The man who brought his expansive artistic vision to Northern Michigan and founded Michigan Legacy Art Park (MLAP) at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville passed away on August 28 at the age of 75. Described as dedicated, generous, and giving of his own knowledge, David Barr was an associate professor of sculpture at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, for 40 years. He received a Master\u2019s of Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University. There are eight Barr sculptures within the 30-acre art park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all so very sad to have lost David,\u201d says Renee Hintz, MLAP\u2019s executive director. \u201cHe 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. He created a body of work\u2014sculptures, reliefs, books, and the Art Park\u2014from 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLAP founding board member Jim Ristine describes Barr\u2019s work as, \u201cvery precise, very elegant, very well-crafted. It has broader meaning than just a visual image.\u201d<\/p>\n
Internationally acclaimed, Barr was awarded the Governor\u2019s Michigan Artist Award in 1988, telling of his dream to create a place that told Michigan\u2019s history through art. Barr worked tirelessly to create MLAP, aspiring to give artists the opportunity to express Michigan\u2019s story through \u201cfundamental materials of nature.\u201d Barr\u2019s dream became a reality with the opening of Michigan Legacy Art Park on September 10, 1995. (The Art Park celebrates 20 years this month.)<\/p>\n
Barr had long desired to create a \u201cMichigan Art Park,\u201d where contemporary artists would bring Michigan\u2019s history to fresh and vivid life. Today, MLAP has 45 sculptures and 30 poetry stones along its nearly 2-mile hiking trail, with more acquisitions planned. The newest permanent sculpture in the park is \u201cCommunications Vine,\u201d by Eric Troffkin, which was completed in late July after a three-step installation process.<\/p>\n
MLAP\u2019s annual fundraiser last month raised more than $46,000, half of which will be applied toward the park\u2019s \u2018Art Access for All Capital,\u2019 which is nearing its $500,000 goal. The campaign has allowed for several additions and improvements to the park, including a new accessible trail, a rebuilt amphitheater, and six new benches for rest and contemplation. A portion of the money raised at the Legacy Gala will also go toward funding a new position for the park, the David Barr Endowed Chair for Artistic Direction.<\/p>\n
Barr believed in using common \u201claborer\u201d materials to make art democratic, or understood in a common language. Many of his sculptures are geometric in nature and made of wood, stone, or steel. <\/p>\n
A prolific artist, one of Barr\u2019ss most visible works is downtown Detroit\u2019s gleaming arch, Transcending, a tribute to the laborers who built Michigan and the country. Knowing no boundaries for his vision and aspirations, Barr worked on the Four Corners Project\u2014perhaps the largest sculpture in the world. It aimed to connect people, cross boundaries, and show the smallness of the world by connecting points of the earth\u2019s tetrahedron.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid Barr\u2019s curiosity, intellect, creativity, and passion for the art are distinguishable from all others,\u201d says MLAP founding board member and close friend, Marilyn Wheaton. \u201cCreative experience was David\u2019s mantra.\u00a0In his 2008\u00a0Crossing Lines\u00a0manuscript, he wrote, \u2018For nearly 50 years, I have been a creative worker,\u2019 and he referred to his famous\u00a0Four Corners Project\u20141976 to 1985\u2014as \u2018an act of constructive creation.\u2019\u00a0He often referred to the unifying principles of art while installing his series of global art projects.\u00a0David understood with absolute clarity the power of art, and he articulated that knowledge with passion and conviction.\u201d
\n\u201cHe put his whole life into creating his work, and it shows,\u201d Ristine adds.<\/p>\n
Michigan Legacy Art Park is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is located on a 30-acre preserve, leased from Crystal Mountain for $1 per year. Michigan Legacy Art Park features more than 45 outdoor sculptures that celebrate Michigan\u2019s culture and history along almost 2 miles of wooded hiking trails. A tribute video about David Barr and his wife and artistic collaborator, Beth Dwaihy-Barr, is viewable below. <\/p>\n