Writing for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, with his article “Scenes from a golden life,” Bill Lohmann tells a heartwarming story of children painting a mural to memorialize Jonathan Zanin, who died a little over a year ago. Zanin, better known as Jonny Z, was 26 years old when he fell to his death from the Boulevard Bridge. The mural-in-progress in on the side of Joe’s Inn and the work is being coordinated by Art 180.

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, Zanin had become a fixture on the art and music scene. He helped run the Bizarre Art Market near the VCU campus and had worked at a number of restaurants, including Joe’s, where he waited tables.

ART 180 enlisted the help of students at St. Andrew’s to come up with ideas for the mural. Zanin’s friends told the students about Jonny Z — about his love of art and music, community, coffee and pizza — and they went from there. The mural, running the length of a back building connected to Joe’s Inn, 205 N. Shields Ave., in the alley between Shields and Rowland Street, contains a little bit of everything, or “kind of random, fun and colorful,” said Lauren Healy, another project coordinator.

Click here to read the entire article and see pictures.