Community Calendar

American Tree is an exhibit that explores the role trees played in the formation of the United States 250 years ago — and the role trees will play moving forward into this nation’s next 250 years. This exhibition features the work of 28 artists. Set in Glen Arbor — named Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation in February 2026 — the exhibit celebrates trees in a wide variety of media, styles, and materials. It interprets the pivotal role trees played in the history of this nation.

At the same time, American Tree is an exhibition that asks what our relationship with the forests and woodlands looks like today? Is it purely transactional and commercial? Is there respite and renewal to be found in the woods? And what is our blueprint for the forest ecosystem in the next two centuries? What does a United State of Trees look like? Why should we care?

Monday thru Friday: 9am – 3pm
Saturday: 12pm – 4pm
Sunday: 12pm – 4pm

Step back in time at the 1842 Dougherty Mission House built by Chief Agosa, the Odawa and Ojibwe people and Rev. Peter Dougherty. Explore life from 1842 to 1917 through the house, outbuildings and demonstration garden.

See unusual pure American chestnut trees. Docent led tours Wednesdays through Saturdays, 11am to 4pm. Discover the Mission House that gave Old Mission Peninsula its name.

Tours:
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Admission: $5 adults
(12 and under free)

Cost: FREE
Audience: All ages, abilities, and interests

🎨🦉🔬 Discover, Explore, Create

Join us every second Saturday for a FREE afternoon of hands-on discovery! Families are invited to enjoy interactive experiences in science, history, and art while exploring the museum’s indoor and outdoor exhibits—including live animals and nature displays.

What to Expect:

🧪 Engaging science, history & art activities
🐍 Animal encounters & museum exploration
🌳 Outdoor exhibits to spark curiosity
🧩 Opportunities for problem-solving & creative thinking
🧠 A space to build critical thinking skills and lifelong learning

Please note: Free Second Saturdays are designed for quality family time. We kindly ask that no large groups attend.

Please Pre-register by "purchasing" a free ticket. This helps us prepare for number of people attending, THANK YOU!

Take part in a vibrant participatory artistic experience every second Sunday of the month! From flower arranging and printmaking to painting and weaving, each session offers a unique and creative activity. Second Sunday Art Projects are included with museum admission. Please pay admission when you arrive.

Second Sundays are made possible with support from the Linda O'Meara Fund for Arts Education.

For more information, please click here.

In memory of Joe and Jane Muer, this giant community collage with over 200 canvases, created by local artists, is on display beginning June 6th. Each piece is priced at $40.00 with all proceeds benefiting programming at the Oliver Art Center.

Summer Hours:
June 1 – September 30:
Monday – Saturday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday 12:00pm – 4:00pm

Come to the museum and join an informal tour of our current exhibitions with one of our docents.

Tours are free with museum admission and will begin at 12:00 PM. Please meet by the front desk a few minutes before the tour begins.

Images and poetry are the essence of the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s current Lobby Gallery exhibit. Poetic Visions Of Port Oneida: Painting And Poems That Reimagine is a series of oil paintings and corresponding poems created by Grand Traverse County artist Wendy McWhorter. This exhibition is in the GAAC’s Lobby Gallery through August 27, 2026.

Hours:
Monday thru Friday: 9am – 3pm
Saturday: 12pm – 4pm
Sunday: 12pm – 4pm

Dig into discovery this summer at the Dennos! In partnership with Traverse Area District Library, families are invited to explore stories, art, and imagination! Enjoy lively read-alouds, songs, and hands-on activities that spark curiosity, creativity, and connection. Designed for young learners and their caregivers, this playful program brings our mission to life—building community, inspiring creativity, and learning together in the Discovery Gallery.

JUNE 10 | Dinosaurs
JULY 8 | America’s 250th
AUGUST 12 | Dinosaurs

Tickets are not necessary for this event.

For more information, please click here.

We see birds everyday, everywhere, some more often than others, but pollution and the consequences of modern technology, pesticides, and land development as well as the spread of invasive species increasingly impact their natural habitats, threatening their survival. How often do we stop to look and listen, take in their beauty, colors, patterns, behaviors, songs, and marvel at the magic of flight? Songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, arboreal birds and scavengers—each play an essential role in maintaining balance in our ecosystem.

“For the Birds” includes nine artists whose compelling works explore their own attraction to birds as a subject, whether rendered as two-dimensional images or 3D objects in printmaking, pen and ink, fiber, found materials, mixed media or the moving image. Each artist’s distinct approach and vision brings heightened awareness to the act of looking—imperative to both birding and art. “For the Birds” offers an opportunity to meditate on the shapes, colors and details within the broad range of avian species—inviting us to appreciate their diversity as vital to the environment, and our role in protecting the natural habitats we share.

Open during library business hours.

Oliver Art Center presents a retrospective exhibition of the work of Nancy I. Foster. A longtime OAC Member Artist, Nancy's work has made an impact everywhere she has resided. Her paintings have been exhibited throughout the western and midwestern United States and is among both private and corporate collections.

She has said of her journeys, “My migrations across this huge land have sparked an abiding interest in formations of the land—observing the effects of wind, waters, rivers, the thrusting of tectonic plates, the nature of geological time, questions of scale, and, finally, man’s hand in changing and marking the land.”

This exhibit is an opportunity to travel across America through Foster’s eyes: taking in humble midwestern landscapes, romantic landscapes of the Great Lakes, the edges and shadows of urban Chicago, and the majesty of nature from Michigan to the west coast.

Opening reception July 18th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Refreshments will be served, all are welcome.

Exhibit Hours:
Sunday 12-4
Monday - Thursday 10-4