Art Identity

Feb. 26, 2016

A Sculpture For Boyne City

Ontario-born William H. White came to northern Michigan in 1859 to manage a sawmill in East Jordan. In 1881, that business failed and White was out $600 in wages; he was given $450 in merchandise in lieu of earnings. In January 1883, he shipped his goods by sleigh, over 4 feet of snow, to Boyne City. He had no money when he arrived, borrowing $2 for his room and board. Within a few years, White had pulled himself up by his bootstraps and become a dominant force in Boyne’s economic growth, spearheading the timber industry. For 40 years Boyne City was the lumbering capital of northwest Michigan. The lumber shipped out of Boyne City, if placed end to end, would create an 8-foot-wide boardwalk that would circle the earth at the equator.

This brief history lesson provides a little insight into why Boyne City Main Street and a group of local artisans are heading a campaign to install a permanent piece of logging-related artwork that will be part of “the fabric and the heritage” of Boyne City itself. The piece of art will be created by artist Martha Sulfridge, inspired by an idea of local artist Tony Williams, who co-owns the Freshwater Gallery with his wife, musician Robin Lee Berry.

“Tony and Martha are local artists that sit on our Main Street design committee, and each are also a part of our Walkabout Sculpture Tour in town,” explained Lori Meeder of Boyne City Main Street.

“The idea of commemorating the loggers really ties into everything Boyne City is,” she continued. “We are a town created by laborers, whether in the woods sawing down trees or in the river moving logs to the mills, in the mills turning logs into lumber or in the brick factories or tannery. These laborers are Boyne City’s identity, and who we are as a community are tied to these people who built this town.”

“Both of my grandfathers were loggers here,” Tony Williams said. “They came to Boyne City in the 1890s. A lot of people who come here don’t know the history of this place at all. So much of our industry here started with logging; I wanted to commemorate Boyne City as a logging town; I want people to know the town’s roots.”

Sulfridge’s bronze work is displayed in Williams and Berry’s gallery, and he was already working with her on art initiatives for the area, so he suggested she would be a great fit for the project.

“Martha came to me a year ago and asked me to join a committee she was putting together to put art installations in Boyne City,” Williams said. “Last summer, we had six pieces of sculpture in the Walkabout Tour; we swap them out each year, so this summer we’ll have eight. But, I wanted to put the idea out there that Boyne City needed its own permanent statue.”

Called “The Last River Draw,” Sulfridge’s sculpture will be a life-sized logger standing on a log, pulling or “drawing” the logs down the river with a special tool.

“The sculpture will actually be standing on a log that will float in the Boyne River and will rise and fall with the water,” Meeder said.

Williams added that the statue itself will be bronze, but the log will mostly likely be aluminum.

“It’s almost a kinetic piece of art,” he said, “and, since it will be in the water, we got the Okay from the DNR and everyone to make sure it won’t adversely affect the river.”

A plaque will explain the statue’s significance, which will be paid for, in part, by crowdfunding.

“The total project cost for the sculpture is estimated at $50,000,” Meeder said. “We have a matching grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for $25,000 if we can get $25,000 in local support.”

This is an all or nothing situation (the deadline is Apr. 9), so Boyne City is now commencing a big fundraising push to achieve that financial goal.

“We already have $8,800 donated or pledged from several local organizations: the Charlevoix County Community Foundation, local businesses and individuals,” Meeder said.

More funding is needed to make this commemorative artwork happen, but Meeder, Williams and Sulfridge are confident that “The Last River Draw” is an important addition to Boyne City.

“Having a permanent piece that perfectly represents Boyne City is exciting,” Meeder said, “and I love how people are willing to help support the project, because that’s what we do and who we are in Boyne City.”

To learn more about “The Last River Draw” project and to make a donation, visit patronicity.com/project/the_last_river_draw

LOGGING IN BOYNE:

• Railroads were of top importance in the growth of the Boyne region’s lumber industry. William Howard White, a newcomer to Boyne City, built the Boyne City and Southeastern Railroad in 1893 to help get larger loads of logs to his sawmill.

• At Boyne City’s logging peak, there were 90 miles of track going into the logging camps, several hundred logging cars and more than a dozen locomotives.

• One of Mr. White’s logging mills was said to be able to cut 75,000 board feet of lumber in a day.

• Once the trees were cut down, the logs were loaded onto railcars, later unloaded and rolled into a millpond, where they were spun clean with cant hooks, pulled out of the water with a different hook and cable device and then sawed into lumber.

• A cant hook is a traditional logging tool made of a long wooden lever handle with a moveable metal hook at one end; it’s used for handling and turning logs.

• In spite of what a powerful force the logging and timber industry of Boyne City had become, by the 1920s, it was nearly all gone.