Art, Nature & The North Country Trail

2021 My NCT artwork by Leah Yellowbird.

“It’s beautiful; it’s here, it’s there, that’s the Trail.”

The North Country Trail Association (NCTA) launched the My NCT program in 2020 as a means to bring art and nature together in the telling of our story, and the connection our Trail Community has with it.

My NCT incorporates the promotion of the North Country National Scenic Trail and the NCTA through an artist’s visual interpretation of it. The piece selected is displayed through the NCTA for 16 months before it is retired. In 2020, the NCTA collaborated with West Michigan artist Erica Lang, founder and owner of Woosah Outfitters, who created a one-of-a-kind woodblock printmaking design. In this second year of the program, the NCTA is honored to collaborate with Minnesota painter and beader Leah Yellowbird.

Leah Yellowbird painting. Credit: Pinnacle Marketing Group

“I’m Anishinaabe, Ojibwe, Algonquin, and Métis,” explained Leah. “What I do in the style I paint is nature, or my interpretation of nature, or the Ojibwe interpretation of nature. I wanted to do a butterfly because to me, it’s just floating around - it’s beautiful; it’s here, it’s there, that’s the Trail.”

Limited edition products featuring it will be made available starting this September, during the My NCT 2021 Membership Drive: Join or renew your membership between September 1-30, 2021 to receive limited edition products. Consider helping us meet a match by joining or renewing on September 25 for North Country National Scenic Trail Day and National Public Lands Day.

Learn more about the My NCT program and Leah Yellowbird at northcountrytrail.org/mynct.
  The NCTA Western Michigan Chapter invites you to get involved! Please reach out at wmi@northcountrytrail.org.