An artist colony in Empire? Sleeping Bear Gallery hopes so
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
Before the tourism boom of the 1990s, before Cherry Republic and before the crowds engulfed Art’s Tavern, cozy little Glen Arbor had an artist colony that preceded its big bang. The colony began when the late Susanne Wilson, Ananda and Ben Bricker took a risk and bought the old garage on Lake St., turned it into a studio and eventually invited other artists to come to Glen Arbor and practice and exhibit their art in their friendly oasis.
Thirty years later, could the same art revolution happen in Empire?
Sleeping Bear Gallery owner Heather Caverly hopes so. Caverly purchased the Empire Clipper Building across Front Street from the Village Office in January and, together with curator Becky Willis, she aims to turn it into a haven that features artists in residence, demonstrations and lectures and, of course, displays of unique art including metals, wood, glass, fibers, paintings, sculptures, ceramics and photography. Caverly and her husband Mark live in the newly renovated area behind the gallery, and Willis occupies the apartment upstairs.
“I want to provide a space for aspiring artists to have a place to get off the ground,” said Caverly, who works mostly in metals. “This is an environment we love and where we can help other artists demo and sell their work.”
Caverly and Willis worked hard all spring to open the gallery by this weekend’s Empire Asparagus Festival. On Friday, May 18, they’ll feature a demo by three blacksmiths who studied with Caverly at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit. During the Anchor Days festival in July they plan to feature a hot glass-blowing demo. As soon as she has her own forge, Caverly will offer blacksmithing demos herself. Since she loves to play the guitar, visitors might walk in and find her harmonizing to all kinds of music. Willis, meanwhile, taught jewelry classes in Franklin, Mich., for 23 years.
Heather Caverly first visited this area on her honeymoon in 1979, and has wanted to retire here ever since. She and Mark have two children who live today in Denver and South Lyon, Mich. She met Mark when her father, who was converting an old farm into a golf course, hired him to build the course. Her husband creates beautiful landscapes with his heavy equipment. He is an artist whose medium is dirt, she says. Caverly learned woodworking from her father, and she taught herself to paint and use ceramics. Though she’s always loved art, Caverly didn’t matriculate at CCS until “her last baby was off to college”. She received her degree at age 50.
About five years ago, Heather and Mark took an interest in the Clipper Building, then owned by John & Chris Walter (Chris’ wife Ashlea once ran a beautiful printing press in the building, and she started the Empire Asparagus Festival).
“This building lets us satisfy our unstoppable passion to live here,” said Caverly. “We want to give the Walter family credit for creating this palette. The work they did here before us allowed us to make this gallery. It’s an honor to take over a building that had such tender love and care put into it.”
The Sleeping Bear Gallery in the heart of Empire is open May through October, seven days a week. The gallery opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m., Monday-Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday. Visit the gallery on Facebook here.
