Bob Kovar- Art in the Library for December and January!

Stop in the library during open hours to see his amazing photography!

Bobs connections to the Manitowish Waters area run long and deep. Bob’s grandparents bought 33 acres of land on Rest Lake in Manitowish Waters, WI in 1933 and he came here as a “summer kid” until he moved here permanently in 1980. He married a local girl and they raised their family in a house they built on their property on Wild Rice Lake in 1988. Bob managed a cranberry marsh for 22 years and then decided he needed to get more involved in his community. He was instrumental in starting the North Lakeland Discovery Center and started and ran the Intercultural Leadership Initiative, a program that brought Native and non-Native kids together across the Lakeland region that build friendships and empowered youth to end racism amongst themselves and in their communities. He also was instrumental in establishing and was a founding member of the North Lakeland Education Foundation, Northwoods Restorative Justice, The Tribal AmeriCorps Program, the Zaagiibagaa Healing to Wellness Court, the HOPE Consortium, the Positive Action Coalition, The Wisconsin Native American Prevention Coalition and the Tribal Behavioral Health Initiative. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the North Woods Art Tour and the Last Wilderness Alliance.

Bob “retired” from the lions’ share of this work in 2019 but continues to be a strong advocate for protecting and promoting the health and well-being of the inhabitants and wildness of the region, animate and inanimate, wild and human. Bob built a cozy studio on their property on Wild Rice Lake in 2019 which is open when he is not out in the great outdoors taking photos, paddling, cycling, birding, roller skiing, x-country skiing or exploring the deepest secrets in the deepest woods with his two little granddaughters.

20% of sales for this art show will go to the Friends of the Presque Isle Library.