Actors'
Colony
at Bluffton
1908 - 1938
_____________

Buster Keaton
and the
Muskegon Connection

Buster Keaton Statue

Honoring
"Muskegon's Own Movie Star"
 who made the world laugh.


Located outside the entrance to the Frauenthal Center of the Performing Arts, Emmanuel Snitkovsky's life-size bronze honoring silent film star Buster Keaton was originally on display in Hollywood.  With the closing of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum, Snitkovsky's work has found new life in Muskegon, MI.

“The best summers of my life were spent in the cottage Pop had built on Lake Muskegon” Keaton wrote in his autobiography, “My Wonderful World of Slapstick.”

U
nveiled to the public at its new home on June 30, 2010, the statue is a salute to a man who made the world laugh.
 
The Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts houses the majestic Frauenthal Theater, the intimate Beardsley Theater, the Bettye Clark-Cannon Gallery.  Formerly known as the Michigan Theater, it was built in 1929 by Muskegon’s own movie mogul, Paul Shlossman.  Architect C. Howard Crane's styling of the theater is Moorish, or Spanish renaissance, and gleamed with extraordinary gold accents, cherubs and griffins. A $16 million restoration of the facility was begun in 1998.  Returned to its former glory, the Frauenthal Theater plays host numerous events throughout the year, including the International Buster Keaton Appreciation Society's annual presentation of Keaton Films at the Frauenthal each October.

Emmanuel Snitkovsky (1933-2005)
enjoyed international acclaim for his imaginative artworks, created the Keaton statue. He also crafted works honoring Charlie Chaplin and Lucille Ball. 

The Statue
Click on the images to view
 
 
A Star is Born by Jamie Pesch 
 
 

Buster Rides Again by Dalliance with Light
 

Buster Keaton by Alissa Holland

Statue Man by Ashley Veihl
 
Bridemaids by otisourcat

Our silent film by MrsEmpty
 

Keaton Statue Unveiling by Eridony

June 30, 2010, Muskegon, MI
 

Frau by Eridony

Keaton revealed by Eridony