A Tree with a Heart

Stuff We Love

April 12, 2025

If you’ve ever driven by Bier Art Gallery & Pottery Studio, just south of Charlevoix on the corner of US-31 and Ferry Road, you’ve likely seen the magnificent basswood tree towering out front. For decades, gallery visitors have picnicked under the 150-year-old tree or snapped family photos. After standing tall for so long, the tree was lost to the March ice storm. It split into six sections as it fell and managed not to hit the studio, the outdoor sculptures, the signs, or the pumphouse that all lay in its path. Even the picnic table escaped unscathed. Owner Ray Bier explored the downed tree with his seven-year-old grandson in the following days. Bier tells us that as they stood by the fallen limbs that had miraculously spared the gallery, his grandson declared, “This tree had a heart.”