Artist Mark Heckman dies

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Mark Heckman, the Grand Rapids artist who turned billboards into provocative works that grabbed national attention, died Thursday after a long battle with cancer.

Diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphona in December 2008, Heckman battled as the cancer progressed. He recently went to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for an intensive chemotherapy regimen as he worked to get healthy enough for a stem cell transplant.

His most recent giant piece of proposed art was a giant Mammoth Molar Monument, a 22-foot high sculpture of a tooth to honor Grand Rapids as the first city to add flouride to its tap water in 1945.

He entered the concept in ArtPrize, and made billboards to support his plan.

His billboard designs were used by a number of companies throughout the United States, and he occassionally tweaked the sensibilities of motorists with eye-popping billboards about issues of the day. For instance, in 1989 he brought attention to AIDS by creating a billboard with 2001 condoms dipped in paint

This summer, "Sooper Yooper" will be published. This kids book tells the story of an environmental super hero who lives in the Upper Peninsula and guards the Great Lakes. Heckman did the illustrations, with the text from longtime collaborator Mark Newman.

"It was appropriate that his preferred medium was the billboard canvas because he lived life large. As my closest friend, he leaves a big hole in my life, but it's a great comfort to know that his work, talent and accomplishments will be remembered by many for a long time," Newman said in a statement.

Heckman is survived by his wife, Diane, his parents, brother and sister, and numerous other relatives.

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Family and friends are invited to attend a celebration of his life on Tuesday, May 11, from 6 - 9 p.m. at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish Family Center, 6390 Belmont Avenue in Belmont. A special tribute will be paid beginning at 7 p.m. Memorials can be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

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