Thank you Petoskey for Our New Tree!

When the City of Petoskey rebuilt Mitchell Street in front of the Northern Michigan Artists Market and, OK all of our neighbors as well, they planted some nice trees in the middle of the sidewalk. Something went wrong and the trees all died. Last year the City replanted some of the trees but municipal budgets being what they are, the folks on our end of the block had to wait.

Today the waiting is over. People from the nursery were out all day today digging, putting in new dirt and doing all the other things necessary for planting a tree. And now, at the end of the day, we have our own brand new tree.

Mother Nature is now making her contribution right on time with a nice gentle rain.

Here is the result:

[Please notice that there is no snow in this photo!] Stop by and visit our new tree and while you are in the neighborhood, come inside the gallery and check out the art.

The Mighty Puddingstone Gets its Own Special Weekend

Summer time in Northern Michigan means one thing - festivals. OK, it also means fudge, great sunsets and, in some places, black flies, but you've got to admit, we have festivals for everything. (Check out my prior post on Calumet's PastyFest.) So I guess it was just a matter of time before we got a festival for the exalted Puddingstone.

August 9-11 the Cheboygan County History Center is presenting its first ever Puddingstone Festival.

Never heard of puddingstones? Where have you been, hiding under a rock?

The festival's website states that the Pudding Stone is a

unique, highly collectible stone conglomerate. It was named so by the British on St. Joseph’s Island in the St. Mary’s river in the 1700’s because of its resemblance to their native boiled suet pudding. It is found in only a few states, Ontario and England! In fact it is the official State Stone of Massachusetts. Cheboygan County just happens to be blessed with a vast number of them, ranging in size from tiny pebbles to huge boulders.

I guess they should know, its their festival.

[For a little more history and puddingstone lore, see what the folks on Drummond Island have to say.]

The festival should be a great rock'em sock 'em event, complete with exhibitors, puddingstone judging, a Stones Rock concert, the Stone Soup story dramatized by local youth and a Straits area geocaching event.

Can't wait for the festival? We have a great selection of puddingstones and puddingstone art items at the Northern Michigan Artists Market in beautiful Downtown Petoskey.

Lets Create a Public Art Plan for Downtown Petoskey

[Yeah that's right. I am back after a long hiatus}

I think it is about time Downtown Petoskey, Michigan, developed a public art plan and, as a big fan of our Downtown and our local artists as an artist myself and as part owner of the Northern Michigan Artists Market, I have decided to do something about it.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

Petoskey is a great art town and Northern Michigan is a fantastic art region. For a town its size, there are quite a few art galleries in addition to the Northern Michigan Artists Market. We have several wonderful events that focus on art including the annual Gallery Walk. And, of course, lots of artists live here and in the surrounding woods and villages. In fact, Smithsonian Magazine recently selected Petoskey as the #6 best small town in the US to visit, largely based on our galleries, arts and culture.

Many of the activities and events in our Downtown, as well as our downtown parking and sidewalk snow removal, are financed an run through our Downtown Management Board (DMB). It is funded primarily through an assessment on Downtown businesses and on Downtown parking revenues. In 2007, the DMB adopted a Downtown Blueprint containing an aggressive set of planning and development objectives and projects for Downtown Petoskey. The vast majority of these goals have actually been achieved. However, nothing has been done about one of my favorite ideas -- the creation of a public art placement plan.

The Blueprint was revisited in 2012. The commitment to establish a public art plan was reestablished in the new Downtown Petoskey 2013-2017 Strategic Plan. Neither the current strategic plan nor the earlier one provided much detail concerning the nature or scope of the desired plan. At the DMB meeting where the new strategic plan was adopted, I submitted a proposed amendment to the plan providing more specific detail about a procedure for the creation of an art plan and possible aspects of the mission of that plan. The Board decided not to accept the proposed amendment at that time but suggested that it would consider beginning a planning process in the near future.

We already have some public art in Downtown Petoskey -- some murals painted on exterior building walls, some statues (including the one pictured above of Chief Petoskey dressed for the Northern Michigan winter), etc. and for a short time we even had a place for independent, creative graffiti art (see picture below)featured here in a previous post. But there is no plan for encouraging, creating and placing more creative works of art, particularly by local artists, around our Downtown to take advantage of the artistic character of the area and improve the esthetic and artistic atmosphere of the community.

I recently decided to see what I could do to get the process started. I have drafted a proposal outlining a public process for the creation of a public art plan and presented it to the DMB at its April 2013 meeting for review and comment. They were supportive of the general concept but had some reservations and want to consider some alternatives. Generally, they seem a bit anxious about my plan to have open meetings to gather broad, grassroots community input and support. Some want to rely more heavily on the advice of a paid consultant. Some of them would like a more formal role for the Crooked Tree Art Center. I am working on some revisions to my proposal that will preserve the importance of broad community input while answering some of their concerns. They will take up the issue again at their May meeting.

If you are interested in developing a community based process for developing an art plan for Downtown Petoskey, I would like to hear from you. I encourage you to attend the May DMB meeting to hear what they have to say and to lend your support for a publicly discussed and developed plan that will serve the interests of the people of Petoskey and the surrounding area. We particularly need input from other local artists.

I will continue to update the progress of this proposal here on the Northern Michigan Art Blog. For now, please leave a comment if you are interested in the project or if you have any ideas. Please call me at the Northern Michigan Artists Market: (231) 487-0000 (Join us and get involved in this exciting new project for Downtown Petoskey!

Jordan Valley Glass Headlines Show at Charlevoix Circle

This month one of our favorite local glass studios and a very special local art gallery combine to put on a spectacular show in our neighboring town of Charlevoix.

Jordan Valley Glassworks of East Jordan is the creation of third generation glass blower Jay Bavers. He discovered the wonder and some of the secrets of glassblowing as a young boy living above his grandfather's glassblowing shop in Brooklyn, New York. Glenna Haney added her talents to the studio part time fifteen years ago and became a full partner about four years later. Jay's son Bill brought the family tradition to a fourth generation when he joined the Glassworks last year after earning his BFA from Bowling Green. Together they produce beautiful glass pieces for the home and garden from ornaments to lighting fixtures to free form sculptures.

The Charlevoix Circle of Arts is a non-profit cultural arts organization that, in addition to its gallery. provides classes, concerts and other activities to support the arts and provide cultural enrichment to the region. Their latest presentation, Translucent Show, includes large and small glass creations by Jordan Valley Glassworks and other artists as well as watercolors and other translucent mediums.

The show is well worth seeing and continues through July 4th. The Circle of Arts gallery is located at 109 Clinton Street in Charlevoix. Hours are 1-5 Tuesday through Saturday.

The Northern Michigan Artists Market has a large selection of works by Jordan Valley Glassworks available at our gallery in Petoskey and our online store.

Spring Brings Major Waterfront and Park Improvements to Petoskey

Spring is in full flower [like this watercolor by Bruce Love] at the Northern Michigan Artists Market and in our home town of Petoskey, Michigan. At the Market, that means new artists and lots of new artwork. In town, spring means that a slew of new boating, recreation and downtown enhancement projects are about to start. Whether you live here or are planning to visit us sometime this summer or even if you just love Petoskey and like to keep in touch, we thought you might like an update.

On the waterfront, the big news is a whole raft of improvements at the City's marina. The biggest change will be a fourth pier that will be built in the gap between the leftmost dock and the two on the right. This new pier will add forty-four additional boat slips. The plans for this summer also include renovation and expansion of the marina's service building. The shelter house will be relocated to allow for the expansion.

The Army Corps of Engineers has resumed its reconstruction of Petoskey's breakwall. [Watercolor by Karen Kubovchick] The outer portion was completely rebuilt last year and is a vast improvement. Rebuilding will continue moving down the breakwall all the way to the shore. This project will not only repair the damage caused a couple of years ago when ice and waves broke through the wall and created a huge gap but will rebuild the wall to correct years of wear and deterioration. It will also widen the wall and make it safer for all of the people who love to walk out on the breakwall and dive off into the harbor.

You probably know that the Bear River flows under the big bridge on US-31 just west of Downtown Petoskey, then under a bridge on Lake street and through a rocky channel next to City Hall, then empties into Lake Michigan in the Petoskey harbor. What you may not know is that before all this, the Bear flows through a beautiful wooded valley right in the middle of town. This scenic walking path is a local favorite and is actually a segment of the North Country Trail that runs all the way from Upstate New York to Central North Dakota. In mid-May, Petoskey will begin a major improvement project that will include the construction of walking trails, restrooms, picnic shelters, and improvements to the Bear River that will create a Class III whitewater rapids along the Bear River from Sherridan St. to Lake Michigan. Actually, preparatory work has been going on for a while but the major, visible enhancements will take place through this summer. I personally walk this trail frequently and I strongly recommend a visit to this tranquil oasis. The improvements should make this walk even more pleasant and will make more people aware of its existence and beauty.

As I discuss in the latest issue of the Artists Market's email newsletter, Art Up North, there was a major breakthrough this winter in the efforts of the City to develop Pennsylvania Park. The railroad track and its right-of-way that makes up much of this park in the center of Downtown has been untouchable because it is owned by the State of Michigan. After about twenty-five years of discussion and negotiations with the State, Petoskey has made a deal buy this property. Plans include a long anticipated historic rail trolley and walking path that will run from the Zipp building, a former railroad station south of Downtown, through the middle of the Gaslight District and on to Bay View east of Downtown. When completed this project will be a beautiful and functional attraction and reminder of Petoskey's railroading history.

There will be a lot going on this summer here in Petoskey. We hope you will come and enjoy it with us.

Artists Market Featured in The Graphic

This week, The Graphic, Petoskey's local free entertainment and events weekly, takes a break from its series of outstanding features on local artists to review the Northern Michigan Artists Market.

I am a big fan of Maggie Peterson and her Art Scene feature in the Graphic. I have commented here on her previous columns profiling Artists Market artists such as extraordinary Harbor Springs wood turner Tom Jacobson. This week, I was delighted to read her insights into my own favorite creative work, our art gallery.

The article features a great picture of my two partners, Vivi Woodcock and Susan Lange, and me inside the Market. It does a great job of capturing the spirit and mission of our little store. In addition to visiting the gallery and talking with the three of us, Maggie spoke with a couple of the very special local artists who exhibit here, nature photographer Kris Busk and potter Christine Rowe.

Sometime this week, take the time to pick up a copy of The Graphic or check out the article on their website. If you have any comments, be sure to post them here.

First Responder, a Ghost Story

In my previous post, I wrote about Downtown Petoskey's Ghost Walk. That event took place last night and a great, ghoulish time was had by all. It did rain but that did not seem to dampen the spirits of the participants who turned out in large numbers (over 100 people) to tour Downtown Petoskey and hear stories about the local ghosts who inhabit our town.

Now that the event is over, I can reveal the tale of the Artists Markets very own ghost, one of the spectral biographies presented on the tour:


First Responder

For the last six years residents and visitors have been coming to 445 East Mitchell to buy the creations of local Northern Michigan artists but that was not always so. This address has been important to Downtown Petoskey residents for many many years. Long before it was an art gallery it was a Montgomery Wards Department store and even longer ago it was a car dealership selling Studebakers from South Bend Indiana.

Many happy and tragic things have happened between these walls over all those years but one of the most dramatic took place on a chilly evening in October back in 1961. Late that afternoon, a customer in the Women's Clothing Department of Montgomery Wards told a young sales clerk that she smelled smoke. The clerk called the fire department and an older, red-headed fireman came to the store and searched all the nooks and crannies of the building and the A&P Grocery that was then next door in the attached building at 441 East Mitchell. He carried a lantern in his left hand and a fire axe in his right. Despite looking for about two hours, he was unable to find the source of the smoky smell and left.

Early the next morning, about 3:00 a.m., a truck driver delivering groceries to the A&P noticed a fire in the loading dock area in the back of the building. Soon there was heavy smoke and and flames shooting out the side of the building on all floors. Fire fighters fought the blaze for several hours but were unable to prevent over $100,000 damage to the A&P. They were able to keep the blaze itself from spreading to the Montgomery Wards but in the process the future home of the Northern Michigan Artists Market was filled with smoke and water reached a foot deep in the basement.

Accounts of the fire in the News Review the next day do not report the deaths of any firefighters in the incident. There is no mention of the red-headed fireman who had searched the building in vain earlier in the day. In fact, people say that they cannot recall there being any red-headed Petoskey firefighters at all at that time but several people reported seeing a man in a firefighter uniform carrying a lantern and a fire axe running into the building as the flames raged, saying that the blaze was all his fault. No one saw him come out of the building that night.

Now every year on chilly evenings in late October, just after dusk when the sky is dark and the Artist Market lights are dimmed, people walking by the Artists Market have reported a slight but distinct smell of smoke and some have said that they thought they saw in the window what looked like an older, red-headed fireman holding a lantern high in his left hand and a fire axe in his right searching the nooks and crannies of the building trying to find the source of the smoke smell and still trying to prevent the A&P fire of 1961.

*******

The First Responder himself did appear last night during the Ghost Walk as one of the guides and raconteurs and is expected to materialize again today at the Artists Market where he is scheduled to distribute candy to the young trick-or-treaters who will be going from store to store. (Any slight resemblance between myself and the First Responder is, of course, entirely coincidental.)

The Ghost Walk, by the way, was a brand new event for Downtown Petoskey. Due to the fantastic turnout and enthusiastic response, the tour will likely reappear in the future on the Downtown schedule.