Nick Bair shows off one of his works of art at the Detroit Zoo recently. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
The Detroit Zoo animals have had their own artist in residence recently. Nick Bair has been chalking animals for public view. The Canton Township-based autistic artist learned about the opportunity from friends and was excited to take on the special artistic occasion.
“My friends at LLEC knew about the chalk drawings that I do for the Novi Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea as well as the Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea in Canton where I live,” Bair said. “I learned to do sidewalk chalk art from one of my first art teachers, Sharon Dillonbeck at D & M Art Studio. The zoo found out I did chalk drawings and liked animals and visiting the zoo. They asked if I wanted to do chalk drawings for them this summer of the animals at the Detroit Zoo.”
David Franco, a Living and Learning Enrichment Center (LLEC) employee helped facilitate Nick’s zoo opportunity. The non-profit center’s mission is to enhance the lives of our participants with disabilities. Through therapeutic, social, work-based and community engagement, we seek to support, enrich, inspire, and embolden our participants and their families so they can achieve their goals.
“We had been talking with the zoo about partnering for job skills training for our people and while we were there, I noticed they have a gallery with animal art and there was chalk art around,” Franco said.
Franco knew this was a great opportunity for Nick, who is a skilled animal artist, and got in touch with the zoo’s art curator. Eventually, they were able to make the opportunity a reality.
“I said this is a no-brainer on both ends. I knew Nick would be happy about it and I knew his mom would be happy about it because it would give him really good exposure. And I knew it worked for the zoo. I mean it’s perfect for the zoo,” he said.
Bair first began drawing as a young boy, especially dinosaurs.
“Now I mostly draw, paint and sculpt animals. My Mom signed me up for art classes in my community and I have been taking art classes from lots of art programs for a long time to learn new techniques and improve my skills,” he said.
Bair creates in acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, pan pastel, India ink and digital art.
“I also like to work with clay for sculpting animals. This past year I created holiday ornaments at the pottery studio at LLEC. I like to do larger art works for exhibitions and smaller art pieces that are for sale at Mod Market,” he said.
He has enjoyed bringing his special talents to the zoo visitors and all of the animals there. Bair has a process that inspires his works of art.
“I have a list of the animals at the zoo – most of them,” Bair said. “I have ‘chalked’ the zoo giraffes, flamingos and the male tiger so far. I start by doing some research on the animal, then I do a sketch of how I would like it to look on the pavement. I have done the chalk drawings in different places around the zoo. I have lots of chalk! It usually takes me about three to five hours to do the chalk drawings at the zoo. My painting projects take a lot longer. I really like being at the zoo and having all the visitors and camp kids stop by and ask questions about the animals and how I draw them. I always tell them that I practice drawing and creating art a lot. Sometimes I even tell them which way to go to find the animals at the zoo.”
Bair credits his first mentor, James Gurney who paints dinosaurs.
“He paints dinosaurs,” he said. “I got to meet him once at the Cranbrook Museum. He looked at my sketch book and told my Dad to make sure I kept drawing and that I had really good drawing skills. My art mentor, Kirbi Fagan, has taught me a lot of things. She helped me understand color mixing when painting, value and lighting in art pieces. She helped me develop confidence and to use my imagination when working on an art piece. My favorite ‘older’ artist would be John Singer Sargent and Vincent Van Gogh. They didn’t paint animals, but I like their painting techniques.”
Bair’s website, artistnickbair.com, shows off more of his artistic endeavors. He also sells his art at Mod Market, part of the LLEC.
“Art makes me feel good about me,” he said. “Some adult things are not always easy for me but drawing and painting I am good at. I love animals and I think my art makes people happy and makes them want to be kind to animals. I am really excited about doing art for the zoo.”
