Create Community: Spaces for Discovery

Saugatuck-Douglas History Museum

Collages of colorful windows create waves and arches throughout the hilled landscape along the shore of the channel at the Saugatuck-Douglas History Museum. The windows invite guests to consider experiencing the views from a new vantage point. Guests will also be guided to historic Saugatuck landmarks – creating a mini history tour through a bright, colorful lens.

Visit this exhibition at sunset for another sensory awakening experience as the sunset in the windows portrays an array of technicolor visions of Saugatuck on the land and water surrounding.

This installation is visible from both the road and waterfront. It can be accessed more closely with a short walk through the garden outside of the Pump House.

Snap a pic and upload it here for a chance to be featured on the SCA Instagram AND for a chance to win a Saugatuck-Douglas prize package!

Each and every location was dreamed, brainstormed, problem solved, drafted, created, and built with your experience in mind.

1 year of planning | 4 months of building | Countless hours on zoom | A few friendly debates

Every installation in Spaces For Discovery is inspirited by children’s literature, the environment that surrounds it, and the people who interact with it.

Children's Literature Inspiration

"Ten Cents a Pound" by Nhung N. Tran-Davies

A young girl is torn by her desire to stay home with her family and the familiarity of their village, and her desire to go to school and discover the world beyond the mountains that surround them. Every time the girl insists that she will stay, her mother repeats that she must go—that there is more to life than labor in the coffee fields. Their loving exchange reveals the struggles and sacrifices that they will both have to make for the sake of the young girl’s future.

Location Inspiration

The Saugatuck-Douglas History Center’s History Museum at Mount Baldhead Park inspires visitors with stories and images of the area’s history and natural beauty. Located at the foot of Mount Baldhead in the historic Saugatuck Pump House (built 1904), the Museum is marking its 27th year of award-winning history exhibits and programming.

In addition to exhibits, the site features a riverside garden and terrace as well as a small store within the Museum that offers a variety of History Center publications, artwork, maps, postcards and other merchandise relevant to local history. To read more about the history of the Museum, click here.

The Museum opens a new exhibit this summer, “The Lure of Mount Baldhead,” that seeks to give the museum visitor a better understanding about Mount Baldhead as a geographic place and historic site, providing an introduction to the layered histories of the local landmark, as well as an opportunity to experience what it’s like to stand atop the dune.

The exhibit includes information on how dunes form, how Mount Baldhead has played a role in people’s lives from prehistory to the present, and why the dune continues to be a significant attraction to residents and visitors in Saugatuck-Douglas today.

Community Inspiration

“The arts are an intrinsic element in what has made Saugatuck-Douglas so inspiring and distinctive for generations. We’re thrilled to serve as a partner with the SCA in bringing history and culture to life at Mount Baldhead this summer.” – Eric Gollannek, Executive Director at Saugatuck-Douglas History Center

Want to get more hands-on with this site? Interested in working directly with the artists? Join us at one of the Quad-Community events happening at the SCA!