54 | FEBRUARY 6 • 2020 

Soul
of blessed memory

Celebrated Artist Gone Too Soon 

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
B

y the time he started 
college, Jason Daniel 
Polan knew he would 
become a successful artist. 
At 37, the Michigan native 
was a valued and prolific 
contributor to the New York 
art scene with drawings in 
the New Yorker, the New 
York Times and on the cover 
of a Spider-Man comic book. 
As an artist, son, broth-
er, uncle and fiercely loyal 
friend, he touched numer-
ous lives all over the world. 
Jason, who lived in New 
York City, died of colon 
cancer on Jan. 27, 2020, sur-
rounded by those he loved 
most.
In addition to his excep-
tional artistic talent, his 
greatest qualities were his 
sense of humor, dedication 
to hard work and a passion-
ate commitment to be a nice 
person.
According to his father, 
Jesse Polan, his goal was to 
make people happy through 
his art and through everyday 
interactions with friends, 
colleagues and strangers.
“Every encounter was 
an opportunity to brighten 
someone’
s day,” said long-
time friend and former 
University of Michigan 
classmate Jake Brege, who 
spoke at the funeral service. 
Jason was born in 
Ann Arbor and grew up 
in Franklin, where he 
graduated from Groves High 
School. His innate aptitude 
and love for drawing 
began at a young age and 
continued to grow. 
“His drawing was as 
much a part of him as his 

heartbeat,” said his mother, 
Jane.
His father remembers 
fun-filled excursions to flea 
markets, sports card, toy 
and comic book 
shows, and Tiger 
games. Cherished 
family vacations 
included visiting 
national parks, 
touring Thailand 
and Spain, and 
watching the 
Tigers’
 spring 
training in 
Lakeland, Fla. 
“He took his pad 
and Uni-ball pen everywhere 
he went and drew and drew 
and drew,” Jesse said. 
Jason attended the 
University of Michigan, 
where he received two 
bachelor’
s degrees, in 
anthropology and art and 
design. During his student 
years, he left his mark in 
various places throughout 
Ann Arbor, most notably 
in an alley off Maynard 
Street on the back wall 
of the former Borders 
bookstore. There, he and 
Brege painted a mural 
featuring gigantic black 
ants against a contrasting 
white background, which 
still evokes smiles from 
passersby. 
“When it came to seeing 
the fun in life, Jason was a 
master. He was a disciple of 
fun,” Brege said.
After college, Jason trav-
eled to the Northwest and 
Alaska as a volunteer for 

Artrain, a nonprofit orga-
nization that brings art to 
under-resourced communi-
ties. Once in New York, his 
career flourished, largely due 
to his unique abili-
ty to take ordinary 
people and objects 
and turn them into 
something special 
and relatable. His 
drawings of items 
in the Museum 
of Modern Art 
culminated in 
The Every Piece of 
Art in the Museum 
of Modern Art 
Book, sold in the museum 
gift shop. His drawings were 
featured on clothing by 
Nike, Levi’
s, Soludos, Kate 
Spade, UNIQLO and many 
others, in addition to galler-
ies, newspapers, magazines, 
books and the Whitney 
Museum of American Art. 
Despite his success, spend-
ing time with family and 
friends remained a priority. 
Creating a birth announce-
ment or an invitation to a 
child’
s birthday party meant 
as much to him as any large 
commercial project.
He founded the “Taco Bell 
Drawing Club,” which start-
ed with a weekly gathering 
of artists at a Manhattan 
Taco Bell and expanded to 
locations all over the coun-
try.
“He found meaning and 
connection in the flotsam of 
daily life,” said close friend 
Peter Meehan, speaking 
at the funeral service. “As 

a friend, he was loyal and 
present, and he would show 
up for you regardless of the 
ask.”
In 2008, Jason embarked 
on a mission to draw every-
one in New York. The result 
was the 2015 book Every 
Person in New York, which 
depicted 30,000 people in a 
diversity of places and situa-
tions — subway stations, city 
streets, restaurants and park 
benches. He continued the 
project as a blog, which he 
kept up until weeks before 
his death, never losing his 
spirit or his sense of humor.
“That was his gift in life 
and in art — a keen eye and 
a relentless drive to make 
your day a little better, with 
discipline and dedication 
and humble curiosity,” Brege 
said.
Jason is survived by his 
parents, Jesse and Jane 
Polan; sister, Jamie (Kyle) 
MacDonald and neph-
ew Jacob MacDonald. He 
was the brother of the late 
Jennifer Polan and the 
grandson of the late Florence 
and the late Bernard Polan, 
and the late Saul J. and the 
late Renee G. Turell.
Interment was at Franklin 
Cemetery. In lieu of a dona-
tion, the Polans ask those 
who wish to honor Jason’
s 
memory to consult their 
doctors about colon cancer 
screening for themselves 
and their family members. 
Arrangements by the Ira 
Kaufman Chapel. 

Jason Polan

COURTESY OF THE POLAN FAMILY

