Island Artist Offers Drawings of City Street Scenes at Shop
By Eric Fish

Brian McKelvey at his store, Street Scenes, which features his drawings of Michigan cities and Mackinac Island.

Brian McKelvey began drawing when he was two years old. Now, nestled between Mary's Bistro and the Iroquois Hotel on Main Street, he operates Street Scenes, which showcases his work.

"I just kind of stumbled into this place," said Mr. McKelvey, who owns and operates the shop with the help of his father, Bob.

Staying true to the shop's name, Street Scenes sells Mr. McKelvey's drawings of wellknown Michigan downtown scenes. Popular items the store has available are poster drawings of Mackinac Island's downtown pub scene and downtown scenes familiar to students of the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

When not operating his shop, Mr. McKelvey can be found traveling the state, making new drawings for his shop. Present projects include putting the final touches on a book featuring his drawings of 120 Michigan downtowns, and traveling to college towns of colleges in the Big 10 Athletic Conference for pub drawings.

Mr. McKelvey is also busy working on a 20-foot panoramic drawing of Mackinac Island, which he hopes to have done by next summer, and he is interested in what Island landmarks people would like him to draw.

"This summer, what I'm trying to gauge is what are the most interesting views or things that people want from the Island," he said.

Mr. McKelvey was graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture. His passion for drawing started in his youth, when he sketched "Star Wars" battles. His interest in architecture was developed during his teenage years.

Each scene takes Mr. McKelvey approximately 100 hours to draw.