TART Trails unveils new art installation at Fouch Trailhead on Leelanau Trail
From staff reports
TART Trails has unveiled a new art installation at the Fouch Trailhead on the Leelanau Trail called “Wiigwaasi-jiimaan: A Mural for the Fouch Trailhead” by local artist Nik Burkhart.
“Wiigwaasi-jiimaan,” the Anishinaabemowin word for birchbark canoe, honors the relationship between water and land, likening it to an embrace that connects communities through nature and history. Burkhart’s mural draws on Anishinaabe canoe craftsmanship, illustrating the remarkable birch, cedar, spruce roots, and pine pitch that historically fashioned these boats and enabled the Anishinaabe people to navigate Northern Michigan’s waterways.
Overlaying this natural imagery, Burkhart incorporates historical maps that outline old transportation routes like the Manistee and North Eastern Railroad and local roads, as well as place names from early settlements, connecting past and present modes of travel and transformation. The mural also nods to Hatch’s Crossing and the Fouch station, a historic transportation hub where railroads and steamboats once transported passengers and goods in Leelanau County. This layered composition forms a complete image of a canoe, symbolizing the call to care for our waterways, resources, and cultural heritage.
“This project has been an incredible learning opportunity for me and allowed me to explore some of the complex history of our area,” says Burkhart. “I am grateful for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for their permission to use the image of the birchbark canoe in this artwork. Learning more about the Anishinaabe culture of environmental stewardship has been very inspiring for me. Kim Kelderhouse and the Leelanau Historical Society Museum were also instrumental in providing historical maps and images that helped shape my vision for the mural.”
Nik Burkhart is an interdisciplinary artist originally from Northern Michigan. His recent work explores how humans interact with the environment, bringing themes of land use, agriculture, and the symbolic language of natural forms into his art. Through “Wiigwaasi-jiimaan,” Burkhart brings his love of landscape and abstraction to the Fouch Trailhead, creating a piece that invites reflection on our past and future interactions with the land. Click here to read our feature on Burkhart’s black and white paintings of cherry orchards.
Click here to explore more Art on the TART exhibitions.
