Sleeping Bear Shines at ArtPrize

By Craig Manning | Oct. 8, 2022

If you reside in northern Michigan, chances are you’re familiar with the legend of Sleeping Bear. Though the legend itself has a complex cultural history, it remains a popular tale of how the magnificent hills of sand came to be. As the story goes, the main dune is the mother bear and the two Manitou Islands are her cubs, lost in a crossing of Lake Michigan. The legend got a brand-new interpretation at this fall’s ArtPrize, the renowned biennial art competition in Grand Rapids. Muskegon-based artist and photographer Katelyn Wollet spent four days painting a white 2022 Honda Accord into a sprawling canvas where each panel tells a different part of the Sleeping Bear legend. The finished work, called “Dune Bears,” earned Wollet a victory in the West Michigan Honda Dealers Design & Drive Art Contest at ArtPrize, “where six finalist artists compete to win a 24-month lease on a new 2023 Honda HR-V.” Learn more (and see more photos of the car) at katelynwollet.com.