There’s another changing of the guard amongst the Leelanau art titans as Carol Bawden sold the iconic Painted Bird in Suttons Bay after 37 years selling local and American art on the shores of the peninsula.
“I’ve been thinking about it for some years off and on. It’s a great business community here … It was a great place for me to start a business in a good time and a good place.”
Bawden sold The Painted Bird to Traverse City resident Kathy Dittenbir who was also an artist at the Painted Bird.
The journey started way back in 1987 with the help of Owen Bahle who encouraged Bawden to open the store.
The Bahles had just completed the Sogge building on the corner that has been the site of Suttons Bay Galleries, which was the first location of the Painted Bird.
Eventually, the Bahle’s fixed up the other buildings alongside the Bay movie theater and Bawden moved The Painted Bird right next to The Bay two years into business.
“It’s been a great location and Owen was super helpful. I had fixtures in there that came from the Bahle’s barn that I spruced up. He was encouraging and a very wise person in the way of retail. I always had someone to turn to,” Bawden said.
Bawden’s nearly 40 years of business on the peninsula has seen steady growth.
“My first years were lean, having to start it up and invest a bit in it. Then it really grew in a very nice, steady way. I’ve always had staff there to support it year-round and I feel strongly about keeping them supported all through the year and not just in the summer months,” she said.
Rough years for business included the crash of 2008 and of course the pandemic in 2020. With valleys also come peaks.
“After the pandemic were the best years we ever had,” Bawden said. “I think people were missing the experience and the place and they came out with great loyalty and enthusiasm. 2020 or 2021 those were some of the best years we’ve ever had. We continue along and I see (Dittenbir) developing it further .... I’m so glad that there’s the continuity that is the Painted Bird.”
A Painted Bird artist, Kathy Dittenbir, contacted Bawden in January asking if Bawden was interested in selling business.
“I’m very grateful to (Bawden). She established a fine business that’s an institution,” Dittenbir said.
Dittenbir has excelled in estate sales for the past nine years and brings with her a background in retail. Dittenbir was eager to try her hand at an art gallery when the opportunity came out of the blue she took it with no hesitation.
“It’s a good fit for me in my last hoorah for life,” she said.
Dittenbir says the Painted Bird will add 20-30 new artists while keeping mostly the same flavor of what made the art gallery special in the first place.
“No plans to reinvent the wheel,” she said.
Dittenbir and Bawden came to terms effective on April 1. The Painted Bird has a price point on art anywhere from $10 to $1,500 and will remain open seven days a week. A grand reopening is set for June 2.
“(Dittenbir) is making it her own, moving it around and giving it her spin and talking with the artists who have been there … There’s a lot of talent up here. So she’s discovering that.” Bawden said.
The Painted Bird is one of several Leelanau Galleries to close in recent months as most owners head to retirement calling in a new cast of characters.
“It’s been a really happy life and now they wanna do something else,” Bawden said. “It’s important to have art in our communities, not just commercial businesses but ones that bring us culture and beauty.”
In a past life, Bawden came to the Leelanau Peninsula as a yuppie in San Francisco. She started working for herself specializing in clothing design with an active studio at home, making shirts for Banana Republic. Eventually, the Birmingham native wanted to go back home, but this time a little more north.
“ I loved northern Michigan. I came up here as a kid,” Bawden said. “I just found the Leanna Peninsula to be really the prettiest part of the state.”
Before she opened the shop Bawden sold art at Case Daniels in Suttons Bay. She also joined the Glen Lake Artists and was a part of a co-op that ran a gallery at the Homestead and on Lake Street in Glen Lake. She has always been a business and numbers person.
Bawden will be going back to those art projects that she gave up almost 37 years ago. Bawden would like to get back to making some clothes while making up for lost time at the beach.
“I’m going to the beach. I live on the beach. I live on the beach and I don’t go there,” Bawden said. “I’m going to take some time and be a fudgie ... I never ever regretted moving here. Not for a minute. It just really fulfi lled everything I’d hoped for.”
In her retired life, she will be driving for Share Care and doing some spring and fall cleanups. Bawden is also on the board of Leelanau Christian Neighbors after being a secretary for a term.
Bawden and her husband Scott Craig met after she was interviewed for a piece on HGTV back in the ‘90s. Craig eventually stopped back into the shop and they started seeing each. The two found love playing golf at first.
“The rest is history,” Bawden said. “You share things and experiences and you find a common ground … Follow your pursuits and you’re gonna meet some pretty wonderful people along the way.”
Bawden and Crag married in 2000.
