Jim Fives
1952 - 2018
Jim Fives was an exceptionally gifted Saginaw artist with a fastidious eye for re-connecting the community to its historical legacy through his meticulously detailed craftsmanship as a sign painter, illustrator, calligrapher, and caricaturist.
He merged his artistic talent with his knowledge of regional history to create immaculate restorations of murals on the original Weinberg-Pankonin Pharmacy in Old Town Saginaw, The Fordney Hotel, Record Run on the Saginaw River, and Jacox Steering Gear, along with limericks for Spatz’s Bakery and Pasong’s Café.
His disciplined ‘old school’ techniques and iconoclastic eye for detail was also enlisted by Saginaw Valley State University to render the ‘Cardinal’ logo on their gym floors and pool. Jim handled special contract work for commercial entities such as Spence Brothers as well as the Salvation Army, and painted vehicles for Nickodemu Oil and Saginaw’s Yellow Cab service.
A member of the SCARAB Art Club, which dates back to the 1920s, Jim was also enlisted by the Detroit Athletic Club to paint the names of deceased members in golf leaf, along with Arthur Hill High School, where he painted the scoreboard along with a lumberjack on the inside of the field house press box. Additionally, he was. Regular participant in job fairs for Carrollton and Saginaw Public School.
Jim was also a gifted cartoonist, contributing many witty and satirical cartoons to REVIEW Magazine back in the 1980s. For six years he was a regularly featured artist in the annual Art Prize competition in Grand Rapids and was the 2017 recipient of an All Area Arts Award bestowed by the Saginaw Arts & Enrichment Commission.
Jim also painted two Rounding Boards for the Saginaw Carousel back in 1989, titled Sailing on the Saginaw Bay and The Flying Markel. The Saginaw Art Museum featured Jim’s work in an exhibition titled Fives Fast Track, which featured automotive paintings by the late Saginaw artist.
Jim and his wife Mary had two children. In his free time he loved reading and shopping at antique shops. At the time of his death, he had just finished painting the mural at The Stable.