Name/Title
Blue Star MotelEntry/Object ID
2023.59.17Description
Watercolor painting of the now demolished Blue Star Motel
Painting is unframed, matted with clear plastic protective layer.
1/31/2025 drawing framed at Framing for Friends.Type of Painting
On paperContext
Sometimes the artist intentionally records history. The Blue Star Motel was constructed about 1936 shortly after the Blue Star Highway was built and designated US 31. About 1998, a new owner's plan to refurbish and reopen the motel was not approved and after the appeal process was exhausted demolition was scheduled. George Brown shouldered his sketchbook and paints and recorded this requiem portrait of the motel, shabby but stalwart, the day before the wreckers came.
[text from 13 Moments in Time portfolio]
The painting was acquired from the Kit and Art Lane estate. This motel once stood next to Saugatuck Dune Rides and across the highway from the current location of the Blue Star Gym at 6492 Blue Star Highway. The gym reused the motel's star-shaped sign.Collection
Artworks, 1930+ Tourism, lodging, hotels and B&Bs, Buildings: LostCataloged By
Winthers, SallyAcquisition
Accession
2023.59Source or Donor
Lakeshore Event Center/Tressa MillsAcquisition Method
PurchaseMade/Created
Artist
Brown, George Vincent III 1937-2018Date made
2000Dimensions
Dimension Description
including frameHeight
16 inWidth
20 inLocation
Drawer
AC flat file 3Room
Art Conservation RoomRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
6492 Blue Star Hwy./Blue Star Gym/Blue Star Motel (demolished)Interpretative Labels
Label
From "Collecting the Lakeshore" 2025-2026 at the History Center main floor gallery
George Vincent Brown III
1937-2018
Blue Star Motel (Extinct) Saugatuck
2000 | watercolor
As the title suggests, this watercolor serves as a final portrait of a Saugatuck building at the end of its life. The Blue Star Motel opened in 1936 along the newly completed Blue Star Highway. The motel closed around 1998 and faced demolition in 2000. George Brown recorded this portrait of the motel the day before the wreckers came.
It stood next to Saugatuck Dune Rides and across the highway from the current location of the Blue Star Gym. The gym still uses the motel's star-shaped sign.
Painter George Brown came to painting later in life but left an impressive legacy at the Art Coast of Michigan. A Bostonian by birth, he led a successful career in real estate finance in the Midwest, playing key roles in projects such as the John Hancock Tower in Chicago and Renaissance Center in Detroit. His passion for painting led him to study at the Ox-Bow School of Art.
Saugatuck’s history and newspaper power couple, Kit and Art Lane, owned the artwork and after their passing, the History Center acquired it.
Art and Kit Lane collection
Accession number 2023.59.17General Notes
Note
2023 auction description:
2000 Watercolor by G. Brown. Signed. Approx. 16"x20" OA; 11 1/2"x15" SS. Part of a Saugatuck/Douglas Art Collection.Create Date
December 21, 2023Update Date
September 15, 2026
