“Accoutrements” captures Port Oneida farms
By Allison Stupka
Sun contributor
The farms of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offer sweeping views of land, barns, farmhouses, and various outbuildings. They have interested painter David Giordan for decades. Driving up from their Lansing home, he and his wife would see the farms on their way to Lake Leelanau. One day they stopped and fortuitously met a park ranger who told them about the rich history of the Port Oneida farms. At that time, the National Lakeshore’s plan was to let the farms languish and be removed.
Giordan was shocked to learn that these buildings were going to be demolished. He began taking photographs of the buildings to document them and to create an archive of the buildings’ details, the barn door trolly and outbuilding’s door latch, “the pieces,” he says, “that allowed people to live there.”
In 1999, the park began holding public meetings in the making of a Historic Properties Management. The group, Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear, was also created. As a result, today the public can view not only the beauty of the land in the National Lakeshore but also the landscape of the historic farming culture.
A graphic designer by trade, Giordan began studying watercolor painting as a hobby, a skill he then directed to the artistic study of the landscapes of the Port Oneida region. The result of his efforts, entitled “Accoutrements,” consists of a collection of paintings of the buildings and objects he had first photographed and documented.
Giordan has also created a visual scavenger hunt that features thumbnail photos of his paintings and a map that gives one clues to where the buildings and objects can be found.
“Accoutrements” will be shown in Center Gallery at Lake Street Studios in Glen Arbor from August 13 to 19. A reception will be held for Giordan on Friday, Aug. 13, from 6 to 8 p.m. Stop by the gallery to meet Giordan, view his paintings, and pick up a scavenger hunt pamphlet.
Lake Street Studios is located at 2309 S. Lake Street in Glen Arbor and is open daily from 11-5. (231) 334 3179 and lakestreetstudiosglenarbor.com
