As Khenan Mitchell walks the Nappanee Art Path, the two-year-old picks up pine cones or other natural treasures from the trail that winds past 125 sculptures. If something is out of place, he puts it back. He greets the sculpture of a fox, one of his favorite sculptures.

“He knows when he wakes up, he gets some waffles in a cup, and takes a walk in the woods,” says his mother, Kaci, who moved back to her hometown in May 2023 with her son and her husband, Vincent.

She never expected to come back to Nappanee from Indianapolis, but returned to be close to her family, including her parents, Mark and Jenni Heeter.

This summer, the Heeters started walking from their nearby home with Khenan to the path. It soon became not just a daily routine, but something they would do multiple times a day. “We come every day, morning and night,” says Jenni.

Khenen knows the path well and tends it on the walks. “When I do walk with him, it’s definitely a blessing to find joy as he’s excited to be outside,” says Kaci.

He usually doesn’t stay in the stroller as they follow their routine of walking through the woods to see the Woodland Creatures. The stretch through the woods on the north side of McCormick Creek Golf Course includes sculptures of critters and creatures. Paved portions wind past the original apple sculptures, the Flower Garden, Junkyard Dogs, Tour de Nappanee, and through the Tunnel of Love.

Khenen Mitchell walks the art path with his family, including mother, Kaci (kneeling), grandparents Mark and Jenni Heeter (center), and artist Abby Morganthaler (right). (Photos by Bryan Chris)

Jeff Stillson, a graphic designer, artist, and photographer, was inspired by sculptures of cows in Chicago and elk in Elkhart to create a public art installation in Nappanee. With a historic apple festival happening each September, he enlisted artists to paint 24 half-apples. Sponsors helped pay for the art that was in downtown Nappanee from 2013 to 2016.

Mayor Phil Jenkins asked Jeff to create the Nappanee Arts Council to decide where to display the apples and work on future projects. Chris Davis, superintendent of the Nappanee Park and Recreation Department, and Jeff found a spot on the path along C.R. 7 on the east side of town to place the collection of the three-foot-high sculptures called The Apple Orchard.

Jeff and the other members of the arts council proceeded to enlist artists and sponsors for installations of flowers and dogs and kept going. Each series becomes a group of sculptures along the path, which stretches over a mile.

The 100th sculpture was installed in May 2023. Jeff’s butterfly, created with artist Jennifer Tompos, is in a water feature along the path. The Tunnel of Love features sculptures around the theme of love. This fall, metal butterflies are expected to migrate from downtown to the Art Path.

The Community Foundation has given nearly $150,000 in grants to support the path since 2018.

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Khenen Mitchell loves the sculptures along the Nappanee Art Path and visits them daily.

These grants match contributions from donors to help art spring forth in the city in southern Elkhart County.

Artists receive $1,500 to envision and create a metal sculpture. Abby Morganthaler, an arts council member and art teacher at NorthWood Middle School, created the fox Khenen loves by drawing it to scale and having a welder construct it. She then painted and sealed the sculpture.

Goshen artist Sunday Mahaja is a metal sculptor and welder who often contributes pieces, but Abby and Jeff hire welders, even Amish ones, to help
create their works.

“I think 2D and these are very 3D,” says Abby.

Her students tell her, “Mrs. Morganthaler, I saw your piece on the Art Path.” Making public art is exciting for her and engages her students to think about how their creativity may be displayed. “You want people to see your work,” Abby says.

The path often has walkers, runners or bicyclists, but the popularity of the trail was made most apparent by the response to the “Trails and Treats” event the arts council planned in October 2022. More than a thousand people came to see the sculptures, now lit at night, thanks in part to a Community Foundation grant, and get a bit of candy. Arts council members were both thrilled and grateful.

Abby Morganthaler is an artist whose creations are among those along the Nappanee Art Path. She is also a member of the Nappanee Arts Council.

In addition to the invitation to create sculptures, artists are invited to create other types of work at the new Nappanee Arts Center downtown. The arts council opened a gallery and creator space at 253 W. Market St. Like the path, the arts center grew from community and Community Foundation support.
“I am overwhelmed with the response in Nappanee in terms of support,” Jeff says. “This is a tight-knit community and it’s been very easy. We also couldn’t do it without the grants from the Community Foundation or the support of the city and parks department.”

The art scene in Nappanee is thriving and the public art makes the city more vibrant.

The path continues to grow and nurture those who walk it, including Khenen and his family.

This story appeared in the 2023 Annual Report.