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Old Art Building hosts Switchback – A Celtic Christmas Concert

Come and experience the magic of the holidays at the Old Art Building in Leland on Friday, Nov. 22, with Switchback – A Celtic Christmas Concert. Doors open at 6:30 pm with the concert running from 7-9 pm. The show will feature musicians Brian FitzGerald and Martin McCormack performing some Christmas standards, Irish melodies, and some originals. Voted the top duo for Irish music in Europe and North America by the Irish Music Association, they have shared the stage with luminaries from the Chieftains to Leon Russell to the Moody Blues.

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Old Art Building kicks off capital campaign with recent riverfront property purchase

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The Old Art Building (OAB) just scored a major win for the Leelanau community with purchase of a 1.14-acre property parcel on the Leland River, kitty-corner from the cultural center’s established location in Leland. The purchase, finalized on July 31, secured 280 feet of additional Leland riverfront property for the community and almost tripled the nonprofit’s footprint. Campaign chair, Cindy Meeker, said, “The purchase of the property at 204 Cedar Street allows the Old Art Building to enhance its programming to meet the demands of this community for today and for many future generations to come. Additionally, it allows us to preserve this treasured property in the heart of Leland as we honor our past and build our future.” With just 2 ½ months to raise the money, a grant from Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation and generous donations from community members secured the $3.2 million needed to finalize the purchase, while also quietly kicking off a three-year capital campaign aimed at raising enough funds to achieve community-voiced goals on both the new and existing properties.

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‭North Manitou Light Keepers host annual rally and Crib cruise‬‬

The North Manitou Light Keepers (NMLK) will host their annual Lightkeeper Rally and Crib Cruise in Leland on July 18. These unique, elegant, and fun events invite people to connect and rally around ongoing efforts to restore and appreciate the North Manitou Shoal Light (the offshore lighthouse known as the “Crib”). “These events are a fun highlight we look forward to each year,” said NMLK President Daniel Oginsky.

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Mulebone returns to northern Michigan

Rootsy blues duo Mulebone—guitarist/vocalist Hugh Pool and flutist John Ragusa—knows the area well. “Glen Arbor is beautiful and holds a special place for Hugh and I,” says John Ragusa, citing the band’s many shows at the Manitou Music Festival. This year the duo’s annual mini-tour includes shows in Leland, Traverse City, Elberta and an appearance at Music in the Park in Northport. Mulebone’s music is an amalgam of country, blues and everything in-between. While it’s mostly originals, they may sneak in a piece by Reverend Gary Davis or Doc Watson. “We cover songs that are traditional blues, folk and country. Hugh writes virtually all the original material,” Ragusa says.

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Laughing in Leelanau author, legendary storyteller Scott Craig dies

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Leland resident Scott Craig, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who worked for CBS, NBC, PBS, Turner Broadcasting and HGTV—and later moved to Leelanau County where his plays, radio features, and stories have been omnipresent on the airwaves, at local restaurants and cafes, and on stage at the Old Art Building—died on Thursday, April 18, at age 89. A celebration of Scott’s life will take place on his 90th birthday, Monday June 24, at 4 pm at the Old Art Building, a place where he helped create a lot of theater magic. “I’m never happier than when I’m working on a creative project,” Scott told the Glen Arbor Sun in 2020. “I’ve only been bored a half a day since I retired … because I’ve always found something creative to do.”

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Main Street Gallery, Old Art Building hold celebration exhibit

Main Street Gallery and the Old Art Building in Leland announce a celebration of the artists and history of Main Street Gallery on June 14 from 5:30-7:30 pm, with remarks to be made at 6:30 p.m. This event also highlights the opening of the “Artists of Main Street Gallery” exhibit to be held at the Old Art Building from June 14-18. This exhibit will feature fine art from the artists who have shown their work at and fueled the life of Main Street Gallery over much of its history.  The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

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Leland’s Old Art Building hosts inaugural Community Tweed Ride

The Old Art Building in Leland will host its inaugural Community Tweed Ride on Saturday, May 4, from 2-4 pm. The free event is sponsored by Suttons Bay Bikes, Dam Candy Store, Cherry Republic and the Leland Lodge. A Tweed Ride is a leisurely, non-competitive bicycle ride where participants don vintage-inspired clothing, often featuring tweed fabrics, plus fours, bowties, and other attire reminiscent of the early 20th century.

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Old Art Building’s Blue Lantern Tea series counters information malaise

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“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” Those are the prescient, portending words of Gertrude Stein, the American 20th century expatriate, novelist, art pioneer, and culturalist extraordinaire. Her words are still deeply salient—a century later. Divisiveness is easy currency—globally, nationally, locally. We have become, regrettably, media saturated and disconnected. The Leelanau Community Cultural Center at the Old Art Building (“OAB”) in Leland, most fortuitously, has provided a counterpoint — an antidote of sorts — to this malaise: the Blue Lantern Tea Room program — a reimagination of the historic, communal salon experience.

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Manitou Winds premiers Old Art Building’s Song & Story concert series

Leelanau County-based chamber music ensemble Manitou Winds will perform on Friday, Aug. 25, at 7 pm at the Old Art Building in Leland. The organization’s new Song & Story concert series will combine music, poetry, and storytelling. According to Manitou Winds founder Jason McKinney, the performance will feature an eclectic program of traditional works and original songs bridging Classical, Celtic, and Folk styles, interspersed with inspiring spoken word.

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Michelle Leask is an artist, too!

“Wow, this is good! I did this?” exclaims Michelle Leask, after writing a poem as part of the Consenses art project, a multi-genre game of telephone hatched by the Old Art Building in Leland. Starting with the purple glass Infinity Disk in front of the OAB, artists were invited to take inspiration from and respond to the creation of only the previous artist in the series, resulting in multiple expressions in a linear creative conversation. The show opened in July, and viewers can walk from work to work to see the multi-media series as it was created, one art form at a time. Michelle’s poem is her response to “a nice soft watercolor of flowers in a vase. The poem is called Beauty in Brokenness, because I saw so many contrasts of old and new.”

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