Glen Arbor resident Peg McCarty helped guide the Glen Arbor Arts Center for 15 years from 2003 to 2018. Peg, the Arts Center first director, said it was incredibly stimulating, and she felt so fortunate:

“Previously I had been a feature newspaper photographer, often portraying the lives of creatives. I had worked in K-12 education bringing artists, children, and the community together to create major artistic projects in writing, music, theater, and visual arts.I helped to launch Leelanau County’s Parenting Communities and often brought children and parents together for artistic activities.

Drawn to creatives, with their unique way of seeing, thinking, perceiving, and expressing. I felt privileged to help provide, through the Glen Arbor Arts Center, a warm and welcoming place for artists to flourish and the community to experience their processes and finished work, as well as a place for people of all ages to make their art – from novice to highly experienced. The Arts Center is a happy stew of stimulating ideas and opportunities. It’s a treasure and gratefully, on it goes better and better.