Tin Man

Hart, Michigan, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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A kneeling steel Tin Man holding a heart stands in the Hart Commons area of downtown Hart, Michigan. Sculptor Bill Secunda built it in Pennsylvania, and it was unveiled on 10 June 2023; reports give its height as 20 or 24 feet.

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Tin Man

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Site-level location · 43.7028° N, 86.3631° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A town called Hart has given the Tin Man, the Wizard of Oz character who goes looking for a heart, somewhere to find one. The sculpture kneels beside Hart Commons in downtown Hart, Michigan, holding a large red heart, and was unveiled at the 50th National Asparagus Festival on 10 June 2023, according to WFMK.

The idea began when Hart's mayor, Vicki Platt, saw a Tin Man by Bill Secunda outside the Amway Grand Plaza at ArtPrize in 2021, the Oceana County Press reported. City manager Rob Splane told the paper that the aim was to draw people downtown, and said that "a tin man is always searching for his 'Hart'." It belongs to the Hart Project, an effort to add 25 public art installations by 2025. Residents voted on whether the figure should stand, sit or kneel, and on where it should go; kneeling and a spot overlooking Hart Lake won.

Secunda, described by the paper as a five-time ArtPrize artist, built it in Pennsylvania and it was trucked to Michigan. The Oceana County Press put the project's cost at $50,000, with a $10,000 grant and the rest from private donations.

Height is reported two ways. The Oceana County Press and WFMK said about 20 feet, while Travel the Mitten (2024), the town's Hart Project page and Think Dunes (October 2025) say 24 feet.

A plaque beside the sculpture, as transcribed by Travel the Mitten, describes the Tin Woodsman as a worker who lost his body to industrialisation and links him to farmers and workers, which the plaque gives as the reason he looks at home in Hart. The Hart Project page adds that the figure symbolises the care farmers put into their land.

Think Dunes recommends a photo with it, and the Hart Project's page lists interactive chimes near it.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A kneeling steel Tin Man in the Hart Commons parking lot area, downtown Hart. Think Dunes (October 2025) suggests a photo with it. The Hart Project page lists interactive chimes nearby; Travel the Mitten (2024) mentions summer concerts and rentable small-business sheds at the commons.

ACCESS

Hart Commons, at the corner of North State Street and East Main Street in downtown Hart, overlooking Hart Lake (WFMK and Travel the Mitten, 2024). The sculpture is outdoors in the commons parking lot area.

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