"Artists for Wings of Wonder"

Higher Art Gallery invites you for an evening of Art, Music, Libations and Cross Cultural Experience all in an effort to benefit The new Wings of Wonder Tribal Raptor Rehabilitation Center.

About the Organization:

Wings of Wonder and the Little Traverse Bay Bands (LTBB) of Odawa Indians are partnering to build the first Tribal Eagle Aviary and Rehabilitation Center East of the Mississippi River. For Rebecca Lessard (the founder of Wings of Wonder) one of the hardest parts of stepping away from rehab work was knowing there was no one in the wings to pick up the task. Add to it Rebecca’s long-held dream of a fully public raptor center and permanent enclosure for the non-releasable eagles that would otherwise be euthanized – you get the picture. The Migizi Aviary will do all of that and more!

The rehab facility will be named “The Wings of Wonder Rehabilitation Center,” which will cement Rebecca’s 30 years of giving back to the earth.

The Migizi Aviary will be the first tribal eagle aviary and raptor center east of the Mississippi River , one of only eight nationwide. It will be located on LTBB land North of Harbor Springs (northwestern part of Michigan’s lower peninsula). 

For more information on WOW & the important work they do visit HERE.

About the Event:

Joining The Power of Art with important local non-profit organizations in our community is what our annual fundraiser and this evening is all about!

In honor of Wings of Wonder, we have tied in the work they do, and put together a "Raptor Themed" art Exhibit by inviting over 20 Artists from our region and beyond. Each one of them is creating a new work of art for the exhibit. Paintings, Sculpture and photography are some of the mediums our selected artists will be presenting work in.

Each one of these pieces will be available for guests to purchase, and portions of proceeds will go to Wings of Wonder.

Here is a list of the participating Artists:

Maggie Bandstra + Glenn Wolff + Shanny Brooke + Derek Weidman + Melonie Steffes + Michelle Tock York + Cynthia Marks + Julie Kradel + Micah Wesley + Bridgette Mills + Karen Bondarchuck + Jane Garrett + Janet Nelson + Roberta Shalifoe + Mark Gleason + Em Randall + Mark Mehaffey + Cat Jackson + Kristen Egan + Kate Hanley + Jessica Kovan + Julie Pearson + Angela Larson +Ken Scott + Leanne Schnepp + Rosalyn Tyge + Tonya Rund + Lynda Infante-Lyons + Lori Feldpausch + Mary Fortuna + Lindy Bishop

In addition to the Raptor themed art exhibit, guests will enjoy 2 complimentary glasses of wine, and delicious Hors d' Oeuvres.

We also are happy to welcome live music by local singer Arianna Wasserman as she serenades us with vocals and her many talents on cello, banjo and beat box just to name a few.

Some of the exciting events planned for the evening are :

~The very popular game of " Plink-Art"- Just like the game Plinko from the Price is right! Guests purchase a disc or 5 and see where it lands. Prizes or raffle tickets could be won!

100% of the proceeds from "Plink-Art" go directly towards WOW.

Discs for Plink-Art are $5 for 3 throws or $10 for 7 throws.

~ No fundraiser would be complete without a selection of amazing Raffle items. Thanks to our generous and amazing community, we will have close to 30 items up for grabs. Everything from Film Tickets, Food & Dining Gift Cards, to home goods will be on the raffle table. 100% of Raffle proceeds go directly to WOW.

Raffle Tickets are $5 for 3 OR 7 for $10

~ We also will have a silent auction this year with art available from Glenn Wolff, Stephen Palmer and others.

~ We are also grateful to one of the events sponsors : Fusion Framing for their gift of a $200 gift card towards a custom frame to be gifted to the purchaser of anything from the evening which is in need of a frame. If more than one piece in need of a frame is purchased at the event, the purchasers names will go into a drawing and one of them will be the winner of the Custom Framing Gift Card.

~ One of the most exciting highlights of this entire evening which we are so grateful to have the opportunity to experience is a Cultural Dance Performance by Roberta Shalifoe , founder of Eagle Spirit Dancers. Vibrant, Healing, and Exciting is how this sacred and cultural art form has been described.

Roberta will begin her performance promptly at 6:40, which you will not want to miss!

For more info on Roberta and The Eagle Spirit Dancers click here.