Fran’s Summer Hairstyle chalk drawing by David Zinn, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Fran’s Summer
Hairstyle
David Zinn · Chalk, charcoal and “participatory weeds”, 21 July 2021 · A sidewalk in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Photo as published on Street Art Utopia. The artist sells the same view as a signed print, “Natural Hair, Strong Roots”, on zinnart.com
A small green character in a purple shirt waves from a sidewalk in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the hair is a tuft of real grass growing out of a crack. David Zinn drew Fran with chalk and charcoal on 21 July 2021 and wrote that the summertime hairstyle is “100% natural with very healthy roots!” Like all his chalk, it was temporary.
4 things to know
- Dated by the artistZinn’s own shop page gives the day and the place: the drawing was made “by David Zinn in Ann Arbor, MI on July 21, 2021.” zinnart.com
- The hair was already thereZinn lists the materials as “chalk, charcoal, and participatory weeds”. The grass grows from the seam between two sidewalk slabs, and he drew Fran directly underneath it. zinnart.com
- Gone from the street, kept as a printThe artist calls it a “temporary street art installation”. His photo of it is sold as a hand-signed 8 × 10 inch print titled “Natural Hair, Strong Roots”. zinnart.com
- Drawn in his home townLocal TV called him “Ann Arbor’s very own David Zinn” in July 2021. In June 2022 the city’s Public Art Commission gave him its 2021 Golden Paintbrush Community Voice Award, for “Laughing at Clouds”, a permanent mural outside the downtown library. ClickOnDetroit 2021 · ClickOnDetroit 2022
Check-in guide
- 📍
- A sidewalk in Ann Arbor, Michigan (zinnart.com). The artist does not say which street, so the Maps button only points to the city centre.
- 👀
- Nothing to visit: the drawing was chalk and charcoal, made on 21 July 2021 and described by the artist as temporary. We found no later dated photo of it.
- 🎨
- Zinn keeps drawing new characters on Ann Arbor’s streets, and his permanent mural “Laughing at Clouds” is outside the downtown branch of Ann Arbor District Library (ClickOnDetroit).
Sightings
- 202121 Jul
Drawn, artist’s record
The stamp links to the artist’s own record, which gives the day of the drawing. We found no later dated photo of it, and no source records the day the chalk wore away.
On the record
“Natural Hair, Strong Roots” print
“Fran’s summertime hairstyle is 100% natural with very healthy roots! This temporary street art installation was created with chalk, charcoal, and participatory weeds by David Zinn in Ann Arbor, MI on July 21, 2021.”
The artist’s own caption, on the page where he sells the photo as a hand-signed print.
Street artist David Zinn to ‘hide’ drawings throughout Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair
“The world famous artist, who is known for incorporating his whimsical chalk characters into natural and city scenes in plain sight, has been commissioned to hide three of his drawings throughout the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair.”
Published two weeks before Fran was drawn. The fair ran 15–17 July 2021; nothing links Fran to it.
The facts
- Artist
- David Zinn, chalk artist based in Ann Arbor (zinnart.com, ClickOnDetroit) Checked
- Title
- The artist’s print title is “Natural Hair, Strong Roots”. “Fran’s Summer Hairstyle” is Street Art Utopia’s name, taken from his caption Checked
- Character
- Fran, named in the artist’s caption Checked
- Date
- 21 July 2021 (zinnart.com) Checked
- Place
- Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (zinnart.com) Checked
- Exact spot
- Not published by the artist or anyone else we found Unconfirmed
- Medium
- “chalk, charcoal, and participatory weeds” on a sidewalk (zinnart.com) Checked
- Photo
- Our photo shows the same scene as the artist’s print; the photographer is not named on Street Art Utopia Reported
- Status
- Gone. The artist calls the work temporary; drawn 21 July 2021, with no later sighting. The day it wore away is not recorded Reported
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: When Nature Becomes Art (10 Photos vol. 5) (5 October 2026), where the photo above appeared as work no. 4.
- On Street Art Utopia: Street Art by Happiness Maker David Zinn (21 Photos) (25 April 2025) and When Nature Becomes the Hairstylist (26 Photos) (27 May 2026), with the same photo.
- The artist’s print of this work. “Natural Hair, Strong Roots” on zinnart.com
- The artist’s own posts. @davidzinn on Instagram
All sources (6)
This drawing
- zinnart.com: “Natural Hair, Strong Roots” print, the artist’s own shop, listed 27 February 2023. Artist, Fran, Ann Arbor, 21 July 2021, chalk, charcoal and weeds, temporary, print title. The print photo shows the same scene as ours.
The artist in Ann Arbor
- ClickOnDetroit: “Street artist David Zinn to ‘hide’ drawings throughout Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair”, 7 July 2021, Meredith Bruckner. “Ann Arbor’s very own David Zinn”; his chalk drawings are temporary. Not about this drawing.
- ClickOnDetroit: “Chalk artist David Zinn wins Ann Arbor’s 2021 Golden Paintbrush Community Voice Award”, 23 June 2022. Award from the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission for “Laughing at Clouds”.
Where we showed it
- Street Art Utopia: Street Art by Happiness Maker David Zinn (21 Photos), 25 April 2025. Same photo; the image file was uploaded in August 2021.
- Street Art Utopia: When Nature Becomes the Hairstylist (26 Photos), 27 May 2026. Same photo.
- Street Art Utopia: When Nature Becomes Art (10 Photos vol. 5), 5 October 2026. Work no. 4; links the artist’s caption.
Artwork File · Last checked 5 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files