A pair of challenging cross-country ski trails loops through 30 acres of densely wooded, hilly terrain. They are meant to be fast and exhilarating. But planted among the trees are artists’ renderings, some towering 20 feet high while others are as small and subtle as a few words of poetry on a rock. And more often than not, these works of art stop skiers in their tracks, provoking quiet, peaceful reverie before viewers push off to continue on their way.
This blend of art and nature is the Michigan Legacy Art Park. It’s a non-profit, year-round, outdoor gallery located on a parcel of land adjacent to the base of Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville, Mich., and it’s the brainchild of David Barr.
Barr is a sculptor who won the governor’s Michigan Artist Award in 1988. During his acceptance of the award, Barr announced his plans to establish a place where people could go to learn about Michigan’s ecology and history through the medium of sculpture and other forms of art set in a natural setting. He went looking for a piece of land on which to educate people of all ages while highlighting the state’s heritage and artistic excellence.
His first choice for the unusual gallery was a nature area surrounding a lighthouse on Lake Michigan near Traverse City, about 45 miles from Crystal Mountain. That location didn’t pan out. However, Crystal Mountain Resort owners Chris and Jim MacInnes contacted Barr after hearing of his intentions and they offered to lease a piece of their property to help anchor Barr’s vision, says Joan O’Neill, director of marketing for the resort.
And in Crystal Mountain, Barr says he found a location where people “already congregate to enjoy the outdoors.” The resort’s clientele is already predisposed to try new things, he says. He also found a willing partner in the ski area’s management, which, notes Barr, has an obvious appreciation of nature and the outdoors like their customers.
A Balanced Symbiosis
The relationship between the Art Park and the ski resort is a unique one that has been deemed a success by park and ski area officials alike. For its part, Crystal Mountain can point to a unique four-season feature at the resort that continually changes (new pieces are always being added). Currently the park is home to 25 pieces of work from artists who either live in, or are originally from, Michigan. Those exhibits run the gamut from a giant copper-coated, galvanized steel plate rendering of a frog species native to the area to a temporary work comprised of a pile of colorful fallen leaves created by a local elementary student that has since vanished beneath a growing base of snow.
Visiting the park—the only access is through ski area property during business hours—is free to visitors and attendance is not recorded, though it is estimated that 20,000 people visit the park each year. Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are the recommended methods of viewing the art in winter; in summer and fall it’s foot traffic.
Crystal Mountain leases the Art Park to the non-profit management board for $1 a year and the gallery is now entering the seventh year of a 99-year lease.
Terry Tarnow, vice president of the Art Park’s Board of Directors, credits Crystal Mountain for many in-kind donations that, while may seem individually small, add up to a lot of time and money. For example, the Art Park’s trash is collected for free by Crystal Mountain staff and whenever a site in the woods needs clearing for a new piece, the ski area lends heavy equipment and an operator when necessary.
Crystal Mountain also provides transportation to the park from the main lodge for people with special needs, says O’Neill. The park is not yet handicapped accessible—plans are in the works to change that—and is a long walk from the lodge for some people.
The resort also gives free housing to artists who need a place to stay while installing pieces on site. O’Neill says artists are put up in the ski patrol building during the summer because it’s not in use.
That donated help is greatly appreciated by park officials because it means they can spend a greater proportion of their funds on acquiring art. Only a few pieces have been donated outright by artists, says Tarnow, and the rest came with price tags ranging between $5,000 and $30,000. The Art Park’s board is involved in ongoing fund-raising efforts and continually pursues grants from the state, Michigan businesses and private organizations.
Something for Every Season
One of the greatest assets of an outdoor park, according to Barr, is how each season presents the same piece in a completely different setting. That can often lead to different interpretations and makes for a dynamic collection.
For example, the sculpture and wood carvings during the winter are viewed from a different angle than during other seasons. Depending on the amount of snow cover, a viewer might be standing several feet taller than a viewer there in the summer. “It’s a whole different feel in winter,” says Barr. “The art takes on its own life. It’s just what we want.”
Many people who visit in the summer make a point to return in winter to see how the snow and different light have affected the works. As a result, Barr says some artists are now considering how snow and ice might add to pieces and are designing sculpture to take the best advantage of the effects.
“In the winter, the park feels smaller because you’re looking through the trees and you see all of it,” Barr says. He also likes the fact that the colors of many of the pieces evolve with the climate and the sun’s changing angles. The summer’s green foliage reflects off the shinier pieces and creeping groundcover and moss help to keep changing others.
There is also a 150-seat amphitheater in the Art Park that sees regular use during an annual summer concert series. A gentle slope to the land beyond the fringes of the amphitheater’s seats means an additional 100 people can lounge comfortably on blankets and in lawn chairs to listen to live music, storytellers and other performances, says Tarnow. Everything from Detroit jazz to American folk and from classical music to the military marches of the Scottish Highlands has been performed at the park in recent years.
Getting the Word Out
Crystal Mountain’s 34 trails and eight lifts attract some 200,000 visits a season and all those people are informed of the park through eye-catching signs in the base lodge area, in the resort’s summer and winter brochures, in its winter and spring issues of Mountain Life magazine, in press releases and separately in promotions for the summer concert series. The Art Park’s board also does some promotions through its fund-raising efforts. Another 5,000 cross-country skiers and more than 300 snowshoers each year are also pointed the way with signs at the nordic center and on the cross-country system’s trail map. Of the resort’s 40 kilometers of cross-country trails, about 4.5 kilometers snake through the Art Park.
In the summer, a big draw is the 18-hole championship golf course and the conference facilities. And Tarnow says the resort makes every effort to distribute the Art Park’s literature in every guest room and throughout every building located at the resort.
The Growing Art Park
Art Park officials plan to add between six and eight more pieces this summer. In addition, there’s an ongoing collaboration with area schools called Discovery Grove. It was opened last June and is a quarter-acre portion of the park strictly devoted to works created by students from elementary grades through high school working with area artists.
Meanwhile, expanding the park onto adjacent state Department of Natural Resources’ land is an avenue the park board is considering for the future as its collection grows.
“The park has been a great amenity for our house guests,” says Jim MacInnes. “It meshed perfectly with our plan to preserve the view from the top of the ski area, it lends a bit of culture to the region and it adds another dimension to staying at Crystal Mountain.”
