturday, generally the third weekend in July. Beginning in 2016, the days shifted to Thursday through Sunday. There was no event in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was to blame; it returned in 2021.
Mural Arts Philadelphia is a non-profit organization that supports the creation of public murals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1986 as Mural Arts Program, the organization was renamed in 2016. Having ushered more than 3,000 murals into being, it calls itself "the nation’s largest public art program". As of 2022, the organization says it runs 50 to 100 public art projects each year; it also works to maintain existing murals.
The State Theatre is a movie palace in Ann Arbor, Michigan, designed by C. Howard Crane in the Art Deco style.
Albert Henry Krehbiel, was the most decorated American painter ever at the French Academy, winning the Prix De Rome, four gold medals and five cash prizes. He was born in Denmark, Iowa and taught, lived and worked for many years in Chicago. His masterpiece is the programme of eleven decorative wall and two ceiling paintings / murals for the Supreme and Appellate Court Rooms in Springfield, Illinois (1907–1911). Although educated as a realist in Paris, which is reflected in his neoclassical mural works, he is most famously known as an American Impressionist. Later in his career, Krehbiel experimented in a more modernist manner.
Pond and Pond was an American architecture firm established by the Chicago architects Irving Kane Pond and Allen Bartlitt Pond.
Laura Marie Russello is a community organizer, activist, and textile designer. She is best known as former Executive Director of Michigan Peaceworks, and as designer of the minimalist line of winter scarves entitled "Laura Russello."
The Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor are a series of small doors that are a type of installation art found in the city of Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. The first one appeared in the baseboards of the home of Jonathan and Kathleen Wright in 1993. Subsequently, several others were discovered in their home: in the fireplace surround and two in the kitchen. On April 7, 2005, the first was seen in public on the exterior of Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea. Since then, ten more have shown up around Ann Arbor, and seven of the original "public" doors still exist.
Ypsilanti, commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan, best known as the home of Eastern Michigan University.
The Eastern Michigan University Student Center is Eastern Michigan University's student union. Since its opening in 2006 the EMU Student Center replaced McKenny Union as the student hub of campus life. The building is simply referred to as "The Student Center" by students faculty and staff. In 2017 the Student Center was named the number one student union in the country by the College Rank. The building is located in University Park near the Rec/IM and Library. It is also the location of the EMU Bookstore, a 24/7 computer lab, two art galleries, various offices and Admissions. The Student Center also includes the Kiva Room.
Bound Together is an anarchist bookstore and visitor attraction on Haight Street in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Its Lonely Planet review in 2016, commenting on its multiple activities, states that it "makes us tools of the state look like slackers". The bookstore carries new and used books as well as local authors.
The Washtenaw County Administration Building is a former post office located at 220 North Main Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The building is now owned by Washtenaw County, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Jean Paul Slusser was a painter, designer, art critic, professor, and director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art.