Michigan Legacy Art Park’s founder David Barr never had #GivingTuesday
… the first international day dedicated to supporting nonprofit organizations didn’t start until 2012.
By that point, David had already been working on his project to create an outdoor experience celebrating Art, Nature and History for 17 years — devoting all his time and energies for free with only the hope of sharing it with others.
David had his own personal Giving Fridays, Giving Saturdays and Giving Sundays for two-decades as he completed teaching sculpture classes at Macomb Community College before jumping into his pick-up truck and driving through the night upstate to Thompsonville — where he’d work tirelessly all weekend building trails, clearing spots for artworks, and creating the first monumental sculptures in the park to get it started.
He hardly slept or ate, and he constantly pulled volunteers and friends into the fray to help him. It was a battle of will against the wilderness, the constantly changing Northern Michigan weather, and the challenge of finding financial support for his dream.
Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of his vision, and the Art Park has become a cherished place within our community — inspiring over 250,000 visitors since it began.
No one expected anything in return, and the vast majority of the fifty works in our collection were generously donated by the artists who created them.
Now it’s our job to take care of them for generations to come. And to make sure each year our trails are cleared, the sculptures maintained and repaired, and we fulfill the promise of preserving this wild and public space for thousands of students and children who visit each season.
The Art Park is a small, hard-working and humble arts organization. We do mighty things with modest resources — supported by incredible volunteers, talented Board Members from our local region, and our incredible partners at our Crystal Mountain home. We’re smart and creative with the help we receive, and nothing goes to waste.
As we all navigate this #GivingTuesday, bombarded by outreach and asks from worthy causes, it’s my hope you’ll remember the Art Park and help us head into 2020 with a tiny bit of your financial support.
Working together, we can ensure the next 25 years ahead are as unique and impactful as the last decades have been.
The “Dot Org” life is hard, and scary, and sometimes lonely work — but I’m proud to serve the legacy of David Barr and grateful for those in the world like him who devote so much to making it a more beautiful, human and interesting place.
