A new sculpture is set to be installed in early November on the Boardman Lake Trail as the first piece in what will become a rotating collection of exhibits along the northern end of the loop. The project is one of several being pursued by the Traverse City Arts Commission, which meets today (Wednesday) at 3:30pm at the Governmental Center for discussion of planned upcoming art installations in the community.

A sculpture by Robert Sestok, a contemporary artist and leader in the Detroit Cass Corridor Art Movement in the 1960s and ‘70s, will be installed on public property where Tenth Street meets Lake Avenue near the trailhead to the TART Trail. The welded steel sculpture, called Machine (pictured), will be exhibited for two years in an area called the Rotating Exhibition Zone at the lake’s north end. The sculpture is 84” by 27” by 24” and is valued at $25,000. The sculpture will be on loan as part of a partnership with the Michigan Legacy Art Park; $2,000 in funding from Traverse City’s Public Arts Trust Fund will pay for a concrete pad to display the sculpture and site improvements adjacent to the installation, as well as ongoing maintenance. A public artist’s reception to commemorate the sculpture could take place in spring 2019.

The Rotating Exhibition Zone is one of five distinct public art zones the Arts Commission hopes to create along the trail loop. The zones would collectively form a new Boardman Lake Art Trail. The Rotating Exhibition Zone “will provide a permanent location to program art-on-loan and traveling exhibitions…the property’s size will be able to accommodate several locations for sculpture,” according to Arts Commission plans. Future public art projects could also be installed in other areas along the citywide TART Trail network. Arts Commission Director Nate Elkins said in a memo to Arts Commissioners he is having ongoing meetings with TART representatives to discuss “Art on the TART” opportunities throughout the city.

“The group (has) recognized that it would take considerable time and community discussion to develop a plan for all the trails in Traverse City and so as a result developed the idea to break down the trail network into distinct districts…the first trail district to be identified and discussed was the Boardman Lake Trail,” Elkins wrote.

Across Boardman Lake, another Arts Commission project is proposed for Hull Park. The Boathouse Sculpture Project, as it’s being called, is being funded in part by a local donor to commemorate a deceased family member. The piece, which would become another official exhibit on the Boardman Lake Art Trail, is proposed to be a permanent work consisting of a sculptural mural attached to the outside south-facing wall of the Hull Park Boathouse. The available wall space is 8’ by 60’, with a maximum 6” depth. The project is supported by Traverse Area Community Sailing and will head to Traverse City’s Parks and Recreation Commission and City Commission for approval this fall. An artist for the project would be selected through an open call for entries; the process would be open only to Michigan artists and Kendall College of Art and Design alumni (the individual being commemorated with the piece was a Kendall graduate). The project has a budget of $20,000, $5,000 of which would come from the Public Arts Trust Fund.

In downtown Traverse City, Arts Commissioners are also preparing to move forward with a mural project at Clinch Park in collaboration with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians that celebrates the indigenous history of the park. “The mouth of the Boardman River is a traditional meeting place for Native peoples, and it is in this spirit that the purpose of this project aims to honor a historical connection to place and people with public art at Clinch Park with an indigenous theme and perspective,” Elkins wrote to Arts Commissioners.

As proposed, the mural would be located in the pedestrian tunnel under Grandview Parkway next to the Bijou by the Bay theater. The tunnel used to host Anishinaabek art and language on its walls created by artist Lois Beardslee, but the artwork degraded over time and was painted over in 2013 when Clinch Park was reconstructed. The new mural project would use digitally printed replications of original art to create two murals – one on either tunnel wall – covering a total 608 square feet. “The project will be a rotating exhibition with the possibility that after each exhibition, the artwork goes into a collection until at a later date multiple pieces could be displayed as its own exhibition or loaned to other art organizations and communities to display,” project documents state.

A preliminary draft budget estimates project costs at $70,000, which could potentially include $10,000 in Public Arts Trust Fund monies, $45,000 from a two-percent grant from the Band, and $15,000 through a funding request to Traverse City Light & Power (TCL&P). “The project not only includes murals, but also proposed lighting enhancements and the opportunity for audio and choreographed sound art,” project plans state. The artist would be selected by the Arts Commission and Band members; all three groups would then collaborate on the lighting and audio components. The next steps in the process are for the concept to go to the City Commission for approval this fall and for the Arts Commission to submit a two-percent grant application to the Band by a November 30 deadline.

Finally, several smaller public arts projects are also underway at the Arts Commission. A collaboration between the Arts Commission, Traverse Area Historical Society (TAHS), and Downtown Traverse City Association (DTCA) – with support from groups like the Traverse Area District Library, TCL&P, The Camera Shop, and Britten Banners – would display up to 10 historical photographs as artistic signs in downtown areas. The signs can be attached to utility and light poles and would display what the area previously looked like historically from the vantage point of the viewer. The project is considered a temporary exhibit and would be reevaluated after three years. The installation is estimated to cost $1,520 and is being funded through a 50-50 split between the DTCA and Public Arts Trust Fund. Arts Commission planning documents also show the group is working on creating a float for the TC Downtown Development Authority’s upcoming Light Parade on November 17, and is partnering with Up North Pride on a potential public art project for 2019 Pride Week next June.