That’s the spirit
Painters’ dragon mural brings pride to Lake Orion
People driving through the Village of Lake Orion will now be greeted with a fierce — and large — work of art.
Three women from the Detroit Institute of Art’s Partners in Public Art (PIPA) studio worked on the design and painting of a project to bring the area’s beloved dragon mascot to life as a mural on a downtown building.
Nicknamed “Lady D” by the artists, the dragon image was chosen through a resident survey.
“It’s their community mascot — every school and each student is a dragon,” says PIPA painter Stephanie Sucaet-Felczak. “So they kind of knew right away that that’s what they wanted to do.”
Though the idea for the mural was first envisioned in 2018, it was completed at the end of last year. Working on the side of the building, Sucaet-Felczak and Ani Garabedian brought impressionist Nicole Macdonald’s design of the mural to life.
Weather permitting, the artists were at the site on a lift from four to six days each week to work on the approximately 4,000-squarefoot mural on the side of a building at 120 S. Broadway St. in downtown Lake Orion.
Sucaet-Felczak and Garabedian used exterior house paint to work through the different painting “phases,” starting with blues and light shades for the underpainting, then adding “impressionist specks of paint to make up the bigger whole” of the scales.
They worked in eight sections to complete it, which proved challenging at times depending on the height, from the wall to the rooftop in some areas. They began by tracing with a roller, implementing a “dark blue lacy overlay” atop the colorful background, then focused more on detail.
The goal for the dragon’s
eye was “a more smooth, blended style.” While Macdonald couldn’t be there to paint, Sucaet-Felczak says she was pleased with their interpretation of her design.
Since they had to move their lift frequently, their daily focus depended on the logistics and space available on the street below.
“I’m super proud that it was an all-female design and creative team,” says Sucaet-Felczak. “The three of us worked on it from start to finish, so it was pretty empowering.”
PIPA’s murals, like “Lady D,” make art more accessible to those who might not be able to visit the DIA or other museums, she says.
“The Partners in Public Art (PIPA) is an ongoing program that we are excited to continue,” says Megan Hawthorne, regional public relations manager with Detroit Institute of Arts.
The program has created community art in the past, “In Oakland County, two murals in addition to the Lake Orion mural have been completed — Clarkston in 2018 and Clawson in 2019,” Hawthorne says. “There are two projects in the planning stages, one in Rochester and the other in Berkley.”
And Sucaet-Felczak says more are in the works to be completed this year, including ones in Macomb and Wayne counties.
“It’s a way to bring a community together,” Sucaet-Felczak says. “People enjoy talking about it. They get excited that they have something in common that they’re all going to see every day. … It showed people that don’t make it out to the museum that we know they’re here and want to spread it out as much as we can.”