03/22/2026
So in the fall of 1974, I talked to the Pontiac dealership because they had the most visible wall right on the blueprint at the base of the bridge. I showed them a proposal. It was an image of the Liberty Bell with the words that are on the Liberty Bell spelled out beside the image. It was a 100-foot by 25-foot, two-story building. My agreement with them was I would not charge them any labor if they would pay for the material. Yeah, that wall was in such bad shape and required so much concrete patching, plaster, and that kind of stuff. It ended up being one of the most expensive murals that I did, and I didn't charge them labor, only for the materials. We put in about 900 pounds of patching concrete to try to fill in around the bricks.
By the time I finished that, I got five more commissions that I was able to start in the spring of 1975…”
- Terry Dickinson
Ep No.63 Brushstrokes of Legacy: Unveiling the Mural Maestro's Journey with Terry Dickinson 🎨
How did you start painting mural from teaching math and physics?
“It was a transition of necessity. I had taken an interim position working with troubled teens in trouble with the court system and spent a couple of years in that role. And then that program ran out of money, so I had to move on. I picked up a teaching position at All Saints and taught there for two and a half years. They were running into some financial issues, so I needed a new occupation. At that point in time, school systems were not hiring teachers with experience because of the pay scale they had to honor. So you'd come in with seven or eight years of experience, and you'd be near the top of a pay scale. It's much cheaper to hire at the bottom of the pay scale. So the prospects of getting another teaching job were slim.
I had done a couple of commissions for the Historical Society, painting backdrops for some displays. One of the ladies at the Historical Society was talking about the upcoming bicentennial. So, this was the 1974 Bicentennial coming in 1976, and our city, Bay City, was not actively pursuing anything to celebrate that event. She suggested the idea that some of the vacant and blighted buildings could be painted with murals. So I went to the Downtown Development Authority and floated the idea. I could sense a great deal of excitement about the concept, and we were doing okay until the question came up: "How many of these have you done?" The answer was, "I haven't. This is just an idea." This is where we were heading. Well, that was in the spring of 1976. Spring of 1974.
And I didn't hear from them. So in the fall of 1974, I talked to the Pontiac dealership because they had the most visible wall right on the blueprint at the base of the bridge. I showed them a proposal. It was an image of the Liberty Bell with the words that are on the Liberty Bell spelled out beside the image. It was a 100-foot by 25-foot, two-story building. My agreement with them was I would not charge them any labor if they would pay for the material. Yeah, that wall was in such bad shape and required so much concrete patching, plaster, and that kind of stuff. It ended up being one of the most expensive murals that I did, and I didn't charge them labor, only for the materials. We put in about 900 pounds of patching concrete to try to fill in around the bricks.
By the time I finished that, I got five more commissions that I was able to start in the spring of 1975…”
- Terry Dickinson, Interim Executive Director
If you would like to know the story after here, please tune into the new episode releasing Wednesday 9/6 11:11am.
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