An Animal's Tale of Michigan: The Mackinac Bridge

Artist Todd Zimmerman (American, 1963 - 2022)

Date1993

Mediumwatercolor and ink on paper

Dimensionsimage: 8 1/2 in. × 6 in. (21.6 × 15.2 cm)
sheet: 11 15/16 × 9 in. (30.3 × 22.9 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

Credit LineArt Auction Fund for the Artreach Study Collection

Exhibition History"Perspectives on Place: Artists' Visions of Michigan's Land and Lakes," KIA Nay Gallery (June 6 - Sept. 7, 2008). Label TextLongtime Kalamazoo resident Todd Zimmerman created An Animal’s Tale of Michigan for the KIA’s outreach program in 1994. He envisioned the project as an entertaining introduction to Michigan history for children. The series’ 36 panels highlight the state’s historic industries (from fur trading to car manufacturing), famous figures (including Tecumseh and Henry Schoolcraft), landmark structures (such as the Soo Locks and Lake Michigan lighthouses), and cultural contributions (like fine art and Motown music). In this panel Zimmerman highlights the construction of the Mackinac Bridge, completed in 1957, which not only finally connected Michigan’s two peninsulas, but also immediately became an iconic state symbol. The five-mile-long bridge is one of the longest in the world and features an innovative design intended to ensure it is safe against the high winds that sometimes whistle through the Straits of Mackinac. It replaced an expensive and inconvenient ferry system and, in the decades since its opening, has helped feed the explosion of tourist activity on the Upper Peninsula. Today, about four million cars cross the bridge each year.

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