The Lansing area has an abundance of talented artists, but not many have painter, children’s book author and actor on their resumes. Creative powerhouse Julian Van Dyke does.
Van Dyke says drawing was a favorite pastime while growing up in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Some of his earliest subjects were TV characters like Mighty Mouse, and his teachers noticed his skills during his first years in elementary school.
"The art teacher would tell my mom during the parent and teacher conference, ‘Hey, you know, Julian, he draws real people, not stick people.'”
As a professional artist in adulthood, Van Dyke’s works have been shown in places like New York, Washington and Miami. In mid-Michigan, he has a painting right now in the Michigan State University Broad Art Museum’s Farmland exhibition.
You may have seen his work on a billboard as part of an Arts Council of Greater Lansing project. Last summer, he had an exhibition in Lansing’s REO Town, and he’s painted numerous murals on walls around the city.
Van Dyke says it’s been a particular honor to have decorated the walls of some local libraries.
“I’m primarily trying to push individuals, if you like art, to read, learn to read,” Van Dyke said. “Art goes with books. When I was younger, when the teacher would read certain stories that didn’t have images, I’d always make up my own stories.”
Van Dyke continues to tell stories, adding author and illustrator to his work as a visual artist. His titles focus on topics like jazz music, the celebration of Juneteenth and bullying, all aimed at the children he hopes will be as enthralled with reading as he is.
Van Dyke’s newest book I Want To Be, When I Grow Up reflects on what he's heard from kids during his frequent talks in schools. In the book, children talk about wanting to grow up to be athletes, actors, teachers and good neighbors.
Being on stage is another avenue for Van Dyke’s creativity. He’s acted in several plays at Lansing’s Riverwalk Theatre.
His most recent role a year ago was as a man freed from death row after proving he hadn’t committed the crime in The Exonerated. He’s a bit humble about his acting chops, saying “I think most of the parts that I got to be on stage were because the director likes my diction and the sound of my voice, so I got the part!”
When asked to name a favorite piece from his many paintings, he points to one still hanging in his Lansing home. The Procession of the Ethiopian Eunuch depicts a Biblical story from the Acts of the Apostles about Philip baptizing an Ethiopian. Van Dyke is often inspired by Africa and African-American life.
“I just wanted to see some of our people that look like me that’s in the biblical written book, and so I chose that, I imagined what it looked like,” Van Dyke explained. “So, that was the first piece that I printed. I don’t want to sell it, so I’ll just make copies. That’s how artists do.”
As long as he can, triple-threat artist Julian Van Dyke says he isn’t planning on hanging up his brush any time soon.
“It’ll never leave me,” he concluded. “I’ll always be creative. The great artists? They never stop. They just keep on drawing and painting until the paint brush drops out of their hand.”
