Reich’s Sleeping Bear Dune Overlook named Manitou Music poster
By Katie Dunn
Sun contributor
The practice of reproducing original artwork as a poster has allowed the visual arts to transcend the rarefied confines of elite museums like the Tate Modern, exclusive such as Gagosian, and private collections like that of François Pinault.
Original art, predictably, remains financially attainable or those with considerable discretionary income. For many aesthetes, the acquisition of fine art proves to be prohibitively expensive. Happily, the phenomenon that is the poster remedies this, making the arts accessible to a broader audience. It is, indeed, a democratizing force.
The Glen Arbor Arts Center (GAAC) carries on this inclusive tradition with its annual Manitou Music Poster. Every year for the past two-plus decades, the GAAC has chosen a distinguished piece of art representative of the area, reproducing the image as a poster and offering it at a price-point that is affordable.
For 2025, the GAAC has awarded Barbara Reich’s pastel, Sleeping Bear Dune Overlook #10, the honor of being the official poster image. It is an acknowledgment of Reich’s exceptional ability to transform a familiar subject into something entirely unique, and a testament to her extraordinary talent.
Reich is a Traverse City-based artist whose credentials have earned her widespread recognition, prestigious awards, and memberships in prestigious art societies including the Great Lakes Pastel Society, the Pastel Society of America, among others. She also is a founding member of the Mid-Michigan Plein Air Painters. Reich’s work continues to garner acclaim, solidifying her reputation in Michigan’s art circles and beyond. Presently, she has work on display at the Dennos Museum.
Historically, the GAAC’s Manitou Music Poster Committee has selected original works that offer a quintessential view of the Glen Lake region and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
The idea of pairing the GAAC’s annual Manitou Music Series with a poster began percolating in the early 1990s. Essentially, the poster’s purpose is to promote and commemorate the music series, as well as to raise funds for the art organization. Additionally, the poster serves to elevate chosen artists, expanding their visibility. 1994 marks its nascency, and Suzanne Wilson, Glen Arbor’s venerated artist, was the very first to have her work enshrined in the poster.
Since its inception, the Manitou Music Poster has included—and in a sense, anointed—such creative luminaries as David Westerfield, Joan Richmond, Richard Kooyman, Kathleen Dunn, Greg Sobran, Jim Frixen, Stephen Duren, Margo Burian, Lou Heiser, Sally Wille, Randi Ford, and most recently, George Peebles. Reich herself now resides in this exalted space, and rightfully so.
Countless artists have painted the Sleeping Bear Dunes with iterations as varied as they are magnificent. The annual poster demonstrates how a particular artist can capture a most recognizable scene with remarkable ingenuity and a diverse perspective. This breadth of vision is what the Committee seeks when selecting the honoree.
“Imagery that depicts the Glen Lake area is a prime concern. The dunes, lakes and forests are signature and iconic aspects of this place, and we all agree on their preciousness, their inspirational beauty. But there’s so much more that comprises this place’s character. What about all those in-between things and places that aren’t readily seen, or often seen? The Poster Committee is always ready to have its socks knocked off by a painting that skips over the familiar subjects into surprise territory. I think that’s the challenge,” Sarah Bearup-Neal, GAAC gallery manager, said.
As the title suggests, Reich’s Sleeping Bear Dune Overlook #10, portrays a sweeping view from 600 feet above Lake Michigan, with shrubbery anchoring the foreground. The terrain is rugged, shaped by relentless sun and wind—its surface bearing the marks of the elements. This raw, weathered depiction of the landscape is precisely what makes Reich’s work so singular.
“Barb did something commendable: She got on top of the dune, so to speak, and interpreted that stark ecosystem – constant and direct sun, wind that doesn’t quit, soil that is deficit in nutrients – and there she found a couple of trees that had managed to survive. It’s not a view we’re often treated to. On top of that, Barb recognized the beauty in a place so very stark,” Bearup-Neal explained.
Reich is profoundly captivated by the striking beauty of the Sleeping Bear Dunes, with its landscape holding personal resonance for her.
“The entire Sleeping Bear Dunes area is visual poetry. The vistas, skies, water, dunes, vegetation, atmosphere…they fill your heart and senses. It is so very grand. You can feel it as much as you see it,” Reich said.
Sleeping Bear Dune Overlook #10 is rendered in pastels, and that is the medium in which Reich primarily works. She appreciates pastels for their rich, velvety texture and luminous color.
“I was attracted to pastels’ pure pigments; the way they sing and allow light to bounce off the tiny particles and reflect light…I began to work almost exclusively in pastel as I continued to study the fundamentals of drawing and painting. I enjoy the direct application of soft pastel especially on sanded surfaces. But beware, as the saying goes: Pastels are like friends, you can never have too many!”
Reich draws tremendous inspiration from towering figures in pastels, as well as from a litany of other renowned artists.
“In the very early years, I looked to pastel artists such as Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt, but over time I have become enamored by many pastel artists as well as artists in every medium. From John Singer Sargent, Richard Schmid, Robert Henri, Nicolai Fechin…along with many present-day artists whose work we can now see [and] study online. My list of inspiration and admiration is endless,” Reich said.
Traditionally, pastels have been used for studies or preliminary sketches for oil paintings. Now, however, pastels are recognized as a legitimate art form unto themselves.
“In the olden days, painting used to be at the top of the visual art heap. It was intentional, a way to keep the hierarchy unchallenged. In order to do this, painting was used as a point of reference. It defined worth and the legitimacy of all else in the visual art world. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people explain their work by saying they’re ‘painting with fabric,’ or ‘painting with yarn.’ I don’t understand why the fabric or the yarn can’t stand alone? It doesn’t need painting to legitimize it. This is the point in the court case where we sidebar about Capital “A” Art versus craft. A cursory look-around yields ample evidence of a big leap forward: Anything has the potential to be a bona fide art-making tool or material. The recent art historical record has plenty of examples of makers using all sorts of not-paint materials, and some of these people are members in good standing of the Capital “A” Artists Club. Bottom line: Charcoal, pencils, pastels aren’t just there in support or in service of painting. They have standing. Case closed,” Bearup-Neal said.
Like the GAAC, esteemed institutions have made iconic works available to the public via the poster. Think: Van Gogh’s The Bedroom (1888), or Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jette (1884-1886).
In the mid-20th century, the ethos of accessibility in art significantly advanced with institutions like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the National Gallery of Art embracing the idea of making masterpieces more widely available. While there is no definitive answer as to which museum was the first to sell art posters, MoMA is widely credited with pioneering the practice during this era. This initiative not only brought art into everyday spaces—homes, schools, offices—but also reinforced the idea of art as a shared human experience, rather than a luxury reserved for the wealthy.
Today, art posters are ubiquitous—not just in museum gift shops, but also in bookstores or online marketplaces—making masterpieces available to anyone with a blank wall and an appreciation for beauty.
“Posters really are the workhorse of the visual world. When I was a kid in the last century, I’d see posters on a building announcing the circus was coming to town. Posters are both a visual treat and a way of conveying information to a wide audience. They’ve announced boxing matches, spread political propaganda, and tempted people with all those luscious images of exotic vacation locales. Somewhere along the way, people figured out that the poster was an excellent format for reproducing visual works for wider consumption. The Manitou Music Posters offer a very accessible way for people to have a touchstone that with a quick glance transports them to that place in the Glen Arbor area they love and revere. As I said, posters are workhorses. They’re magic carpet rides, too,” Bearup-Neal said.
Julie Zapoli, proprietor of Glen Arbor’s Inn & Trail Gourmet, holds an impressive collection of Manitou Music Posters, with dates spanning the past few decades. Each is a gem. The joy Zapoli derives from homing these posters—as art form in its own right—underscores their intrinsic value.
“Rob and Peg Turney, who helped found the Glen Arbor Art Association, jump started my collection of Manitou Music Posters. Rob and Peg collected the posters over their years working with the association’s artists and had an extraordinary number of framed and signed posters in their home—which I purchased from them when I moved to Glen Arbor almost ten years ago. The posters reflect the beauty of the area that I was just getting to know. I haven’t missed a year of a poster since. Each gives a distinctive interpretation of our region so rich in history and resource, and the Manitou Music poster makes that remarkable art accessible to everyone,” Zapoli said.
The arts never should be about exclusivity; the more that the arts enter the public domain, the more they can fundamentally shape, inspire and belong to us all. The 2025 Manitou Music poster is available for sale at the GAAC itself or through its website GlenArborArt.org, priced at $18.
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