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The Alpena Bi-Path offers modern art, a look into Alpena’s past

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss The water tower and bridge at Duck Park and Island Park. They were created in 2015.

ALPENA — The Alpena Bi-Path features a variety of modern art pieces steeped in Alpena’s rich history.

According to a booklet provided by the Thunder Bay Arts Council, the Alpena Bi-Path was created in 1974 to celebrate the bicentennial of the country.

Prof. Tim Kuehnlein, a member of the Thunder Bay Arts Council, said the name for the Bi-Path was actually created by school children.

Kuehlein said the current project, Art Vision Alpena Project, is a revival of an original plan from the 1970s.

In 1974 the Arts Council, the city, The Besser Foundation worked on creating the Bi-Path in honor of the country’s 200th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence, according to Kuehnlein.

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss August Matuzak says a few words at the October 2021 dedication of “Regatta Sails.”

“The idea was to build a bi-path from the college and museum campus down to the harbor and the idea was to populate it with sculptures along the way,” Kuehnlein said.

Kuehnlein said they created one sculpture in 1978, but after that, the sculptures faded out.

“They probably just ran out of resources and energy because they continued to build the Bi-Path,” he said.

Sculptures have been added over the last five years with the most recent being the “Regatta Sails” dedicated and erected in October 2021. The artist for this sculpture was Ann Gildner who created other sculptures in the past. One of the sculptures she contributed to was “The Departure of the Great Blue Herons,” built in 2017 at Duck Park across from the hospital in Alpena.

At the dedication of “Regatta Sails,” Thunder Bay Arts members mentioned they’ve finished 14 sculptures in the last five years and their new sculpture plan goes until the year 2026. The first sculpture, in 2022, will be called “Water in Limestone” by artist Autumn Bildson.

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss “Regatta Sails” stands outside the harbor and is the most recently placed sculpture on the Alpena Bi-Path.

Other sculptures on the Bi-Path include the Lumberjack statue outside of Alpena Community College erected in the 1960s, “The History of Industry” sculptures erected in 2018, and the covered bridge and water tower at Duck Park and Island Park, erected in 2015.

Kuehlein said most artists are local or have ties to the Alpena area.

Creating and dedicating sculptures isn’t a one organization project, but many organizations and groups all over Alpena contribute to the projects.

Anne Gentry, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority, said the city has been really supportive when it comes to art installations and other projects.

“I guess it depends on the group that wants to do some sort of art installation, but the city has been really supportive of those projects in the past,” Gentry said. “So if it’s on public property that the city owns or, like, a park or something like that, usually those entities get approval from the city or request it from city council. We’ve also had art installations or monuments that have gone on private property and, in that case, they just coordinate with whoever owns that piece of property.”

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss A description of the “Regatta Sails” is shown in this October 2021 picture.

Gentry also said it depends on how much groundwork has been done on a project for the length of time it takes.

“So if we, like, had a piece of property that was going to get a memorial or a monument or piece of artwork or something like that, if all of the pieces were already figured out in terms of what’s the timeline … usually it’s pretty quick as long as that plan is there for maintenance and installation and all that,” Gentry said.

Gentry said it depends on the artist and the style for how long the sculpture or art piece is created. For example, the mural by Mango’s Tequila Bar, “Make A Splash for Art: Community Mural Project,” originally completed in 2016, took over a year.

“The one by Mango’s that was quite a long process,” Gentry said, “Because, Art in the Loft did that one, and they fundraised for it and they worked with the artist to incorporate the community in painting the fish. So that was a year plus long process to get that up and then installed and then painted.”

She also added most of the murals that artists have painted downtown have only taken two or three days worth of painting.

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss Tim Kuehlein makes a speech during the October 2021 dedication of “Regatta Sails.”

As you drive and ride around town, make sure to stop and enjoy the history and art of the Alpena Bi-Path, which was made possible by many community members and organizations.

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss This sculpture, “Global Collaboration Awareness,” stands outside Alpena Community College and was erected in 2017.

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss Tim Kuehlein stands with Ann Gildner while presenting “Regatta Sails.” This sculpture was placed in October 2021.

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss This Eagle stands outside the Besser Museum and is part of the Alpena Bi-Path. According to the booklet provided by the Thunder Bay Arts Council it was created in 2000 and placed in 2009.

News Photo by Alyssa Ochss This map stands outside Duck Park and Island Park and shows the Alpena Bi-Path.

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