Art in a city or village gives residents and visitors a good sense about themselves and the people who live there.

It makes people feel good and contributes to the reasons people like to work in, visit, shop or call a place their home.

Public art is very apparent in neighboring towns such as the sculptures in Dowagiac, Benton Harbor, Niles, St. Joseph, New Buffalo, and of course South Bend and Elkhart.

Cassopolis has public art, too and what, I am about to write may surprise you.

In addition to the granite sculpture by artist William Cooper at the entrance to the parking lot at Hayden Hardware and murals throughout the village, Cassopolis if full of art and there are immediately two big public items that everyone who goes through Cassopolis sees. They are the gemstone vintage courthouse and the historic log cabin museum and tin roofed portico on beautiful Stone Lake.

The courthouse is an example of artful and beautiful architecture, with massive stone and classic design. It is an art centerpiece for Cass County. When the malls opened in cities around us, and the old portion of the courthouse was closed, much of Cass County seemed to close too. And it was a shock to Cass County and to Cassopolis.

Now, with the county’s effort to reuse the vintage courthouse and the Village of Cassopolis’ participation in the Main Street Michigan project, a source of pride should again shine in Cass County.

The business area of Cassopolis is artful too, with old buildings of classic design and a small village feel that is being revived and cherished around the country. Cassopolis Village building owners still have to get their acts together to increase the value of their properties, and have appropriate and viable business tenants. It is hard to coordinate a big effort like this, but perhaps the Main Street Michigan project of the village and the Cassopolis-Vandalia Chamber of Commerce will provide the mechanism. Leadership and a lot of work for village projects have to start from within stakeholders in the village.

But there is even more art in Cassopolis.

The very talented architects, designers and builders who were responsible for the buildings in Cassopolis created an artful atmosphere of American living. Beautiful Victorian houses, cottage style homes and small studio-size homes can all be found in Cassopolis and they art in the truest sense.

Maintaining the artful character of a home is important when remodeling, renting or being a resident in a home.

Remodeling that stays in the character of the house adds to the property  value and artful appeal of the house and the entire community. Using the correct windows, doors, siding and colors makes Cassopolis look good and makes people who live here feel good to live in a nice area.

Renters can enhance the art factor in the house in which they rent or reside. Landlords are not responsible for some of the things that add to the appeal of where we live and renters and residents do have a responsibility to the buildings in which they live.

Pick-up, clean-up and fix-up are three ways to add to the artful nature of the houses we live in. By picking up the kids’ toys and making sure our yards look neat, washing the house with soap and water to remove dirt and molds and fixing things that we have on our “when I get around to it” list all make us glad we did it. Its hard work that no one else is going to do, but it makes you an artist in your own way.

Look around Cassopolis and you will see art everywhere that honors those who have come before us, it honors those who will come after us and it honors us today.

 

Tom Rose is the director of the Cass Area Artists.