David Barr, founder of the Michigan Legacy Art Park at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville, passed away yesterday at the age of 75.

“We are all so very sad to have lost David today,” says Renee Hintz, MLAP’s executive director in a release. “He was such a compassionate friend and a great mind – a person who when he talked, you just hung on every word and let it sink in and become a part of you. I can truly say I am a better person for having known him. He created a body of work – sculptures, reliefs, books and the Art Park – from which great lessons about humanity can be learned. And I know just how proud he was of how the park has grown and the plans we have for the future.”

Barr had a dream to create a place which told Michigan's history through art. He has eight sculptures within the 30-acre park, including "Big Two Hearted," created in 2000 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ernest Hemingway’s birth.