 | | | | |  | | | |  | | | |  | | | | Beaver Island might be the right fit for Bob because of the "arts and crafts" renaissance it is undergoing. Public attention has been focused on the acceleration of material culture: the large beachfront homes and the new hardware store, bowling alley, boat dock, and bakery/restaurant. Without much fanfare, a number of artists and artisans have been expanding the role that Beaver Island plays in their work and lives. Several local merchants have sprung up or shifted their emphasis in order to funnel the products of this movement to the public, which has been enthusiastically receptive. Unlike the contractors working here, the artists would welcome one more, and then a few more, because this proliferation could shift the perception of Beaver Island to something of an artists' colony. If this were to happen, it would increase the number of customers who come here to buy these wares, enabling the artists who address this demand to make a better living.
So, on the behalf of this growing community of artists, we urge Bob to give Beaver Island serious consideration as the site for the next stage of his unpredictably unfolding life. |
| | | | | | | | To Move, or not to Move
... to Beaver Island | | | That is the question for Ann Arbor artist Bob Avery, who has been coming here for twenty-five years. He wants to get away from the city, and the Island, where his parents have had a cottage for over two decades, has always appealed to him. Sue Thomson's Livingstone Studio has been handling his glass and stone creations, and if he were here, he might pick up more of the custom orders that he enjoys. He believes he could be very productive here, and would still be able to sell his work through downstate and Southwest galleries, as well as at the pow wows he attends.
The biggest reason for him not to come here is that since he discovered his Apache heritage, he has been increasingly drawn towards the Southwest. He is of the Bear and Eagle Clan descent, the peacemakers, Apache by birth, Iroquois by tradition. He is very involved in Native American culture downstate, and senses that Beaver Island is calling out for leadership to reawaken its Native American heritage.
Could this be his destiny? | | | |  | | | |  | | | |  | |
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