After more than forty years of being creative Robert Sestok is still one of the most energetic, prolific and most shown artists ever spawned by Detroit’s Cass Corridor. He draws, paints, sculpts, constructs creates collages transforms space and transports audiences. Sestok acknowledges rules only to reinvent them and then break them. He works big he works small and in the finest corridor tradition uses anything he can find. If you haven’t seen what he has been up to of late you have four exceptional opportunities available right now.

“In, On, And Through” at The Johanson Charles Gallery turns paintings and drawings into a massive installation of large-scale abstract and figurative art. Sestok has created an environment that swallows the audience whole but it is the audience that slowly digests it from the inside.

“Painting is about the edges, surface, content and theory. It’s like a reflection of one’s soul. A good painting will hold your attention for some mysterious reason. I keep painting for more than enjoyment. It’s my way of seeing. It’s my life.”

“Purity is only relevant to the environment in which it exists.” – Robert Sestok

Gilda Snowden, Professor of Fine Art and Interim Chair of the Fine Arts department at the Center for Creative Studies, has provided a brief, tantalizing digital video tour of the gallery but you shouldn’t miss the closing reception Saturday, December 20th from 8pm to late. The Johanson Charles Gallery is located at 1345 Division St. in Detroit’s Eastern Market.

Sestok part 1

Sestok part 2

Sestok’s work will also be featured at the Yes Farm on Friday December 19th during their UnSilent Night celebration (http://www.unsilentnight.com/about.html). The UnSilent Night begins with a 42minute walk with music on boom boxes at 6:30 PM on the nose. The walk will end inside the gallery, with their first show - “In the Beginning” - to follow. The group show will feature work in various mediums from local artists. The show will run from 7:30 to 11:30PM.

The Yes Farm is a group committed to living and creating in Detroit. They believe the arts play an important role in the community and seek to bring art into the lives of the people in the community. The goal is to establish a permanent location for artists to live and work. They also hold a deep commitment to ecology, would like to grow food, and create artistic open spaces in the neighborhood. It is their hope to contribute something positive to the community through art. The Yes Farm is located at 5199 Moran on the corner of Farnsworth and Moran in Detroit and can be contacted at theyesfarm@gmail.com

If you’re hanging out in Ann Arbor stop in at Café Verde where Robert Sestok’s exhibit will be up until January 1. Over 500 current works on paper are on display in a relaxed community atmosphere reminiscent of the Cass Café.

Created out of an expansion of the People’s Food Co-op in 2001, Cafe Verde has very quickly become a Kerrytown staple. For a neighborhood abode, Cafe Verde is very welcoming and friendly to outsiders and its array of dishes can make up a full meal or just an afternoon snack. They provide exhibit space to a new artist each month. The Café is locate at 216 N. Fourth in Ann Arbor and can be contacted at (734) 994-9174, http://www.peoplesfood.coop/cafe

If you’re looking for a party in the arts community, on December 31st , 2008, Elements Gallery is ringing in 2009 with an enormous New Year’s Eve gala to celebrate and support Detroit’s unyielding art and music community. MOTLEY is going to be a versatile showing of both established and emerging Detroit artists: Robert Sestok, Julian Wilson, Brandon Strong, Lynn Spanke, and Izabela Steciuk. Opening reception includes an open bar of beer and wine, hors d’oeuvres, NYE toast and musical performances by Monica Blaire, Dj Dez, milieu and Dj Sicari. MOTLEY is a benefit for the Elements Gallery in Corktown, Detroit.

Please RSVP for this event at detroitreivalsociety@gmail.com. MOTLEY opens to the public at 8:00 p.m Closing reception will be held Thursday January 29 .

Elements Gallery is a multimedia gallery dedicated to enriching the artistic community in Metropolitan Detroit. The gallery currently operates through cross-promotional events aimed at showcasing progressive artists of various mediums from within the local community. Elements Gallery is located at 2125 Michigan Ave. in Detroit and can be contacted at detroitrevivalsociety@gmail.com, mike.woo@peoplemoverproductions.com and kh2695@gmail.com.

What does Artist Charles McGee think of the Kresge Foundation investing 8.8 million dollars into metropolitan Detroit’s creative community? “ It’s huge!” He says. “It’s like injecting a vital and sorely needed infusion into the veins of the city. The only requirement is to be creative. This is very unusual.” As he does in his work he is using nature to discuss the community. It’s not a reference to the $50,000 that he just received from Kresge Arts as the first ever Eminent Artist Award recipient. He sees that as the fortunate result of his insatiable hunger for understanding and the love, devotion and total commitment to what he’s been doing for over sixty years. He is referring to a program designed to develop and financially support individual artists, arts and cultural organizations and arts-infrastructure groups in the metropolitan area. Eighteen Kresge Artist Fellowships of $25,000 each and one Kresge Eminent Artist award of $50,000 will be awarded each year. Arts and cultural organizations will receive operating support. “Creative contributions to a community are like fertilizer, it grows and is enriched”, he said.

Portrait of the Artist with artwork, Regeneration, 2007 Ultraviolet cured inkjet paint on Dibond, 78″ x 264″, Commissioned for Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan
Photo by: Ray Manning

“Charles McGee exemplifies what it means to be eminent and what it means to be a Detroiter,” says Rip Rapson, president of the Kresge Foundation. “He is an artist of international renown who in his life and his work is energetic, passionate, always probing and eager to reinvent. It is fitting that he be named the first Kresge Eminent Artist.” He has also spent his life nourishing his community as he is nourished by it. In 1969 Detroit Artist Market asked him to curate a show. Seven artists were chosen who evolved into Gallery 7. They taught, exhibited and raised funds for World Medical Relief for ten tears. He s a mentor, teacher, and community arts advocate who also founded the Charles McGee School of Art, and the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID).

There are plenty of reasons to invest all this time, energy, money and talent in the city of Detroit according to Mr. McGee. First, it’s economically feasible; space, materials and other resources are readily available. Green spaces are cropping up all over the city that attract artists, art and audiences. It provides an opportunity to create a community or a culture in which art becomes useful. It’s spread out so you can find time to your self while creating energy that denies boredom. “Detroit is a blank canvass … it offers itself as a Mecca for creativity. Thriving communities are the way to eliminate war and mayhem”, he said.

At 84 years old McGee has had a distinguished career that includes hundreds of exhibitions in the United States and abroad as well as many important contributions to Detroit’s cultural and educational community. His paintings, assemblages and sculptures are in prestigious national and international collections, and are permanently installed at local institutions including the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. “Life and nature created an artist. I was ordained by nature to do what I do, I can only be whole if I make art and that art is the structure in nature” he said.

Time Frames

Timeframes, 2007, Mixed media collage on Dibond, 60″ x 84″
Collection of the artist
Photo by: Charles McGee

“The Kresge Foundation, through Kresge Arts in Detroit, acknowledges the individual artist as a potent force in bringing about the change Detroit needs and deserves. We are proud to administer the Kresge Eminent Artist Award and believe that engaging the creative community is key to revitalizing the region,” said Richard L. Rogers, president of CCS and co-chair of the Kresge Arts in Detroit Advisory Council. “Charles McGee serves as an example to all aspiring artists with his exceptional work and ongoing commitment to our community. We are honored to announce him as the inaugural recipient of the Kresge Eminent Artist Award.”

Nominations for the award are made by the Kresge Arts in Detroit Advisory Council, a 19-member volunteer group of leaders in the Metropolitan Detroit cultural community who provide external oversight to Kresge Arts in Detroit.

The award recipient is selected by an independent review panel comprised of well-respected and knowledgeable artists and arts professionals in the local cultural community. The 2008 review panel included Gerhardt Knodel, artist and former director of Cranbrook Academy of Art, Dennis Alan Nawrocki, art historian and author of the recently published third edition of Art in Detroit Public Places (Wayne State University Press), and Dr. Cledie Taylor, founder and director of Arts Extended Gallery.

The Kresge Eminent Artist Award is unrestricted and given each year to one artist who has lived and worked in Wayne, Oakland, or Macomb Counties for a significant number of years, has a distinguished record of professional achievement in the arts, has made a significant impact on their chosen art form, shares their talent and expertise with the broader arts community and community at large and has contributed generously to the growth and vibrancy of Detroit’s cultural environment.

To commemorate Charles McGee’s work and share it with the community, The Kresge Foundation has published a monograph that will be distributed to arts organizations and institutions, and libraries in the region, including the Library of Michigan.

Information Sessions for those interested in applying for a Kresge Artist Fellowship are held each year at the College for Creative Studies. Please RSVP on our website www.kresgeartsindetroit.org to reserve your space at an upcoming Information Session.  

INFORMATION SESSIONS
Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 1 p.m.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 7 p.m.

Held at the College for Creative Studies, Wendell W. Anderson Jr. Auditorium, Walter B. Ford II Building. Please see Map and Directions.  

Information Sessions provide an overview of the application process, an opportunity for questions and answers, and information about customized Professional Development opportunities offered to awarded Fellows by ArtServe Michigan.

Kresge Arts in Detroit, funded by The Kresge Foundation and administered by the College for Creative Studies, is providing significant financial support for eighteen (18) Kresge Artist Fellowships annually, each consisting of a $25,000 award and customized Professional Development opportunities for Metropolitan Detroit artists in the Visual, Performing, and Literary Arts.  

Fellowship applications are only available online at www.kresgeartsindetroit.org. For more information on guidelines and application requirements, please visit our website.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
February 27, 2009 - Fellowships in the Visual Arts
February 26, 2010 - Fellowships in the Performing and Literary Arts

College for Creative Studies’ Woodward Lecture Series presents:
Sculptor John Chamberlain, In Conversation With Sculptor Michael Hall
 
Wednesday, December 10
7:00 p.m.

Born in Rochester, Indiana in 1927, John Chamberlain is an American sculptor, painter, photographer and film maker whose work has been widely acclaimed since the late 1950s.  He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and at Black Mountain College in North Carolina where he was exposed to the vanguard theories of both artists and poets.  He moved to New York City in 1957 and developed his method of assemblage, making his first works out of crushed automobile parts, a practice for which he became immediately recognized and renowned.  In addition to working with steel, the medium for which he is best know, Chamberlain made films in the late 1960s, and has employed various other media such as automobile spray paint on canvas, chrome photography, foam, foil, paper bags, and Plexiglas. Both the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles have organized major retrospectives of his work, which is also included in over 60 major public collections around the world.

Michael Hall, a renowned sculptor, was sculptor-in-residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1970 to 1990.  He is a widely published author, a legendary educator and lecturer, and a noteworthy collector of folk and regional art.  

The Woodward Lecture Series is made possible by a generous endowment gift from an anonymous donor.  
 
All lectures are free and open to the public.  
Seating and parking are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Wendell W. Anderson Jr. Auditorium
Walter B. Ford II Building (corner of John R and Frederick Douglass)
College for Creative Studies campus
Detroit
T: 313-664-7800
http://www.collegeforcreativestudies.edu

———————————————

Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit presents:
A Lecture By Jacob Proctor

Thursday, December 11
7:00 p.m.

Jacob Proctor is the curator of the current MOCAD exhibition, Business as Usual . He is the Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), which will reopen to the public in Spring 2009 following a $41.9 million expansion and renovation project. Proctor is founding curator of UMMA Projects, a new series of exhibitions and publications focusing on emerging artists. Upcoming UMMA Projects include Walead Beshty, Lisa Anne Auerbach, Heather Rowe, Cory Arcangel, and Simon Dybbroe Moller, among others. Proctor is also currently organizing the first North American retrospective of seminal conceptual artist (and Michigan native) Douglas Huebler, who died in 1997.

Prior to joining UMMA in late 2007, Proctor spent three years at the Harvard University Art Museums while pursuing his PhD in History of Art and Architecture. His most recent exhibition, Multiple Strategies: Beuys, Maciunas, Fluxus, was presented to critical acclaim in early 2007 at Harvard’s Busch-Reisinger Museum. Between Object and Event, a volume of essays drawn from a symposium Proctor organized in conjunction with the exhibition, is forthcoming.

MOCAD
4454 Woodward Avenue (at Garfield)
Detroit
T: 313-832-6622
http://www.mocadetroit.org

Kathryn Brackett Luchs and Michael Luchs

New Work by School of Art & Design lecturer Kathryn Brackett Luchs and Michael Luchs. Both were part of the group of artists and writers living in the 1960s and ’70s in the Cass Corridor in Detroit. The exhibit, co-sponsored by the School of Art & Design, is presented at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit through December 20, 2008.

“Moths, bark, birds, rabbits, squirrels, fishing lures: these are not images routinely associated with the often rough and tumble Detroit aesthetic. But Kathryn Brakett Luchs and Michael Luchs are inherently Detroit – their art, their practice, their legacy. Though they have not lived and worked in Detroit for many years, they remain straight-up examples of what it means to live and make art in Detroit: furiously dedicated and quietly unabashed. Kathryn (a CCS alumna) and Michael (MFA from Wayne) both traversed the waters of the Cass Corridor artistic scene back in the 1960s and 70s, contributing great substance to that culturally rich moment in our history. Kathryn, a noted printmaker and filmmaker, directed the quintessential documentary on Detroit art from that era, entitled “Images from Detroit’s Cass Corridor.” Michael was the first to show at the famed Willis Gallery and, early on, was one of the few local artists to bring the scrappy, expressionistic Detroit aesthetic to national view in New York. “

Kathryn Brackett Luchs, Blue Copper, mixed media on carved birch playwood and glassine, 2008

“Though they live in Lewiston, Michigan now, 200 miles from Detroit, they remain true to their work and investigations. Married, divorced, and married again, “For Better or For Worse” celebrates not only their life together, but their marked perseverance to their artistic practice. We all know how hard it is to make a living as an artist in Michigan, and like so many, they have stuck it out, thrown caution (and financial security) to the wind, and made art that transcends miles and memory.” – Michelle Perron

Michael Luchs, Untitled, mixed media on paper, 2008

“While Michael’s art does not look like Kathryn’s, nor hers like his, their art and this show is a testament to the sustaining complexities of an interwoven life, in the course of which they have lived together and apart, as individuals and as companions, over some forty years. Occasionally they collaborate on printmaking, a recent example of which was titled Moth Buckle, a title that links both their interests, her organic world and his fondness for devices like reels, light bulbs, and buckles. Although the favored creatures of their respective natural kingdoms vary, whether six-legged, four-legged, winged or finned, fauna predominate. Formally, his lacerated surfaces are no less harsh than the plywood boards she pummels, gouges, and stains, while her scaled up wings find a corollary in his outsize hands. Moreover, her expressionist drawings on glassine are as visceral as the interlocked hands and feet of his gnarly pink drawings. What the art of Kathryn Brackett Luchs and Michael Luchs also has in common is a grab-you-by-the-lapels immediacy coupled with a lingering and lasting resonance.” – Dennis Alan Nawrocki

Photographs of artwork by Robert Hensleigh copyright 2008
Photograph of artists by Warren Hecht copyright 2008

Gilda Snowden provides YouTube audiences with insightful digital video tours of Detroit area Galleries. Gilda is a curator, an art critic, and an art teacher. She has been teaching since 1979 and is currently Professor of Fine Art and Interim Chair of the Fine Arts department at the Center for Creative Studies, College of Art and Design in Detroit, Michigan. She also functions as the curator of the Detroit Repertory Theatre Gallery, where solo shows are given to Detroit-area artists in conjunction with the stage performances.

Part one

Part two

You are cordially invited to participate in the 27th annual Doin’ the Louvre Christmas FUN(d)raising Exhibition, December 5-24, 2008.

Gala Reception Friday December 5th, 7:30 pm

Entry deadline: Saturday November 29th, 5 pm

(Please note that DTL submissions will be accepted from Wednesday November 19th - Saturday November 29th, so get your work in EARLY for a better chance at a being considered for a prime hanging spot. Our walls fill up fast.)

ELIGIBILITY:

Open to Windsor and Detroit area artists (if you live outside of the area, but want to submit, please call!)

EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS:

Paintings, drawings, prints, photographs (or a combination of these media), small scale 3-D works and artist-made gift items (books, toys, cards, “art-wear", accessories, xmas ornaments, etc.) will be exhibited. 2-D artworks do not have to be framed, but MUST be ready for hanging.

SUBMISSIONS DROP-OFF DATES & TIMES ARE FROM:

Wednesday November 19 - Saturday November 29th, 2008 from 12:30-5:30 pm. Please do not show up at noon. Please note that Artcite is closed Sundays & Mondays. Please allow a minimum of 20 minutes to complete intake and registration of your entries. To save time when you drop-off your work, you can download our handy DTL PDF entry form at: http://www.artcite.ca/ (Scroll down to DTL info).

A maximum of 10 works per artist will be accepted. Total combined dimensions of each work should not exceed 36″ x 36″ (3 sq. ft.). 3D works must fit within a 36″ cube.

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SALE PRICED $99.99 OR LESS.
(Hint: “less” usually sells more art) For this special fundraising event only, Artcite’s commission is 30% for artworks sold. All entries must be accompanied by a $15.00 handling fee (this fee is waived for current Artcite members) and be clearly identified with:
* artist’s name, full address and telephone number;
* title, medium and sale price of work.
Works accepted will be insured by Artcite during the exhibition ONLY. Due to restrictions of storage space, Artcite cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to unsold works not picked up by Wed, Dec 31, 2008.

Questions? Please call or fax us at:
(519) 977-6564 or e-mail us at: info [at] artcite.ca.

Proceeds for this gala Christmas FUN(d)raiser® benefit the participating artists, and help support Artcite’s programming and operations. Artcite is supported by the fundraising efforts of its members and volunteers, and by the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council & the City of Windsor (it’s City budget deliberation time again–make sure that the Mayor and YOUR city councillors know how much YOU appreciate the existence of Artcite! Encourage them to support Artcite–with $ in addition to words!).

Are you available to help w/ DTL installation or with holiday decorating? Do you have wacky, weirdo or vintage toys, books or Xmas decorations that you’d be willing to donate or lend for our always-fabulous Xmas window displays? Please call (519) 977-6564.

Artcite Inc.
109 University Avenue West
Windsor, Ontario N9A 5P4

www.artcite.ca

E M A I L S :

* Artcite General Information: info [at] artcite.ca
* Christine Burchnall : Administrative Coordinator: xtine [at] artcite.ca
* Leesa Bringas : Artistic Coordinator: info [at] artcite.ca>
* Oona Mosna : Media City Program Director: mediacity [at] artcite.ca>

U R L S :

* Artcite Inc: http://www.artcite.ca
* House of Toast / Media City: http://www.houseoftoast.ca

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Detroit Synergy are hosting Pecha-Kucha Night, volume two. This event will take place on Tuesday, November 25 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, beginning at 20:20 (8:20 p.m.).

Pecha-Kucha Night Detroit is a condensed presentation format for local artists and creative professionals to showcase their work. Each presenter is allotted 20 slides, to be shown for 20 seconds each, totaling 6 minutes and 40 seconds of screen time for each of the 12 presentations. This abbreviated format keeps the presentations brief and the audience focused.

Pecha Kucha Night is a forum for designers & artists to present their work in a concise format. Each presenter discusses 20 slides for 20 seconds per slide.

Pecha-Kucha is Japanese for “the sound of conversation” and pronounced “pechak-cha.” Pecha-Kucha Night originated in 2003 as the brain child of Tokyo architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture. Pecha-Kucha Night is now happening in 145 cities across the world.

“The AIA Detroit Emerging Professionals Committee was looking to bring something big to the Detroit creative scene,” explained Derek Roberts, chair of the AIA Detroit Emerging Professionals Committee.  “We partnered with Detroit Synergy and established the local iteration of this critically acclaimed, globally recognized event.  For a city so full of cutting-edge creative talent, Pecha Kucha Night Detroit provides the perfect platform for showing this talent off.”

The Emerging Professionals Committee of the American Institute of Architects – Detroit Chapter and Detroit Synergy hosted Detroit’s first Pecha-Kucha Night last August. An audience of 300 turned out at the Atwater Brewery to tune in to 12 presentations. The event will be recurring on a quarterly basis. Please visit www.detroitsynergy.org for more information about the event.

College for Creative Studies (CCS) and AIGA Detroit present the Toyota Lecture on Design: Celebrate Michigan Design: celebrating the past, present and future of graphic design in Michigan on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 from 6:30 – 10:00 p.m. The event features Edward Fella, an artist and graphic designer whose work has had an important influence on contemporary typography both in the US and in Europe; Nelson Greer, whose illustrious career has taken him from Lansing to Detroit to Toronto and back again; and Ron Rae, a mainstay in the Detroit graphic design and illustration world. These prominent designers will share their experiences of working in the 60’s Detroit commercial art industry.

Doug Kisor, Professor and Chair of CCS’s Graphic Design department will be presented with the AIGA Fellow Award. AIGA annually awards the Fellow to mature designers who have made a significant contribution to raising the standards of excellence in practice and conduct within their design community. Kisor is only the second person in Michigan to have received this award in the past 10 years.

The event also includes a Silent Poster Auction featuring hand-signed limited edition posters from designers Nina Bianchi, Andrea Cardinal, Ed Fella, Nelson Greer, Ron Rae and Liisa Salonen. All proceeds from the auction and sale will benefit art programs in Detroit Public High Schools.

The free lecture and reception will be held in the Wendell W. Anderson Jr. Auditorium in the Walter B Ford II Building on the CCS campus. Seating and parking are both handled on a first come, first serve basis with parking available in the CCS parking structure as well as on surface streets near campus.

Please RSVP to the event by emailing rsvp@detroit.aiga.org (include number of attendees in subject). For more information call 313.664.7465 or visit www.detroit.aiga.org

There may be no better poster child for showing how expressways can divide a community than I-75 and Corktown/Mexicantown.

At this year’s Cinco de Mayo celebration, Bagley Street west of I-75 was closed to vehicles and packed with revelers in a huge community celebration. On the other side of I-75, Bagley was devoid of people. Even the coffee shop was closed.

It’s so apparent how I-75 and the Ambassador Bridge facilities have split these Southwest Detroit communities, but especially for those on foot or on bike. Re-connecting Bagley would certainly be a positive step forward.

MDOT is taking that step. As part of their Gateway project, they are building a bike and pedestrian bridge over I-75, making Bagley Street contiguous once again.

For cyclists, Bagley is already a decent road to ride. It has low traffic and low speeds. Bagley east of I-75 will eventually have bike lanes as part of the Corktown/Mexicantown Greenlink Project.

Some of the many outstanding cycling destinations along Bagley include Clark Park, La Gloria Bakery, Los Galanes, Honey Bee Market, Cafe Con Leche Coffee House, Matrix Theatre, and my favorite Mexican restaurant, Taqueria Lupitas.

Bagley Pedestrian Bridge Concept from MDOT

MDOT Seeks Artists To Create Art Along Bridge

The Michigan Department of Transportation is seeking qualifications from Michigan artists interested in creating public art at two locations near the Bagley Avenue Pedestrian Bridge, which is currently under construction in Detroit’s Mexicantown community.

The design award-winning Bagley Avenue Pedestrian Bridge, which connects the east and west sides of Mexicantown, will be used primarily by local residents, particularly during festivals and special events. International visitors crossing the border to the United States from Canada also will frequent the site because it is home to the new Detroit Mexicantown International Welcome Center and Mercado.

Artists are sought to create artwork for two locations near the pedestrian bridge, at a projected cost of $50,000, possibly up to $100,000.

Deadline for submissions is Dec. 1, 2008. Applicants must submit 10 examples of past work in either 35 mm slides or digital files, a work sample narrative, an artist’s statement about the applicant’s approach to the project, and a resume including three professional references.

Applicants will be evaluated on their conceptual approach in a “summary of the artist” statement; professional qualifications and experience; proven ability to take on a project of this scope; the artistic quality of their work; durability of past installed work; and demonstrated ability to with government agencies, engineers, committee and community groups in the creation of a project.

One or several artists may be chosen to create work for one or both sites depending upon the cost of the art medium they propose. The bridge, locations for artwork, and dimensions of the site, are illustrated online at www.Michigan.gov/gateway (http://www.michigan.gov/gateway) at the link to “Public Art” for the Bagley Pedestrian Bridge.

Applications must be delivered no later than Dec. 1, 2008, to the following address:

ATTN: Bagley Pedestrian Bridge Application
Regina Flanagan, Bagley Public Art Project Manager
HNTB Corporation
7900 International Drive, Suite 600
Minneapolis, MN 55425-8910

By Nicole Rupersburg

My exposure to the Detroit arts and music scene began during my time as a student at the University of Detroit Mercy. Prior to that I had no idea what a culturally rich universe existed right here in the city of Detroit—a city that, prior to my first-hand exposure of it, was always spoken of with fear and disdain, as a cultural and creative wasteland, a place where passion went to die. This new world of artists and musicians who played teeny-tiny bars and coffee houses in WWII-era structures next to empty lots and abandoned buildings and self-published books of poetry and DIY arts magazines and hosted art shows in empty industrial warehouses and created sprawling displays in the city streets seemed so mysterious and romantic to me; I wanted desperately to understand it and be a part of it.

It’s been almost a decade since those feelings first began to emerge within me, and I still feel a lot of that same sense of mysteriousness and romanticism. The artists and musicians in this city are fascinating people with fascinating lives who never once consider anything about themselves remotely fascinating. They don’t make art or music for some narcissistic self-serving delusions of grandeur or crave for fame or out of an over-inflated sense of self-importance; they do it because they wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, because they don’t know what they would do otherwise.

Recently I had the opportunity to chat with two such artists: Tracee Mae Miller and Greg Siemasz, who are co-presenting an art exhibit which opens this Thursday, November 6th at the Majestic Café. In speaking to both Tracee and Greg, two people who are heavily steeped in the Detroit arts and music scene, I found two people who are absolutely humble in their art and who don’t consider anything about themselves or their work remarkable.

Greg Siemasz paints dangerous pictures of animals. He teaches art to DPS grade school students. He also used to co-host radio program Radio Fever on 97.1 FM. He attributes his painting to punk music and drafting class. Tracee Mae Miller paints pictures of animals, too, but hers are pretty and obsessive and nostalgic. She also plays bass in a alt-goth-country-rockabilly band called Blanche and worked as a fashion model after attending art school for a year and hating it. Her passion for art began as a child. Greg claims to have no passion for art but only the “utmost okayness”—which I think might be a lie, but it’s hard to tell with him.

As artists, they’re similar yet drastically different. The theme of their shared show is there is no theme, though one could perhaps make a case for “twisted and fantastical fairytales you’ve never heard of.” Or, as Greg described it, “When two geniuses get together magic shit just happens.” Well said, friend.

Greg and Tracee allowed me to pry into their personal lives, their passions (sorry—“utmost okayness”es), and their past, and didn’t put up too much of a fight when I did it. Ultimately I found their stories intriguing and yet completely normal (as they presented themselves as such). The following are merely pieces of the people put together in an attempt to paint a picture of the artists. But hey—I’m not the painter here, so bear with me.

Portrait of the artist as a young man (and why he paints animals)

Greg Siemasz: I learned how to draw just like everybody else—I had art in elementary school. I just happened to master the compositional elements by age 5. By the time I got to junior high, my main focus turned to skulls and cool punk shit that you could draw on clothing and shoes. My sister was dating a punk and he had the best shirts with skulls on them—but we were in Northville, so he wore a cardigan with every skull t-shirt and junior high was called middle school.

In high school, I started off as a jock but then started hanging out with the auto shop rats which I parlayed into taking a drafting class—which had something to do with vocation or technical trade skill. Then in drafting class I met some artsy people—which was basically this one kid who looked like he was in Echo & the Bunnymen and a girl that was into Ayn Rand and liked making scabs on her arms by erasing her skin with her pencil eraser. Anyway, then I got back into art but mostly because the art kids listened to the good music. I was talented at art but was mostly involved because, as we all know, art class is a major blow-off.

So when I went to college, I did the same thing—took art classes. Some would argue that I have had formal art training due to my time in college, but had you seen Eastern Michigan University’s Art Department in the mid-1990’s, you would think otherwise. To get in the program you had to draw a turtle and a pirate. I managed to pass a life drawing class by letting my instructor borrow my VHS copy of Valley Girl. He loved it, and in turn loved me. It was the first time this poor crippled kid ever felt wanted.

A painting of an animal by Gregg

Back then I was learning how to paint and used acrylics. It must have been like 1992-ish. I think acrylic paints should be outlawed. I didn’t have that opinion at first but then I tried some oil paints and it opened up a whole new awesome world to me. Sure, I probably have suffered some nerve damage from all the solvents involved, or perhaps I might just get cancer from my inappropriate handling of cadmiums, both red and yellow—but the luxuriousness of those things is nuts. Anyway, back when I was into acrylics, I was all into the Pogues and country music, so my paintings were about drunk people and hillbillies. I eventually grew tired of doing people. So I tried doing a painting of cat falling out of a tree and everything just clicked. “Animals is what I’m going to do,” I said. Critics will argue that it’s a cop-out to just paint animals, and they would be right to a degree. Doing humans is hard. I have complete veneration for people who can paint people well. We are all humans, so we’re familiar with correct anatomy and proportion. There’s a little wiggle room with animals—especially if they’re exotic. Like which animal has the twisted antlers—is it a Gazelle or is it an East African Oryx? More importantly, which one has the characteristic black stripes on its face? You’re not going to know unless you carry a field guide to the art opening. On the other side of the coin, if the lady in your picture has disproportionate hands (or uncharacteristic black markings on the face), then you immediately notice and dismiss the artist as “sucky.” That being said, it’s important to point out that whatever the verdict on painting animals is, it is not anywhere near the cop-out that abstract painting is.

Another paiting by Gregg

Animal paintings are dangerous. While a deer or a deer mouse might be cute on the surface, there’s an underlying sense of menace to them. Psychologically speaking, what’s scarier? Running into a bear in the woods or coming across a deer? Depends if the deer gets spooked or just stops, fronts-up and stares back at you. Now, of course we’d usually say a bear, but only if it’s on our terms. If you’re lost in the woods, any animal can be terrifying. A crapload of people are frightened to death of mice—mice don’t kill or maim people, but the invasive aspect of our psychocolonialism tells us to not want them in our spaces. Now, while terror is not my bread or butter, it can play into the idea of animals being wild and dangerous. One problem with animals is that they often conjure a sense of cuteness or snuggability™—so viewers are drawn to that aspect of the paintings. It’s like when Masta Killa says “the dumb are mostly intrigued by the drum” in the Wu Tang Clan’s masterful 1997 epic, Triumph. The animals are the drum, but the message, which is the important part, is actually that the track renders helpless and suffers from multiple stab wounds and leaks sounds that are heard. Another aspect of the danger—whether it’s inherent or not, is that artists are afraid to paint animals as the subject of their paintings. Maybe they are afraid that they’ll be pigeonholed as nature or wildlife artists. Or maybe they’re afraid if they look to deep into a cobra’s eyes, they might just recognize themselves. But my point is, check out  J.J. Audubon or Charley Harper—they dignify the animals as something more than worthy to gaze upon and make swift effort for.

Portait of the other artist as a young woman (and what’s with the cats):

Tracee Miller: I was passionate as a child about art. I took it very seriously.  That was all I did. For Christmas, I would ask for art supplies and those funny art drawing books.  I spent hours by myself drawing dogs and horses. No friends, just dog portraits. That is a lie—I did have one very good friend. 

Tracee Miller

My [art schooling began in high school]. My art teachers were great and I really did learn so much from them. I had the easiest high school career which consisted of having half a day of art classes and I averaged 2 absences a week. Technically I didn’t attend enough to graduate but after much discussion I was pushed out into society with the rest of my graduating class.

I [then] went to Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles which in hindsight I may regret just a little… My art teacher in high school really pushed hard for me to go and looking back on it, I think she was the one who wanted to go to Hollywood. I received a full scholarship, so I went. The school wasn’t a good fit for me.  I finished one full year and that was the end of my art schooling.  This is where my life took a strange turn. I was at a mall in Los Angeles and was approached by scout for Elite [Model Management], I was offered a modeling contract and told how I would be able to continue school later. So off I went for five years. This I might regret just a little bit as well. I truly hated it. I still hate it. Of course when I quit I never went back to school. 

I never thought about [painting] as a career, but I didn’t have any other real interests. I think this is why I wish I would have taken a different path as far as schooling. I would prefer to study art and some science, possibly some business.  When I went to Otis, it seemed as if it was filled with rich students who wanted to buy a career, and that was who the school really catered to.  Not very inspiring or nurturing for a dirt poor Midwestern girl. I guess I should have went to OCC.

[I would say the major subject matter of my work is] obsession. I can’t stop visualizing these figures or landscapes. Mostly women with animals. There is strong symbolism there, but that is for the viewer to discover. They show up everywhere and the more I paint them the better I feel. They are almost like ghosts. I have said in many interviews that I paint to somewhat comfort myself. My paintings give me the same feeling I get when I put up the Christmas lights while listening to Bing Crosby. I want that feeling all the time. Right now I need to paint bruised snowy skies because I am obsessed with the first big snow of the season.  I think nostalgia plays a huge role for me.  Everything has to be pre 1950’s and mostly Victorian. It is such a compulsion. I have a piggy bank my Grandfather gave my father than my father gave me and that thing has inspired so many of my paintings. I think because when I look at it I see his childhood in the late 1800’s then I see my Dad during the Depression and I could go on and on. For all I know this piggy bank was never used and sat in the closet but for me it holds characters, houses, landscape, weather, pets…..it seems to be my Aladdin’s Lamp.

[My usage of sparse colors and empty space is] definitely more style than statement. The composition—whether it is dominated by color, texture or space—is in a way pure design used to set the story. The humor or sadness in my work is often conveyed with just color, space and texture. It sets the mood and cleverly leads you down the path. Trickery; well, sort of!

by Tracee Miller

There is a recurring image in Tracee’s work which I pointedly asked about, a magical-looking feline figure:
The cat figure is actually a woman wearing a cat shaped “hood.” I have done a few straight-up cat paintings and those are indeed just cats. But the predominate catish figure is human. There is something visually beautiful to me about the cat-shaped hood but it really is about anonymity. She is often a caregiver and sometimes an angel of death. She has an important role in the painting she’s in but she remains private, possibly even safe…I feel good about that and I think she does too.

And sometimes life gets in the way of art…(or maybe makes it better)

Greg is known around town for having co-hosted a radio program called Radio Fever on 97.1 FM, which showcased local bands.
GS: The Radio Fever thing happened through my friend Chris Handyside who got the offer through his time at Metro Times being the music editor. He asked me if I wanted to do a local music radio show on WKRK 97.1 FM. So we gave it a shot just to say that we gave it a shot at giving it a shot. We were terrible. We featured local bands but made excuses to interject stuff from our record collections for interest’s sake. Our show was 3 effing hours long a week—I don’t know if you ever tried filling 3 radio hours a week with the 50 local bands—40 of which had played Harpo’s (North America’s #1 concert theater) and/or I-Rock—who actually sent out promos over the course of 2 1/2 years, but it gets a little redundant. Sure, all this machinery was making modern music that could
still be open-hearted—not so coldly charted. It’s really just a question of your honesty. And I think a few bands were like that, but most of them were formed as an excuse to smoke weed in their mom’s basement. Chris quit after a year to concentrate on archery and World of Warcraft. Dave Buick (CEO of Italy Records) filled in for Chris for about a year and a half—he was a perfect comic foil to my comic foil. Then we got sacked. Which sucked because that was my car payment. But my favorite thing about it is that people think we’re still on the air. So I just gotta say, it’s fans like you that keep us going. We’ll see you on the radio.

Greg also teaches K-5 art classes at a DPS Elementary School. While teaching art classes seems to be a natural progression for an artist, I had a feeling Greg would have a much more interesting take on it. He did not disappoint:
When I finished college, I wanted to be one of 3 things: an astronaut, a surgeon, or an art teacher. As per usual, I planned backwards-ly. Since I had taken a few art education classes, I decided to get my certification for teaching. That David Bowie song scared the shit out of me about space (Tom Hank’s From the Earth to the Moon mini-series event restored my space exploration passion) and I’m scared of real blood—so the choice was pretty easy. I always liked the idea of being an art teacher—but exclusively art. I would hate teaching other junk. Other junk bores me.

For Tracee, I was curious “At what point did the painter essentially decide, ‘Eff it, I’m going into modeling instead [of art school]?’”
TM: This is where the girl who is too poor to buy groceries, working nights to pay her rent and can’t afford art supplies says “Eff it". It was that simple.  I was so stressed that I don’t think I could have gone on. Otis at the time was located on 6th Street between Alvarado and Rampart and it was a terrible neighborhood. Rampart was a drug and crime haven. Everyday I was getting more and more depressed. This was my way out and I took it. It worked, it got me out and gave me the freedom to take care of myself and even help my family.  I did hate the work but I am thankful that it changed my direction.

I was also curious—and assumed readers would be as well—how much Tracee was able to continue focusing on painting whilst jet-setting as a fashion model and recording/touring with Blanche.
[My painting] definitely took a back seat to Blanche since we toured and traveled quite a bit. I am not able to start and stop easily when I paint, so I just didn’t. I have realized that painting is first as far as work or extracurricular activities. I am about to have a child so that will be an adjustment to say the least. I have heard from a few friends of mine that after I have the baby, my life is over. I have grown to love the quotes, "Just wait—you’ll see,” “You better do it now,” “You won’t be doing that any longer” and the list goes on. I come from hearty independent stock so I am confident I will still have a career as an artist post-labor. 

On the role of music in (their) art:

GS: Music is incredibly important to my well being. I like to listen to types of music while I’m painting—it’s interesting how well you can listen to music as you work—the canvas’s silence is deafening. What? What I mean is, lyrics and nuance carry more weight when you are concentrating on nothing but making pictures and repetitive motion. A lot of musical dumbness comes from playing records that your friends like—almost entertaining instead of your alone-time where an idiosyncratic appreciation of what you actually relate to emerges and becomes meaningful. That’s how I got into Simon & Garfukel—I used to just know the hits and dismiss them as corny until I listened to them when I was painting and came to appreciate a lot of the lyrics and music that I might otherwise have missed. In turn, I like to create spaces similar to the impression of place informed by a song in my paintings. One painting in this show is a sheep with an abandoned car in middle of a snow drift—that imagery was a direct result of impressions from “America” by Simon & Garfunkel. Something about hitchhiking and Saginaw and a bus—it all seemed so wintery or rainy—the lyrics actually never reference what time of the year this is, but I always imagine it being overcast and cold with dirty snow on the ground…and rusty. Weird artsy shit, right? Anyway, I used to listen to tapes—mostly because you can get some kick-ass tapes for nothing at record shops. I switched over to iPod once I got one. A good shuffle is imperative when it comes to the act of painting. I usually run the spectrum of music but for this particular set of paintings I couldn’t stop listening to TV on the Radio, The Streets, Nick Cave, Felt and David Axelrod.

TM: Dan [Miller, Tracee’s husband] taught me to play bass when I was about 26. His first band Goober & the Peas was dissolving and he wanted someone to work on music with. I was not really doing much at the time so it was a good fit. I didn’t realize what that would eventually lead to. We were just supposed to fool around and never play out but after a couple of months Two Star Tabernacle was formed in our basement. I was definitely the lowest on the totem pole. It was Dan, Jack White and Damian Lang (Detroit Cobra drummer) and me. It was a great time to be in a band, we spent many long gin-soaked nights at the Gold Dollar. Not a bad way to start.

Blanche came together after the demise of Two Star Tabernacle. Jack had a little project he was working on so he was just a little busy. So Dan and I focused on our love for old country music and invited some of our best friends to join. Blanche consists of me, Mr. Miller, Lisa Jannon, David Feeny (Tempermill Studios) and Little Jack Lawrence (Greenhornes, Raconteurs). The only member that has changed is our banjo player. Brian Boyle (Model D) was the founding member and he became busy making a family so we recruited Little Jack. I miss Blanche so much when we don’t play because we really are like family members. We have never had any of the normal horrors of a touring band. No egos, no fights—of course this doesn’t include Mr. Miller and me. We may have had a few sticky moments but nothing terrible. We have been married for 12 years and dated for 4 years so we can coexist nicely. When we first started it was supposed to be just for fun. That is never the story I have learned. We had a show booked within weeks. It was on the job training for me. Blanche has been challenging for me but I truly love it and I love my bandmates. 

Being in Blanche is a strange extension of my work. Everything I do in the band has an artistic quality that someway mimics the art. Whether it’s the sparse arrangements or the on-stage image I put together.  I would love it if I could dress everyday like I do on stage. Sometimes I do but the spectacle is not worth it. There is something to be said for walking under the radar at the grocery store. But if you ever drive by my house on a summer day you might see me mowing the lawn in heels and a frilly dress and, of course, a sun hat.  It wasn’t until Blanche became established that the “fashion” (hearkening back to her modeling days) came into play slightly. We have a strong image that in a way became an equal partner to the music. That is something that we wanted to be careful about. We didn’t want to be labeled by an image but we didn’t want to shy away from our style. 

And now, on with the show…

GS: (I’m pretty sure this is mostly true, except for maybe the parts about birdwatching and paint-eating. Everything else though. Maybe not the mansion, either, but everything else.) Tracee and I have been drinking buddies for, like, ten years. We also like to birdwatch together—she’s moved on to squirrel-watching now, but we still get together to do bird calls every once in a while—she could be a great ornithologist if she would just apply herself. We used to share a studio space in an empty mansion where we would make paintings between lunch reservations. Unfortunately, the evil landlord kicked us out before we could make it into the Salon. So we showed some paintings together at a restaurant or two. Galleries are always so formal—we liked that you could enjoy our art over an order of grilled langoustines and a Vic Damone record. Tracee neglected me for her band for several years following those initial shows. It just happened that she owed me some money from one of those shows, so when I went to collect, we decided that we should work together again. Our paintings are both similar and dissimilar at once. I like to paint animals as the subject of most of my paintings—I will occasionally do a person, but then I have an uncontrollable urge to have the person get eaten by a bear or a giant squid. Tracee likes to put animals into her scenes, but they are usually docile in nature. I like to have minimal backgrounds, while Tracee likes to have more complex minimalism in her work. Both of our stuff has a very graphic quality to it. In art class, they used tell you not to outline stuff. I tried doing that and everything ended up sucking. Outlines rule. Her art is definitely more feminine than mine—it has a grace to it that is diametrically opposed to my ham-fistedness. And she cakes her velvety paint on like it’s frosting. Sometimes when she’s not looking, I like to eat her paintings. 

The show’s theme: there really isn’t one per se. It’s like when two geniuses get together, magic shit just happens. It started out that we were going to do a theme like “fables,” which quickly turned into “fables that you have never heard,” which in turn, became “unknown fables that are so fantastical that they actually became fairy tales,” until we ultimately ditched the themes in favor of us just doing what we do.

TM: Greg and I have been talking about having a show together for a long time and we finally inspired each other to commit. We decided we would both have a minimum of 12 pieces and we wanted them to all be affordable. A strange idea when it comes to art these days. So that was the concept for the show. The Majestic is a great place to show art for many reasons; most importantly they don’t take commission. Perfect for our mission of bringing fine art to the masses. No bourgeoisie bullshit for us.  Simple. 

I have been friends with Greg for a long time and for most of that time I didn’t realize he was an artist and I think the same was true for him. Let’s just say that we were busy honing our inner W.C. Fields. It was shocking to find out that we were such kindred spirits when it comes to painting and that we share such a similar path in our work. It has created a unique partnership. Neither of us strive to be profound or tortured which feels good. I don’t think either of us have preconceived ideas of what we are trying to convey which creates something that provokes without trying. 

And a parting gift:

TM: All of the “wrong” turns I have made in my life have brought me to the place where I am which is a perfect fit. It took awhile for me to understand the choices I’ve made and fighting the urge to have regret.  In the end I can’t have regret because I am as happy as an artist can be and that says a lot.

GS: Let’s not get carried away here, I like to paint, but it’s a stone’s throw from a
passion. Passions the soap opera was a good one. In fact, I’m not very passionate about anything. It’s just degrees of okayness.

Review by Christina Hill

Cass Café, August 24 – November 8, 2008

What is the connection between a pretty pink tulip and the international symbol for radiation? An answer is artist Gary Eleinko, now showing work at Cass Café. Here Eleinko is inspired by geopolitical, scientific and environmental concerns, and natural disasters such as tornados and earthquakes. An avid gardener, he depicts hybrid flowers, seed pods and desert landscapes. Yet despite these straight interests, at bottom there is nothing straight about Eleinko or his art. He cares as passionately as Al Gore about the health of the planet, but the ghost of Ricky Ricardo whispers to him while he works and off he goes: Babalou!

Eleinko produces what he calls 3-dimensional paintings. Endlessly inventive, he is not content with oil on canvas, but works with wood, glass, copper, garden hoses or even red twig dogwood, as in “Red Thicket.” Or adds texture with nails as in “Desert Fault,” an earthquake piece. Or rebar in “Core-U.P.” (Existing in a separate category are the modernist assemblages he’s always made.) Eleinko lived in Detroit during the fabled Cass Corridor period of the 1970’s. He was influenced, but as a public school teacher needing to stay in the closet at work, he couldn’t live the dissolute, self-destructive life associated with that era’s art stars. And unlike them he only rarely raided urban garbage piles. Industrious, well-organized and reliably cheerful, Eleinko visits Home Depot and collectibles shops for material. He’s a neat freak, admitting: “I try to be sloppy but I keep cleaning it up.”

The signature X-shapes, which have long structured and stabilized Eleinko’s compositions, reflect his desire to keep his life and work under control. But since retirement he’s allowed more freedom into his work, although pieces representing merging fault lines or wind turbines are still dominated by crossing diagonals. In others, however, something odd happens when structure and freedom vie and rigidity competes with organic growth. “Hemerocallis X #3” and its partner “#1,” done with oil on wood carved with a jigsaw, refer to a type of lily, but Eleinko wrestles with his opposing impulses and the result is mesmerizing. Parts of flowers morph into abstractions of human genitalia, the wood’s edges are sensous, bulb shapes are suggestive and the texture of the wood recalls human skin. There seems a sensation of throbbing and a spark occurring where diagonals meet in the center. Despite all that nothing is overt. That the pieces remain unresolved is what makes them intriguing. Is it really there or just your own dirty thinking?

“Enigma”   2008    108″ x 108″   wood, cassette tapes, vhs tapes, floppy discs, slides, oil, polyurethante, vinyl lettering.

Perhaps the sex comes from Eleinko’s (or the viewer’s) subconscious, but there is no avoiding sexual undertones in his work if one gets intimate with it. His small wall sculpture, “Field,” might represent a greatly magnified patch of grass, but with its triangular shape it is more salaciously a vagina with attached pubic hair of droopy plastic tubing. “Molten Tulip” might be just that, but its swollen shape and pinkish shades suggest the soft, sensitive head of a penis. “Bloom Buds” reads as testicles – maybe. One questions one’s own perversions: why do the central round openings in pieces such as “Cane-Yin/Yang Cat. 69,” made of painted carpet with jaggedly cut edges and representing a double hurricane, suggest bodily orifices? Well, hello! Eleinko has included that “69” in the title. To paraphrase the response of a studio boss, from Preston Sturges’s great 1941 film “Sullivan’s Travels,” to his star director’s plea to forsake profitable comedies and make a serious film: “Ok, but only if there’s a little sex.”

Eleinko no doubt has serious concerns about the planet. But as with the sex, he cannot repress his desire to entertain. Whatever the subject, he livens things up by adding color, rhythm, sensuality, beauty and humor. A piece such as “Fleur Dangereuse,” warning of death by radiation, is made from wooden shims painted red and yellow to mimic the petals of a huge, round flower. “Tropical Hybrid,” obstensively a leaf, riffs like a saxophone. Flowers look like marimbas and drum sticks. All the tropical botanical pieces installed on a single wall would make a fabulous, kitschy backdrop for a Latin band. Plus there is Eleinko’s sentimental side. Corridor artist Gordy Newton, it seems safe to say, would not have placed the mate to a broken, ceramic bird, stuck forelornly within the colorful riot of stuff in “Aftermath 1,” above it in the café’s rafters to keep watch on his beloved.

“Tropical Hybrid” 2005 80″ x 26″ oil, canvas, wood

Eleinko is also capable of being fully focused and resolutely straightforward. In his ambitiously mammoth piece, “Enigma,” made of cassette tapes, VHS tapes, floppy discs and slides, he includes all outmoded forms of communication. Foregoing whimsy and disregarding his playful inclinations, Eleinko has produced a masterful, tightly-designed abstract work in which he contrasts the “past future” to the “future past.” The shiny metal of the discs provide a repetitive gleam; bold color combinations march in strict geometric order; all is precise and compelling. In “Suichaun 2008,” inspired by the Chinese earthquake, Eleinko is also able to fuse form and subject without distractions. A very complex, colorful work, it allows us to feel the ground cracking, the mountains crumbling, buildings collapsing and fear the fate of fragile children and delicate vegetation. It is beautiful and frightening at the same time.

“Suichaun 2008″ 2008 - 23″ x 30″ inkjet transfer, spray paint, watercolor, gouache, pencil

Eleinko’s strengths are his boundless creativity, his willingness to work hard, his ceaseless curiosity about the world, his genuine interest in human interaction, and his childlike enthusiasm for filling his work with his love of life. Strong color, surprising forms and materials and humorous interpretations of subject matter flow naturally into his art. Art which is refreshing because it is never cynical but genuinely optimistic. And the fact that he has trouble walking a straight line, because he can’t always quiet the competing impulses in his head that point him in different directions, is fortuitous for the viewer. We get the fun of puzzling over the results.

The Kresge Foundation, long known for its national support of the arts, announced Kresge Arts in Detroit during an October 21, 2008 press conference and reception held at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Kresge Arts in Detroit is an $8.8 million commitment to Detroit’s Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties and is designed to develop and financially support individual artists, arts and cultural organizations and arts-infrastructure groups in the metropolitan area. Eighteen Kresge Artist Fellowships of $25,000 each and one Kresge Eminent Artist award of $50,000 will be awarded each year. Arts and cultural organizations are receiving operating support.

Kresge Artist Fellowships – seek to advance the art forms and professional careers of individuals from the visual, performing and literary arts as well as elevate the profile of the artistic community and encourage creative expression in the region. Each year, Kresge will provide funding for 18 fellowships of $25,000 each awarded to artists living and working metropolitan Detroit, along with professional development opportunities.

Kresge Eminent Artist Award – recognizes an exceptional artist for his/her professional achievements and longstanding contributions to the metropolitan Detroit cultural community. The yearly award includes a $50,000 prize.

Kresge Arts Support – Kresge Arts Support provides unrestricted operating support to small, mid-size and large organizations in the performing, visual and literary arts, and to institutions engaged in arts service, education and broadcasting in order to help strengthen their long-term sustainability. Kresge Arts Support is in its second year of a three-year commitment.

Overall, Kresge Arts in Detroit is designed to:

- Increase opportunities for cultural and artistic participation and expression for all people
in the metropolitan area
- Contribute to the quality of life for the region and its communities
- Engage and support regional artists
- Build on and strengthen our current arts and cultural assets and infrastructure

The College of Creative Studies (CCS), one of the nation’s leading art and design educational institutions, is administering the Kresge Artist Fellowships and the Kresge Eminent Artist Award. ArtServe Michigan, an organization dedicated to promoting and cultivating Michigan’s arts and cultural sector, will offer professional development services to the artist fellows.

Kresge Arts in Detroit is one facet of the foundation’s Detroit Program, a comprehensive, five-part community-development effort to strengthen the long-term economic, social and cultural fabric of the city and surrounding area by strengthening Detroit’s neighborhoods and downtown, promoting arts and culture, advancing regional economic development, and enhancing the natural environment. “We believe the health and vitality of the area’s artists and arts and cultural organizations play a critical role in the strength of our economy,” says Rip Rapson, president of The Kresge Foundation. He says the $8.8 million investment in Kresge Arts in Detroit extends to 2010 and does not preclude any additional investments in the Detroit arts community.

Artists and arts and cultural organizations in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties are the beneficiaries Kresge Arts in Detroit. “Artists and the arts and cultural organizations that showcase them open our eyes to new and different ways of viewing ourselves and our world,” adds Rapson. “Through their creative acts, artists stoke creative thinking in all of us – thinking that leads to innovation and invention.”

Fellows will be selected by an independent panel of renowned local and national artists and arts professionals. The College for Creative Studies will also host information sessions for those artists interested in applying for a fellowship. Applications will be available online; for further information, or to apply, visit www.kresgeartsindetroit.org

Call for Applications: Fellowships in the Visual Arts November 1, 2008
Fellowships in the Performing and Literary Arts November 1, 2009

Deadline for Applications: Fellowships in the Visual Arts February 27, 2009
Fellowships in the Performing and Literary Arts February 26, 2010

Announcements: 2009 Fellows in the Visual Arts June 2009
2010 Fellows in the Performing and Literary Arts June 2010

Information Sessions: Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 1 p.m.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 7 p.m.

The Kresge Eminent Artist Award in the Visual Arts is awarded in even years (i.e. 2008, 2010, etc.); The Kresge Eminent Artist Award in the Performing/Literary Arts is awarded in odd years (i.e. 2009, 2011, etc.). The 2008 Kresge Eminent Artist Award in the Visual Arts will be announced December 8, 2008.

“At CCS we recognize that the key to revitalization of this region is through the engagement of the creative community – that’s why initiatives like Kresge Arts in Detroit are so important and why we are so thrilled to be a part of it,” said Richard L. Rogers, president, College for Creative Studies. “This initiative will recognize and support the artists who are committed to creating innovative work that impacts the entire community.”

The Kresge Foundation:

The Kresge Foundation is a $3.5 billion private, national foundation, based in Troy, Michigan, that seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations through its support of nonprofit organizations in six fields: health, the environment, arts and culture, education, human services and community development. For further information, visit www.kresge.org.

College for Creative Studies:

Located in midtown Detroit’s Cultural Center, the College for Creative Studies is a world leader in art and design education and prepares students to enter the new, global economy where creativity shapes better communities and societies. A private, fully accredited college, CCS enrolls over 1,300 students pursuing Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Advertising Design, Art Education, Crafts, Entertainment Arts, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Photography, Product Design and Transportation Design. Beginning in fall 2009, the College will award the Master of Fine Arts Degree in Design and in Transportation Design. The College also offers non-credit courses in the visual arts through its Continuing Education programs and opportunities for youth through its Community Arts Partnerships programs. For more information, visit www.collegeforcreativestudies.edu.

ArtServe Michigan:

Established in 1997 through a merger of four statewide organizations – Arts Foundation of Michigan, Business Volunteers for the Arts, Concerned Citizens for the Arts in Michigan, and the Michigan Alliance for Arts Education – ArtServe Michigan is a statewide arts and cultural advocacy organization whose mission is to cultivate the creative potential of Michigan’s arts and cultural sector to enhance the health and well-being of Michigan, its people and communities. In 2006 ArtServe Michigan merged with the Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies that focused on the need to create a single statewide organization with the credibility, capacity, creativity and clout to effectively support, strengthen and build awareness of arts, culture and creativity in Michigan. Their work includes advocacy, capacity-building and strategic communications which are accomplished through partnerships with constituents, stakeholders and the broader community. For further information, go to www.artservemighigan.org.

Significant changes and enhancements to the upcoming ImaginAide Gala and Art Auction for 2009 benefiting Detroit’s Coalition On Temporary Shelter (COTS). The new theme “Artists Against Homelessness” will serve to call attention to COTS mission to alleviate homelessness.

In an effort to obtain the highest quality artwork, the ImaginAide art committee has decided on a juried selection process, and has secured the expertise of Marsha Miro, journalist and documentary filmmaker, to guide the process.  Miro has also served the Cranbrook Educational Community as a historian of architecture and is a renowned authority on the creative arts.

The event will take place on April 25th, 2009 at the new Motor City Casino Hotel in downtown Detroit ”but the call for art must go out now.” says Lynn Wilhelm, Chief Development Officer for COTS.  Wilhelm asks that interested artists call her at 313-576-0206 with questions about benefits and participation.  The deadline for submissions is Friday, November 14th, 2008. Additional information and artists’ submission forms may be found at http://www.cotsdetroit.org.

“Last year we raised over $125,000 and our goal is to raise the bar,“ remarked Wilhelm.  “We feel strongly about presenting quality pieces, and this new approach should assure that we offer our patrons the best available,” she continued.

Founded in 1982, the Coalition On Temporary Shelter (COTS) is a private, non-profit organization that provides emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing and comprehensive support services for Detroit’s homeless population.  Its mission is to alleviate homelessness by offering an array of services, which enable people to achieve economic self-sufficiency and decent, affordable housing.  COTS 140-bed shelter provides nearly 50,000 nights of emergency shelter each year.  

Yourist Studio is planning their annual “Summer Workshop Series” for 2009. As a community outreach, they are seeking Instructor proposals for one day, hands on, technique oriented, workshops related to the medium of ceramics and ceramic sculpture. Two-day workshop for comprehensive proposals will be considered. This is an excellent opportunity for those working in unique ways to share their process with other interested ceramicists in a bright and friendly environment. Workshops are held on Saturdays June-August. Workshops meet 10:00-4:30 with a 45 minute break for potluck lunch. Instructor compensation is $200 per day. Please send Proposals, Resume and Three digital images of your work, via E-mail or U.S. mail. Proposal deadline is February 1, 2009. If you would like further information please feel free to call or write kay@youristpottery.com.

734.662-4914

While the proposal deadline is February 1, proposals will be reviewed as they are received. So, do get yours in early.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan announced Tuesday September 23, 2008 that the City of Detroit has dropped all charges against the nearly 116 patrons of the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID) who were detained and cited by Detroit Police during the raid of a members-only gathering at the gallery.

In August, the ACLU of Michigan filed a brief in 36th District Court to dismiss the charges against Michael White while the other 115 cases were on hold pending the outcome of his case. This agreement affects all pending cases.

“The Detroit police went too far and it is to the credit of the City of Detroit that they have agreed to drop the charges against these young people who did nothing illegal,” said Kary L. Moss, ACLU of Michigan Executive Director. “For years, we have been alarmed by masked police officers in commando outfits and guns drawn needlessly storming peaceful gatherings in Detroit. We encourage the city to take the next step to fix this unconstitutional ordinance and put an end to this practice once and for all.”

Kary L. Moss, ACLU of Michigan Executive Director

On May 31, 2008, more than 100 young people gathered at the CAID, a nonprofit that has promoted art and art education in Detroit for 29 years, for Funk Night, a monthly member’s only event, which lasts from midnight to 5 a.m.

Shortly after 2 a.m. more than two dozen Detroit Police officers, dressed entirely in black, with their faces masked and guns drawn, stormed into the CAID and ordered all patrons to lie face down, including those who were outside on the back patio. Those who did not move fast enough or asked questions were kicked to the ground by officers. The officers then separated men and women and searched them all, issuing each a ticket for “loitering in a place of illegal occupation.” The officers also seized all the vehicles that were at the gallery under the Michigan nuisance abatement statute. In total, approximately 130 loitering citations were issued and 44 vehicles were seized.

Although the officers were identified as police in small writing on their hats and jackets, many patrons reported not being able to see the writing and therefore, were initially terrified that the police were actually armed robbers.

According to the ACLU, the ordinance that the police cited when ticketing CAID patrons is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, violating patrons’ rights to freedom of expression and association because it fails adequately to define what conduct violates the ordinance. In addition, the arrests violated the patrons’ Fourth Amendment rights because the police did not have probable cause to believe that any individual patron was violating the ordinance at the time of their arrest.

To read the brief in support of the defendant’s motion to dismiss, go to: http://www.aclumich.org/pdf/caidmotiontodismiss.pdf

To read the order of dismissal, go to: http://www.aclumich.org/pdf/caiddismissalorder.pdf

By Nicole Rupersburg

The last weekend of summer brought us the first DIY Street Fair in Ferndale, held in conjunction with the Funky Ferndale Art Show. This Do-It-Yourself-mentality street fair was designed to highlight some of the region’s top talents in art, music, food and brew. Participants from all over the metro Detroit area came out to the fair city of Ferndale and brought their various wares—Michigan-made microbrews, made-on-the-spot art, and indie rock from Detroit’s garage darlings.

I decided to head out to the DIY Street Fair Sunday afternoon, when, conveniently for me, four of my favorite Detroit bands were playing back-to-back. Granted, that would be four out of about 30, but…well, it was still exciting. And it was even more exciting that, as opposed to other (larger) festivals, there was only one music stage—so I didn’t have to play that frantic game of running back and forth between four different stages, never catching more than 15 minutes’ worth of any one band’s set so as to maximize my (free) festival-going experience.

DIY kept it a little simpler for me. One stage, a mere 50 yards from the Go Comedy! Theatre-sponsored beer garden (thank you for that, whoever made that decision), and an onslaught of great bands, thanks to the well-connected festival organizers including the manager of the Hard Lessons and co-partner in the Emory and the WAB, Chris Johnston; co-founder of Handmade Detroit and organizer of the annual Zombie Dance Party, Carey Gustafson; Detroit Derby Girl Tina Iulianelli; Aaron Timlin of the CAID; Marketing and Promotions Manager of the Majestic Theatre Complex, Phil Childers; Heather Carmona, Executive Director of the Woodward Avenue Action Association; and more local business owners and artists.

Between sets from the Pop Project, the Hard Lessons, the Muggs, and Deastro, I checked out the arts vendors and found that many had taken the spirit of “DIY” quite literally. There were the music poster designers (the Silent Giants) who screenprinting new pieces in their tent; the T-shirt designers who offered to silkscreen T’s (or jeans, or knapsacks) for patrons on-the-spot; there was a tent in which a purse designer was making purses out of orange construction-zone plastic; a henna tattoo tent; in addition to artists from Handmade Detroit, the brother/sister team of City Bird, the Detroit Derby Girls, Robert Stanzler’s new T-shirt company Detroit Manufacturing Group, a record store, a record label, and a variety of jewelry, clothing, and other items one would expect to see at an art festival.

But aside from the stellar music lineup, the real standout at the DIY Street Fair which sets it apart from the variety of other festivals we see in the metro Detroit area every summer was the beer garden. 14 different Michigan-based producers of classic brews, microbrews, specialty and seasonal brews, and mead from the new B. Nektar Meadery in Ferndale (yes, mead, like what knights used to drink). The majority of other festivals fail to highlight these hand-crafted, indigenous products which are one of the major contributions of Michigan’s rich agricultural traditions. “CityFest” and “Arts, Beats, and Eats” nail all aspects of local food, music, and art…but the beverages are sadly lacking, leaving us with choices between Budweiser, Miller, and Heineken. This is a sad oversight by other festival organizers, and I was thrilled to see how the folks behind DIY paid attention to these very valuable products in Michigan’s increasing homegrown pride.

But back to the bands. They absolutely killed it. This was the Hard Lessons’ final metro Detroit-area show with drummer “The Anvil,” so they were especially energetic. But all the bands I was able to catch put on a high-energy, brew-fueled, fun rock show, and in this somewhat more intimate environment the crowd fed off the energy the bands were pouring out. We weren’t so much at a big corporate-sponsored festival as we were in a small venue to support bands we all know and love.

There are a lot of festivals in this area every summer, and they all have their own positive points. But in my opinion, this festival—the last of its kind for the year held on the last day of summer—beat all. And as a first-time affair, that is beyond impressive. Whatever minor kinks they might have to work out for next year (less congested space by the food vendors, more food vendors), they are nothing in comparison to the monumental accomplishment that was the first-EVER DIY Street Fair. Congratulations on a job well done, and I’m already looking forward to the next one.

Seeking multiple large and small scale sculptures for public outdoor exhibition April 2009-April 2011 for 2nd Brighton Biennial Sculpture Exhibition in Brighton, MI.  Artists located in or near Michigan will receive special consideration, but all submissions will be reviewed.  No application fee.  Electronic submissions strongly preferred.  Sponsored by the Brighton Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Brighton.

Following the success of the 1st Brighton Biennial Sculpture Exhibit, the time has come to shake up the city and introduce a fresh batch of sculptural art.  Applications are being accepted now through mid-November for the 2nd Brighton Biennial Sculpture Exhibit.  The installation is set for completion in April 2009 and will be on display through April 2011.  Of the 28 sculptures exhibited in the first biennial, six of them were purchased for public use.
 
“Bob” by Chido Johnson was a part of the 1st Brighton Biennial Sculpture Exhibit.  The citizens of Brighton were so charmed by his goofy smile that Mayor Kate Lawrence, residents Eugene Juergens, Bob Herbst and Piet Lindhout and the Principal Shopping District teamed up to pay the $4800 bounty on Bob’s head, so to speak.  Upon purchasing the sculpture they generously donated Bob to their beloved city for all to enjoy.  He is now a permanent resident!  You can visit him anytime at the corner of Main St & Grand River Ave in Brighton, MI - right in front of CVS.

Bob by Chido Johnson
 
The 2nd Biennial will follow in similar fashion, with an added emphasis on using the sculptures to educate people of all ages about many aspects of the art from how it’s made to what it means.  Emerging artists are strongly encouraged to apply, as there is no application fee.  This could be a great opportunity to put work on public display.
 
More information about the exhibit, the city of Brighton, and the application can be found by visiting http://biennial.tumblr.com or contact brightonsculpture@gmail.com. Notification of acceptance December 1, 2008.

Review by Christina Hill

Andrea Eis and Lynn Galbreath
At The Gallery, Marygrove College,
September 14-October 12, 2008

If the recent work of photographer, Andrea Eis, and painter, Lynn Galbreath, exhibits a common attitude it is detachment: Backs are resolutely turned, heads cropped out, disconcerting voids inserted, texts chopped, faces blurred, cryptic comments and glances unexplained. With Galbreath there is absence of language, with Eis a deluge of language – mostly ancient Greek. But mute or loquacious, the work plugs in to the contemporary experience of inundation by streams of visuals. The viewer is in deep, yet still able to catch glimpses of images and snippets of sound.

“I like the idea that you can’t get the whole story,” says Eis of her digitally layered photographs, while Galbreath, listing confusion as one of her goals, reserves the right to rearrange at any time her modular painted panels into different (equally disconcerting) narratives. If you expect meaning tied up as a gift, get over it. Postmodern attitudes –such as incoherence, enigma, appropriation and fragmentation – permeate the artworld’s zeitgeist. While both artists, colleagues at Oakland University, intend for their work to explore the human condition, especially the position of women, the styles they’ve chosen mimic more dispassionate forms of communication, so it takes work (which will be rewarded) to extract meaningful messages.

Certainly the women differ. Eis contentedly mines an interest in the Classics, while Galbreath prefers charging into new territory. For Eis the photographic medium is merely a tool to use in what she considers “the act of translating,” or reinterpreting icons of ancient history; they fascinate her because they’ve transcended time and place. Galbreath lives and (literally) breathes paint application, calling herself “an advocate of medium.” She has created portraits of her students and mixed them with abstract imagery and interpretations of Old Masters. Newly excited about using oil paint and glazes, her love of painting and her subject matter are impossibly intertwined. The artists have in common thinking big: some of Eis’s archival ink-jet prints are 4 x 6 feet, while Galbreath has connected panels to reach 50 feet in length.

It was one-hundred year old books in ancient Greek, discovered in an Athens library, that inspired Eis’s sabbatical work. Her “Marginalia” pieces highlight penciled notes made in the books’ margins. Eis thoughtfully layers portions of these pages, with their English comments – such as “where do the depths come in?” and “yearn after” – over or under photos of ancient Greek sculpture to create her own poetic genre. Some photos she’s printed on sheer fabric. The heightened texture of the paper when superimposed against the smooth marble creates painterly effects; the velvety-black, visually-arresting Greek letters animate the surfaces. The compositions can be frenetic with visual effects. In “Questioning the Classics,” Eis zooms in on parts of imperfect sculptures, close up on missing noses, gouges and blemishes, and thereby frustrates our desire to experience traditional beauty. Hers is a new translation.

Eis places us somewhere between a durably material yesterday and a digitally immaterial present; texts crawl, reading as temporal. While Eis has warmed the tones in some pieces, because the ancient language doesn’t communicate to most of us, they retain a Marshall McLuhan cool. “When you are on the phone or the air, you have no body,” he said. Like images on iPhones and texts on Blackberrys, Eis’ creations appear fleeting. But her conundrums linger: Greek text is placed over the muscular bicep of a god, as is connected English comment: “often used of getting what one wants,” the title of the piece. Eis submits it’s an archaic phrase, difficult to translate. And she leaves it at that for us to ponder over.

Lynn Galbreath creates narrative portraiture using modular components ranging in number. “I can’t keep them keep from growing,” she says. The multiples reference Nam June Paik’s video installations (they don’t blink on and off, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they did). Her subjects are caught off-guard, in mid-sentence and mid-task, wearing inscrutable facial expressions – total blurriness at times – and body postures suggesting imminent movements. Combined at Galbreath’s will, these components seem like stacks of out-of-order film stills or randomized computer slide shows. They are contemporary anti-narratives. Like Jean Luc Godard in his postmodern films, Galbreath sporadically adds elements of eye-catching consumer design: specifically Pop target shapes which connect the characters but also radiate their psychological energy out into the ether.

Galbreath’s monumental “Don’t I Care” always includes three separate panels for the words of its title, but otherwise its components are changeable in order and number. “Don’t” incorporates scenes from iconic versions of “Rape of the Sabine Women,” including moving details of hands laid imploringly on the foreheads of young female victims to provide life. Another panel portrays the hands of a busy modern woman clutching her purse and cell phone. Hair styles also figure prominently, from an elderly man in a powdered wig, to a young woman’s messy braid, to the bowl-cut of a young boy, to a replica of the slick black hair of Goya’s famous “3rd of May” figure. We see only the backs of many of them. A scene from early modernism also barges in – a group of distorted heads (one pig-like) with Edvard Munch-flavored alienation. Galbreath’s muscular brushwork with its vibrant baroque energy comes close to unifying this disparate subject matter, but in the end, the title, with its odd inversion of words, sums it up: What exactly? You decide.

The exhibition has an abundance of ambiguity and also irony: Carefully thought-through compositional elements appear random; warm, appealing colors, meant to convey human emotion and timeless life lessons do that, but also function as more of the cool, unemotional (over)flow of contemporary visual information. Visitors foreheads furrow. The ironies, though, are what give Eis’s and Galbreath’s artwork, particularly when shown together, greater strength and more impact. The ambiguities keep you off balance and interested.

Classes available for Fall 2008

OIL PAINTING with Susan Munro
This is a beginning oil painting class with artist, Susan Munro. Learn the basics: what brushes to use & when, how to prep a canvas, or panel, how to mix colors, how to plan the composition, and other basic instructions. Class will work together on a simple still life before branching out to a personal composition choice. Supply list available. Mondays, 7 – 9 pm, 7 weeks, $120 Sept 22, 29, Oct 6, 13, 20, 27, and Nov 3

DRAWING, the Basics with Charmaine Kaptur
“I paint because I can’t draw!” is an often-heard comment. Drawing is an important part of painting that makes it easier and more meaningful. In this class, the elements of design, including value and line will be taught. This is a chance to understand the basics without the complexity of color. Student provides art supplies. Supply list available. Tuesday mornings, 10 – 12 noon, 7 weeks, $140 Sept 23, 30, Oct 7, 14, 21, 28, and Nov 4

YOUR JOURNEY, YOUR JOURNAL with Moniquee Sobocinski
This class features the making of a journal, and recording the creative thoughts and images of your soul. This course will teach you to express your creative side that is too often neglected. All participants are encouraged to bring their own stories, writings, and poetry. Unlike any other course, you will be motivated, inspired, and ready to indulge in your creative endeavors. Participants need not have any prior artistic training. Supply list available. Wednesday afternoons, 12 noon – 2 pm, 7 weeks, $120 Sept 24, Oct 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and Nov 5

ARTIST TRADING CARDS, POSTCARDS and PERSONAL NOTE CARDS
A fun and inventive class in which you will learn the pleasures and delights of designing and making cards to send and trade with friends. Artist Trading Cards are to artists and creative people what Baseball cards are to sports fans. These little pieces of miniature art can be traded, sold, gifted, or just kept for personal enjoyment. Postcards are a delightful way to send a greeting to a friend – almost anything goes – just put a stamp on it, the post office will deliver. Personal note cards can be special greetings or a special thank you. Supply list available Thursday afternoons, 12 noon – 2 pm, 7 weeks, $120 Sept 25, Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, and Nov 6

WATERCOLOR and GOUACHE with Julie Russell Smith
Both techniques are used with water, but have different effects. With watercolor learn to produce transparent colors, to layer them for richness, or, to build them for intensity. With gouache learn to paint with opaque colors. Both techniques are challenging, fun, and rewarding. Julie Russell Smith has taught at College for Creative Studies and is a working artist. Wednesdays, 7 – 9:30 pm, 7 weeks, $140 Sept 24, Oct 1, 8, 15, 29, and Nov 5

DRAWING & LIGHT WASHES with Margaret Rose
Learn the techniques of producing a sketch or finished drawing. Then add to its richness with light washes of color and shadow. Learn to think differently about what you see and how to capture that vision on paper. This includes positive/negative space, perspective, shading of form and composition. We will touch on color theory and learning to mix color with the end goal being a well-composed painting. Margaret Rose is a full-time art instructor and has taught both children and adults. This class is open to beginning and advanced students. Thursdays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, 7 weeks, $140 Sept 25, Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, and Nov 6

THE BOX & THE WORD (Assemblage) with Anita Schmaltz
Approaching Art and Writing Through Personal Symbolism
By looking to the artists Joseph Beuys, Joseph Cornell, and Betye Saar, participants will conceive intimate artistic visions within the visual space of the box through a collaboration of words and imagery as representations of experience, history and belief. As a means of self-exploration, words dot the path of the inexplicable and the recurring, and the box becomes a window – a treasure – a sepulcher – a cry for the miraculous – a shrine to your soul. Anita is a working artist, a musician, a writer, and a teacher. Supply list available. Saturdays, 12 – 4 pm, $150 (includes some supplies) Oct 4, 18, 25, Nov 1 and 8

WOODBLOCK PRINTS with Nobuko Yamasaki
The traditional Japanese method of handmade prints will be taught using woodblocks and tools. Space is limited to ten artists. A supply list will be provided. Saturdays, 3 – 5 pm, $60 + materials fee $10, October 4, 18, and 25

ORIGAMI WORKSHOP with Nobuko Yamasaki
Learn the delights and wonder of origami with Japanese artist, Nobuko Yamasaki. Both adults and children are welcome. Supplies will be provided. The project will be easy, but challenging and rewarding. September 27, 3 – 5 pm, $20

BOOKMAKING WORKSHOP with Julie Russell Smith
Learn how to make a unique art form to enclose your poetry, your small paintings, or your collages. Make blank books for gifts or your personal writings. For those of you who love books and want the fun and excitement of making your own, this is the class for you. You need no experience. Those of you who have made books in the past, you are welcome. You will enjoy learning new techniques and making books with other book lovers. Additional supply list is available. Saturday & Sunday, October 11 & 12, 11 am – 3 pm. $70 + $10 for special supplies

PORTRAIT & FIGURE DRAWING WORKSHOP with Bette Prudden
Medium being used is charcoal, or pastel and with live models. Bette will start the workshop with a portrait demo. Bette has been teaching for over 35 years and is a much sought-after portrait painter in the Grosse Pointes and surrounding areas for more than 40 years. She has won numerous awards for her work and belongs to a number of well-known art organizations among them, the Portrait Society of America. Only 10 students will be accepted, beginners are welcome. Saturday, Sept 27, 9:30 – 3:00 pm (with break for lunch) $60 + model fee, Supply list available

Fine Art for Kids!

Instructor: Hala Besmar Location: Grosse Pointe Art Center, 15001 Kercheval. Grosse Pointe Park

Level One: The focus in level1 is on giving children the self-confidence to create and express themselves by teaching them how to use paint and how to apply it with different sized brushes to get realistic results, and how to cover up a mistake and make it the way it meant to be. We will be using Acrylic paint in all our lessons. We will paint things from nature, still life objects, and funny faces. In every lesson, we spend the first half of the class to paint different subjects, and the second half to make a mixed media artwork. &nsbp -Classes are: Monday 4:30 – 6:00 PM for 6 weeks, September 22 – October 27, 2008 - Fee is $ 95, plus $20 for supplies per student -Ages 6-7

Level Two: The main concentration in level two is the continuation of similar artwork but in more depth to bring out the best of the kid’s artistic talent. Emphasis will be on enhancing what learned in level one by making more changeling art projects. We will paint subjects that are fun and scientific. We will be using Acrylic paint in all our lessons. In every lesson, we spend the first 45 minutes to paint variety of subjects, and the second 45 minutes we will make an interesting artwork -Classes are: Wednesday 4:30 – 6:00 PM for 6 weeks, September 24 – October 29, 2008 - Fee is $ 100, plus $25 for supplies per student -Ages 8-10 years, or students who took level one

Level Three: In this level, the young artists will explore new techniques to help improve their talents to paint extra challenging subjects that they experienced in level II. In every lesson, they learn how to paint two or three objects, learn size proportion, use colors, and learn how to place things in their paintings to achieve an interesting composition. We will be using Acrylic paint in all our lessons. In every lesson, we spend the first 45 minutes to paint variety of subjects, and the second 45 minutes we will make an interesting artwork. -Classes are: Thurseday 4:30 – 6:00 PM for 6 weeks, September 25 – October 30, 2008 - Fee is $ 110, plus $30 for supplies per student -Ages 8-12 years, or students who took level two

Level Four: In level four young artists will learn how to apply new advanced techniques into subjects like peacock feather, flamingos and flowers . They will be introduced to abstract art, modern art and paint on wood art. They will learn the “formula” for sketching a kitten, a wild cat, and learn the map of sketching human faces and hair arrangements. -Classes are: Monday 6:00 – 7:30 PM for 6 weeks, September 22 – October 27, 2008 - Fee is $ 120, plus $30 for supplies per student -Ages 10 – 14 or students who took level II and III

Level Five: In level five young artists will explore new subjects to widen their experiences in the art world. Subjects like masquerade, elephants, horses and unicorns. Paint scenes like Cactus, Alaskan mountains, light houses, and hot air balloons. Plus painting still life and painting on wood. The young artists will take a large role in choosing their own colors and becoming more independent. -Classes are: Wednesday 6:00 – 7:30 PM for 6 weeks, September 24 – October 29, 2008 - Fee is $ 130, plus $35 for supplies per student - (For students who took level four)

Level Six: In level six artists will take on a larger role in making decisions to strengthen their self confidence to be more independent to help them create unique fine art. They will have various subjects to paint, such as plants, hands, coral reefs, and animals such as penguins, birds, alligators and kangaroos. In addition, the artists will create mixed media art, tile designs, and painting a bird house. When level six is completed, the young artists will earn a graduation certificate. -Classes are: Thursday 6:00 – 7:30 PM for 6 weeks, September 25 – October 30, 2008 - Fee is $ 140, plus $35 for supplies per student - (For students who took level five)

For more information, call 313.821.1848
www.grossepointeartcenter.org
gpaa@grossepointeartcenter.org

For the first time in the history of the Dally in the Alley, the chairman has decided to showcase two official festival artists, in a collaborative effort between Donald Calloway and U. Newkirk, II. Using this year’s grassroots theme, the artists were invited to create a painting taking their own personal stance and freedom to expand on the subject in correlation to the Dally in the Alley and Detroit itself.

The first designed Dally poster was in 1982 by Gary Grimshaw, featuring Brian Taylor’s dancing cats, replicas of which grace a garage wall at Third and Forest. Other Dally poster artists include Mark Heggie, Jerome Ferretti, Antonio “Shades” Agee, and Mark L. Arminski.

This year’s first featured artist is Detroit native, Donald Calloway who has been actively involved in the city’s art scene for over twenty years. Calloway recognized his passion for the arts at the tender age of three and has been solely dedicated to his artistic endeavors ever since. He learned the technical aspects of the arts at the Center for Creative Studies in the 1980’s, and then continued his dedication at the Greektown Lofts, where his studio still resides.

Calloway’s mixed-media art specializes in oils, watercolors, pastels, drawings, paintings and sculptures. Although Calloway delves in numerous outlets, his meticulous constructions, intentional brush strokes, and bold use of colors erupt a unique and aesthetically dynamic vision that grabs his audience no matter what style or medium.

Calloway has exhibited his artwork at the Charles H Wright Museum of African-American History, Arts Extended Gallery, Delta Sigma Theta, and the National Conference of Artists (to name a few). In addition, his art has also taken him to such cities as New York, Washington D.C., and Chicago, however despite Calloway’s out of state success, he proudly proclaims that Detroit is always considered home.

Furthermore, Calloway has been heavily dedicated to the Detroit community through his art mentorship program organized by The Arts League and his involvement with various programs at Y-Arts, the Arts and Humanities branch of the YMCA of Metro Detroit.

Now married, with a son, he continues his love for the arts and says, “Art fuels his positive attitude.”

The second selected artist, Detroit born resident, U. Newkirk, II is presently working on opening a shop in the Russell Bazaar, under the Russell Industrial Center Development project. His goal for the shop is to establish a venue for the youth to collaborate in artistic ventures and ideas. Amidst this project, he continues to work on art but through a more commercial foundation.
Starting as a graffiti artist, Newkirk decided to increase his knowledge of art by attending Crockett Vocational School. He enjoys toiling with all art mediums, including: painting, watercolor, acrylics, and writing. Being an objective artist, Newkirk’s motives in his artwork is grounded on communication, especially having various meanings for a single piece. His pieces then become, more so, a tangible philosophy as oppose to an expression of artistic virtuosity.

Newkirk’s artwork has been exhibited at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Johansson Charles Gallery, Urban Park Gallery, and many others. Always being dedicated to the community, he was also a Broadside Press poet and an instructor at Wayne State and Osborn High School. One can view a mural of Newkirk’s at the Detroit Public Library.

Now a father and grandfather, Newkirk continues to expand the limitations of art through communication. Newkirk states that one day he “looks forward to evolving to the point where he can no longer worry about selling his work, to do his art.”

The 2008 Dally in the Alley artwork is available on the website, along with presenting it on September 6th, 2008.

For more information, visit www.dallyinthealley.com.

by Nick Sousanis

Joy Hakanson Colby and Charles McGee

This Friday, September 5, Joy Hakanson Colby will be signing the Scarab Club’s fabled ceiling beams. For 60 years (!) she served as the art critic for the Detroit News before retiring in 2006. In adding her name to those massive beams, she joins a prominent list of artists who shaped Detroit’s and the world’s art history – including Diego Rivera, Norman Rockwell, Marshall Fredricks, Marcel Duchamp, Tyree Guyton, Charles McGee, John Hegarty, and many, many more.

These beams have witnessed a lot since the Scarab Club was built in 1928. They silently share what they’ve seen through the names that adorn them. This is not unlike the trees they’re hewn from, in that each concentric growth ring records a year of life the tree experienced – living strata. This brings us to Joy. In her 60 years as an arts critic she passionately, thoughtfully, and consistently observed and recorded the struggles, triumphs, and well, joys, of the Detroit arts community. Through her eyes and in her words, a community was faithfully preserved.

As mighty oaks bear witness to generational stories, some species of trees have seen civilizations flourish and vanish. Over her career, Joy not only saw the arc of countless individual careers, she also saw entire art movements rise to prominence then dwindle perhaps to rise again. Throughout it all she patiently maintained her curiosity. And what she saw! I look back at this publication’s archives from a mere six years – I’m overwhelmed. But my god! Multiply that by 10… It’s staggering. Ensuring that her work is properly archived and made accessible is imperative. To fail to do so would be a travesty. It’s an invaluable resource for the community.

The biggest travesty is that her accomplishment is not likely to be repeated. We need critics. It’s hard to blame readers of today’s daily papers for thinking that nothing happens. For as far as arts coverage goes, the current state of the dailies is deplorable. But those of us in this thriving art community, we know better. And that’s why the critic is an essential member of the community.

Being a critic goes far beyond just sharing one’s opinion – after all, as the Internet age has proven, opinions really are as ubiquitous as – well, you know, we all have ‘em. The critic bears witness and offers feedback. They keep us honest, because we know someone is watching, and also, that someone cares. Through writing, the critic literally gets the word out. Art is about ideas and enabling new ways of seeing. As sculptor Richard Serra said, “Art only affects people if it changes their perception. If it changes their perception, it might change how people think.” By helping to share these ideas, by serving as a guide for the public to enter the realm of art – the critic’s voice is ultimately one of education. Joy realized what a great responsibility her work was. More than that, she saw it as a great privilege to learn from and champion the artists whom she served so selflessly.

We honor the eunymously named Joy in celebrating what’s she’s done, as we should. But we can honor her more by renewing her commitment and carrying on the ideals she brought to her coverage and her dedication to community. There’s a desperate need to fill the void left in her absence. Perhaps it will come in these pages, perhaps elsewhere. In celebrating her, let’s plant a seed for the community’s future, even as we honor its past.

I wish I could be there to share in her day. For those of you that do go, perhaps you’ll bear witness and share your observations in these virtual pages – an archive for future generations to learn from. And while she’s up on that ladder – please hold on tight! It’s a little rickety and she’s precious cargo.

– Nick Sousanis
Send comments regarding Colby and art criticism for use in a follow up column to ws@thedetroiter.com

Co-founder and former arts editor of www.thedetroiter.com Nick Sousanis has picked up roots and moved to the big Apple, where he’s finishing his book on Charles McGee among other things.

See here for a previous tribute to Colby by your former arts editor, and here for comments and reader feedback from the tribute held for her in 2006.

See here for an essay on the importance of arts criticism:

Sousanis wrote about Charles McGee signing the beam on that ladder here.

For a look at our editorial in response to the Detroit News’ suggestion that the arts community is fading, please see here. For reader responses, please click here:

One more link – a look at recognition, with a mention of Colby.

The Scarab Club will host an unthemed, all media exhibition titled, Voices, which will be juried by Joy Hakanson Colby.

The exhibition is open to all artists. Joy Colby is the retired art critic for The Detroit News. In a career that spanned more than sixty years, Joy earned a reputation as a tireless supporter of the arts. We are honored to have her sign the historic SC beam in
recognition of her considerable and lasting contributions to the arts.
We hope you will join us in celebrating her life and career at the
signing, which will take place during the opening reception for the
exhibition on Friday, September 5th, 6-9 pm.

I’m looking forward to Joy having a wonderful pool of work to draw from for this exhibition. Please pass the call for entry along to any other artists who might be interested in submitting work for consideration.

TREENA FLANNERY ERICSON, Gallery Director
The20Scarab Club

For full information please download the entry form. Questions? Contact Treena Flannery Ericson at: tericson@scarabclub.org

IMPORTANT DATES/DEADLINES FOR EXHIBITION

Exhibition
September 3rd-October 12th
Opening reception
Friday, September 5th, 6-9 pm;
Joy Colby will sign the beam at 7:30 pm

This exhibition will be juried from actual work

Deadline for Drop-off of Entries
Thursday, August 28th, Noon-7 pm or Sunday, August 31st, 9 am-Noon
Shipped works must be received by Friday, August 29th, 5 pm

(shipping to and from the Scarab Club is the responsibility of the artist)

Jurying
Sunday, August 31st, Noon-3 pm
Posting of accepted works
A list of accepted works will be posted in the gallery at 3:30 pm on Sunday,
August 31st.

Please do not call the Scarab Club for jury results.
Pick-up of entries not selected for exhibition
Due to limited secure storage, please pick up non-accepted works on Sunday, August 31st, 3:30-7 pm or Tuesday, September 2nd, Noon-7 pm. Contact Treena Flannery Ericson if you have a conflict with drop-off or pick-up dates/times.
Pick-up of work after cl osing of exhibition
Sunday, October 12th, 5-7 pm

For full information please download the entry form. Questions? Contact Treena Flannery Ericson at: tericson@scarabclub.org

By Nicole Rupersburg

Matt Busch. He might not be a name that you know. The Sith Lord knows I hadn’t heard of him prior to seeing his presentation at the Detroit Windsor International Film Festival last month. As it turns out, Matt Busch, a Michigan-based artist, is…*ahem*…an illustrator, filmmaker, musician, writer, actor, as well as my new BFF.

He’s been called the “rock star of illustration” by Real Detroit Weekly, and has the image to go with it, what with the cowboy hat and tattoos and all. He is one of the official illustrators for Star Wars (STAR WARS, people!), having illustrated the cover of the New York Times best-selling Tales from the Empire, as well as producing 7 Star Wars posters this year alone for the original film’s 30th anniversary. He’s illustrated books, magazines, posters, comics, trading cards and toys for pop culture franchises such as The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, The Crow, Heroes, Night of the Living Dead, The Mummy, Star Trek, and tons more. He has also worked with recording artists such as Megadeth, Motley Crue, the Beastie Boys, Garbage, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne…and Jessica Simpson. Yes, Jessica Simpson. (I questioned it, too.)

Photo by Michael Kane

After combing through his official website, www.mattbusch.com; his blog, http://planetmatt.livejournal.com; and his MySpace page, www.myspace.com/planetmatt, I learned a lot about stalking Matt Busch Matt Busch’s career and his artistic repertoire. In addition to everything above, he has also authored a graphic novel (called Crisis); wrote, directed, and starred in his own film (called Conjure); has released collections of his work including Fantastic Visions: The Art of Matt Busch and Pucker: The Seductive Art of Matt Busch; he has a screenplay called The Taurus Factor in development; there is also a quintessential collection of his art being released later this year called The Worlds of Matt Busch.

And if all that weren’t enough, Matt Busch (who will be referred to by his full name at all times) took an hour out of his life to entertain me.

Currently, Matt Busch is working on producing/starring/directing the second series of the You Can Draw Star Wars DVD companion piece, which is part of his current World Promotional Tour. Recently I got to sit down (in the comfort of my own home in my pajamas at 1:00 in the afternoon) with Matt Busch, via a little program called AOL Instant Messenger. We discussed his current projects, his choice to move back to Michigan, his love of karaoke and hatred of beer, and his just plain wrong ranking of the Beatles over the Rolling Stones. And some other random crap.

The interview started out seriously enough. Kind of.

NR: Bueller?
MB: Hahahah!  I apologize for my tardiness.
MB: I was stuck on the phone, so…..
NR: EXCUSES.

[There was a really funny exchange here that involved emoticons, but it wouldn’t copy properly and you all just would have been lost. But IN that exchange, MB made a typo, referenced here:]

MB: Oh—please fix my typos, like galss.  You’re not really gonna keep stuff like that in, are you?
NR: But then it wouldn’t be authentic!!!!
MB: That’s cool.  I guess it makes it more real.
NR: Don’t worry; I’ll fix it so we both sound smarter AND funnier.
MB: Perfect.
NR: Okay, okay, seriously, here goes…
MB: ‘K.
NR: SERIOUSLY.
MB: *ahem*
NR: So the book You Can Draw Star Wars.  You worked on that.  Then you made the companion videos.  How am I doing so far?  (This is your chance to plug your projects, so plug away.)
MB: Yes, and the new Volume 2 DVD comes out in a couple weeks at the Comic-Con International in San Diego…
[Writer’s note: this convention is happening at press time.]
MB: Which I might add that this year I’ll be a featured special guest there.
MB: But not before going to Japan for the STAR WARS Celebration Japan in Tokyo.
MB: I also have a new NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD poster to promote…
MB: I can keep going.
NR: This is really the only chance you’re gonna have to talk seriously, so you may want to take advantage.
MB: It’s kinda overwhelming and overkill, so I usually just cover the top couple basics.  Otherwise people get bored.
MB: Oh, um—the big thing I have coming out soon is ILLUSTRATION NATION, a documentary on DVD that follows my adventures on the road, at work, and at play.  Coming this Fall.

And this is where the interview gets derailed. And never quite re-rails. I thought it would be more fun that way. I think Matt Busch had fun with it. That or he’s a really good liar, ‘cuz he said he had fun with it.

NR: Ever been to Japan before?
MB: Never been to Japan.  But I’ve been practicing:
NR: KONNICHIWA!
MB: Konnichiwa.  Boku Wa Matt Busch Dessu, Anata Wa Star Wars Kake Ru.
NR: Then bow a lot…
NR: I hear EVERY BAR has karaoke.  Like, every single solitary one.  The Japanese are kinda odd…
MB: Really?  That’s actually sweet, because my buddy that I’m taking and I are pretty sweet karaoke enthusiasts.
NR: Oh, OH!  What’s your favorite karaoke song to sing?!?!
NR: (Your level of coolness is in direct proportion to this answer.)
mbusch4646 (12:38:16 PM): Off the top of my head, I can usually bring the house down with Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.”
NR: Um.  The correct answer was “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey.  Sorry.
MB: Haha!  But everyone does that.  That’s not cool!
NR: Sorry, but you are simply wrong about that.  Best. Karaoke. Song. EVER.
MB: I try to do the kick ass karaoke songs that everyone forgets to do.
MB: That and “Talk Dirty to Me” by Poison.
MB: At least if you perform it the way I do.
NR: I once saw a chick do a death metal version of Guns ‘n Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.”  In Northville.  It was strange.
MB: Wow.  That I need to see.

At this point I figured I should probably give Matt Busch the chance to talk more about all he’s got going on. It seemed unfair to have derailed him so quickly into my wild world of wacky witticisms. So, I made an attempt to get serious again. The fact that this one got derailed so quickly is entirely his fault:

NR: So the second DVD will be coming out this year, and you have now added filmmaker to your resume.  So what else do you do?  Who is the real Matt Busch?  Illustrator?  Filmmaker?  Rocker-guy?  Lay it all out for me.
MB: Actually puppets.  Puppeteering is really where this is all leading.
NR: Freaky puppets or kiddie puppets?  Or freaky Star Wars kiddie puppets?
MB: Just the kiddie ones.
MB: On a serious note, the whole silly “rock star” thing is something that I never started, but figured it helps with branding.
NR: Naw, it works.  Roll with it.
MB: Well, I think it’s a shame that artists don’t get as much attention in the media as rock stars and movie stars get.  There should be ART STARS.
NR: Um.  Well there was Andy Warhol.  But yeah…that’s about it.
MB: True, but why did it end with him?  Maybe because, in terms of being an abstract artist, he said all there was to say.
NR: I think THAT’S where all this is leading for you…you could be the next big art star!  You should start a campaign. 
NR: Like, with a website, and a place where people can contribute money and everything.
NR: And buttons.  Don’t forget buttons.
MB: Sadly, I already have the buttons.
NR: NICE!!!!  We’re halfway there then.
MB: They’re not on the website, yet, but they will be.
MB: Halfway to world domination.
NR: Well you DO already have the “Planet Matt” thing going on…so…
[http://planetmatt.livejournal.com]
MB: Sure—there’s always more.  I don’t know if there are any areas I haven’t tapped—but to hit them harder and better would be nice.
MB: If my career plateaued right now and never got any bigger, I’d still be happy as hell where I’m at.
MB: But–
MB: Taking the world by storm in all these areas even more would be cool, for sure. As an example, my first independent movie went straight to DVD, and had extremely mixed reviews (rightly so).  I’d love to do more, have them be more critically acclaimed and do better box office-wise.
NR: You DO have a pretty sweet job, btw.  It’s like every person’s dream to be doing what you’re doing (something you love and making money from it, that is).
MB: Thanks.  Yeah, I’m pretty happy where I’m at, so I’m trying to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The following section on the film industry is something I just can’t help myself from doing. I could have been interviewing Bob the Quadruple-Amputee Painter and I still would have asked him about the film industry in Detroit. It’s, like, this compulsion that I have. I harp on it constantly. I refuse to apologize for it.

NR: What do you think of all this buzz in Michigan over the burgeoning film industry, what with Granholm’s tax breaks and all?
MB: I think it’s great.  I can tell you first-hand that Hollywood has been buzzing about the talent in Detroit for years.  I think big things are going to happen here.

See, I kept it brief!

NR: So at thedetroiter.com, we focus on the rich arts and culture scene here in Detroit (and Michigan), and promote local artists and all that, and this is why we’re talking today.  Now, you left Michigan, but you came back.  Why?  And I’m looking for some really-enlightening pro-Michigan answer here, so, you know…
MB: I have a few reasons.  For one, L.A. sucked my creativity dry.  I love the creative atmosphere, but the materialness of everyone was just draining.  I feel like I create better here.
NR: Well, it’s good to have you back here…so we can tout how the rock star of illustration lives HERE in Michigan! 
MB: Yes!  I can’t place myself in the same category as Kid Rock, Eminem, and the endless list of musicians that still choose to live here, but I think when you achieve a certain status in entertainment, and you can live wherever you want, you see how a down-to-earth place like Michigan is really where it’s at.

And now is when we get into Random Question Time:

NR: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask: do you have any inside scoops on upcoming Star Wars projects?  Anything particularly interesting going on in the House of Lucas?
MB: Well, the new CLONE WARS CG animated movie/TV show looks great.  They’re in the early planning stages of the live action TV show, and that should be cool, too.
NR: OMG, the fanboys are gonna poop themselves…
MB: Haha!
NR: Have you ever met George Lucas?
MB: Ha!  I’ve been in the same room with him several times, and been to Skywalker Ranch…  The whole bit…  But every time you go, you have to sign these contracts saying that you WILL NOT APPROACH MR. LUCAS!
NR: And I was JUST going to ask if he was a douche…I guess that kind of answers that question!
MB: You know what though—it’s not Lucas.
MB: It’s all his advisors and managers that are just trying to keep him on track with work and writing scripts.
NR: And hopefully NOT directing…
NR: NOT EVER directing…
MB: If anyone at Lucasfilm could just talk to him whenever, he’d be drowning in a sea of endless nerd questions.
NR: HAHA!!!!  Sooooo true.  Speaking of which, do you get accosted by a lot of gushing fanboys when you go to these ComicCons?
MB: Sure.  And I have 437 unanswered emails I need to plow through—most of which are fan questions.
MB: Part of it is my fault—I’ve put a lot of focus into all the You Can Draw stuff, so all these aspiring artists turn to me for free advice! 
NR: (Damn, THAT’S what I should have done…)
NR: Out of curiosity: I noticed some scabbing on your left arm.  Is that sleeve [tattoos] new?  I’m nosy.
MB: Yes—in the past month I’ve gone through roughly five 12-hour sessions.
MB: I’m finally done…FOR NOW.
NR: So is that an artist thing, the tattoos? 
NR: They say it’s very addictive…
MB: I don’t know; part of it was that I’ve reached another chapter in my life that I wanted to document on me…
MB: And part of it is that I crave to look like more of an “artist.”  I think I look like a doofy oaf, so anything I can do to help the brand is a good thing.   

And now Rapid Fire Random Questions:

NR: Gibson or Fender?
MB: Both.  It’s the player, not the guitar.
NR: Harley or Yamaha?
MB: Same.  It’s the rider.
NR: DVD or DVR?
MB: Haha!  I don’t watch enough TV to even know how to use a DVR, so I’m going with DVD.
NR: Mornings or evenings?
MB: This is gonna sound so nerdy, but these days, mornings.  I think more clearly and am more creative in the morning.
NR: Yeah, it does sound nerdy. 
NR: Local music or mainstream rock?
MB: Both and neither.
NR: Hm.  I like that answer.  Beatles or Rolling Stones?
MB: BEATLES.
NR: We agree to disagree then. 
MB: WHAT?!
MB: The Stones were “cooler” for sure, but the Beatles were SUCH better musicians and song writers.
NR: “Paint it, Black”?  “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”?  “GIMME SHELTER”? Are you serious right now?
MB: Yeah, those are 3 of the best Stones songs, but the BEATLES’ list is ENDLESS.
NR: Who needs political debates when you’ve got this…
MB: Hahaha!
NR: Agree to disagree. 
MB: Yes.
NR: City or suburbs?
MB: Living: Suburbs.  Going out:  City.
NR: Do you like Busch beer, since it’s your name and all?
MB: Get this—my Dad’s side of the family: Related to Busch Beer.
MB: My Mom’s side of the family: Related to Beck’s Beer.
MB: Me—I hate the taste of beer. Period.
NR: Matt Busch: rock star daiquiri drinker.
MB: Mixed drinks, wine, girlie drinks are all good.  But the taste of beer makes me want to vomit.
MB: I’m ruining my credibility here, aren’t I?
NR: Don’t worry, I’ll edit everything.  [Writer’s note: BUT NOT THIS! BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]
NR: If you could be any animal, what animal would you be and why?
MB: An Eagle.  Just for the sensation of soaring through the sky.
NR: So is this the bestest interview you’ve ever had ever?
MB: It’s been a hoot, I must say. 
NR: Cool!  You wanna be my new BFF?
MB: OMG!  ROTFWL!  I was gonna say the same thing! LOL!
NR: AWESOME! Call me every 5 minutes then.
MB: ‘K.  TTYL!

Photo by Michael Kane

Writer’s note: Matt Busch has been very busy these past couple of weeks and has not called me every 5 minutes, as instructed. I’ve been told I just need to forgive him for this. I still have not moved past the Rolling Stones thing, though.

St. Verbatim in Exile

“All Art is Carpal Tunnel: Neo-Brut Works by Charles Alexander” runs through August 17th at the Scarab Club’s Second-Floor Gallery. This showing features 26 new art pieces by whimsical, tongue-in-chic area “old phartist” (he’s 72) Alexander. This is his third SC solo s how. He currently curates the Affirmations Center Art Gallery.

In June, he was a DIA Saturday Demonstrating Artist and had a “diner acclaimed” showing of his work at the Majestic Cafe. “My work goes well with caviar as well as ham and cheese,” say’s Alexander. “I can afford the latter, if properly grilled.” In the 90s he had his work featured on four Metro Times covers. “I gained a lot on notoriety f rom those covers – that and the adults only ads I ran at the time. I still get favorable comments”, he said.

A Critic Double Speaks

Preface To Alexander’s Scarab Club Exhibit:

“Is there no lovely, lovely light at the end of the carpal tunnel?” Simple Simon asked the Taker of Timely Tickets, who smiled kindly at him, conductor’s 3-in-1 oil can in hand – for aesthetic, financial, and locomotive lubrication of passing freight, of which art is only one example of many worth talking about in New York City.

Free will given. Free hand taken. Free pour forgotten. Enter at risk!
(So reads the flashing neon sign.) P.T. Barnum’s EGRESS AHEAD!

“Are there no shades of bright banker’s Euro green, no hints of
radiant bread-and-butter purple, no dot-dot-dashes of prosperity blue
to guide the artist to how it’s really done these Intelligent Design,
home-school, broadband Fundygelical days?” Simple Simon mused, paying
tokens A, B. C and D, subset URL (for distance traveled), and
pocketing X, Y, and Z (for restricted Zipcode) for himself.

[COMMUTER’S NOTE: Zipcode: Ground Zero. URL: Nice job of framing! Who
cuts your mats? Isn’t this hung downside up? You charge by inch,
hour, or critic’s choice? Your agent’s who? Forty. Fifty. Sixty
percent of what, times when, against why not? Sell much these days?
I thought not.]

“For tokens X and Y I’ll g rant 50 miles into uncharted spino-cerebral
space,” announced the Take of Timely Tickets. “Your chakra parameters
seem dimly lighted, but nonetheless audible to outsider sonic echo
and insider boombox boom. Kick up your heels for ego surfing! If you
feel the need to repeat. (Repeat the joyful sound!) Please do. Yes!
Yes! Yes! Change lobotomies and dance!

Fibrillation at High Noon

“The High Holy Synapse Days – make use of them as best you can. In
the Twilight Zone of your Dark Night of the Soul, Simple Simon, keep
them marked on your desk calendar of life. Stamp your art pieces for
Mercury retrograde in Mars. Pluto in Uranus. Mark them Venus 24/7.
Burn your roman candle at both ends. Carpal tunnel or no, the joke’s
on you. It’s an artist’s life. Red, white, mostly blue.

“And why bother poor janitor Henry Darger for far-out directions?”
the Taker of Timely Tickets added. “Or why even charm his seven
Vivian sisters, with their curious little-guy appendages, for a much-
needed Glandeco-Angelinnian ride on the Reading past do-not-collect
$200 Monopoly GO!? They’ve swept the tracks clean of two-point perspective, paint-on-
velvet Elvis Presley iconographic images. Proceed with or without 501
C3 aspirations. Boldly break a leg, my boy! Bon chance!”

“Shall I pack a lo-cal lunch?” asked Simple Simon, sheepishly, while
breaking an easterly wind, but bravely daring to skip the I’m-over-
the-hill and down-the-hillaria-tube to neo-fractured fame is
fleeting . . . And so . . . thus ever so . . . it was . . . Why
travel on an empty stomach? Why indeed? Give me back my ear . . . My starry night . . . to blink . . . and
out! Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.”

[MORAL: Pow! Bang! Shazam! Go for broke on Easy Pick! Rub hard. J
pegs, no way. Play 1492. 1776. 2012. 15 chips on papal litany orange.
Sweet XVI. Genuflect! Go bop! and benedictus, too. Deco. Deco. Art
Nouveau. A bit of outsider brut will do for you. Amen. Spell check
for truth with a carpal T. Hip hop. Seven come 9/11. Hope springs
eternal. Over and out! Bless us St. Andy of Warhol for we have
sinned. Spray paint your Alpha-Artist turf! Glitter and be . . ."]
————————————————————————
—————————————————————
Translated f rom Dada French by Sr. Nada Tulate, Sisters of the Order
of Nihil Obstat, Academy of the Arts, Convent, Brooklyn by the Bridge
60606. Rosaries for the aesthetically blind on alternate Wednesday of
the month. Automated sheep shearing on Pentecost Sundays.

No Progress in Piety

ENTRIES
The exhibition is open and is free to all visual artists. Entries must
be original works of art completed within the last three (3) years.
All visual art forms and media are acceptable, except performance.
Complicated installations must be installed by the artist. All entries
must be in jpeg format only (2 MB maximum size) and e-mailed to:
arthousevote4me@sbcglobal.net
Artists may submit two digital images. Sculpture may include a second view. On your jpegs, list full name, title, size and medium.
(ex. JohnSmith_title_18x10_oil). The entries will be juried by the Northville Art House Commissioners.
Deadline for entries is September 7, 2008.
SPECIFICATIONS
Accepted works must be ready for hanging. Paintings must be suitably framed; strip framing is acceptable. Works on paper must be matted and framed. All entries to be hung must be equipped with screw eyes and wire, ready for hanging. No substitution, exchange, modification, or withdrawal of works is permitted after they are accepted and for the
duration of the exhibition. The Northville Art House reserves the right to reject works not represented accurately in the image (jpeg) submitted.
Each accepted work must arrive with proper labeling (name, title, media, price) securely attached to the back of frame or bottom
of sculpture.
NOTIFICATION
Jury notification will be e-mailed by September 11, 2008. If a work is accepted, the Northville Art House may reproduce the work for show promotion.
DELIVERY OF WORK
Artists Respond to the Presidential Election of 2008
Artists from Honoré Daumier to Pablo Picasso have commented through their art on the quest and use of power by politicians. The Northville Art House wants your take on the upcoming
election. This show is designed to showcase a variety of perspectives in this all-media show.
October 3 - November 2, 2008
Call For Entries!
September 25-27. Do not use glass for shipped artwork.
All shipping costs to and from the Northville Art House and liability
for damage are the responsibility of the artist. Art not picked up within 14 days after the exhibition closes becomes the property of the
Northville Art House.
The Northville Art House
215 W. Cady Street
Northville, MI 48167
Regular Hours: Thursday-Saturday 1-5 p.m.
INSURANCE
The Northville Art House will exercise professional care in handling all entries, but cannot assume liability for loss or damage, however caused, while works are in our possession or in transit. It is recommended that each artist provide his or her own insurance.
SALES
The Northville Art House will offer its services in promoting sales and will retain a 33% commission on all sales. Please let us know if your work is Not For Sale.
CALENDAR FOR VOTE FOR ME
1. Deadline for e-mail entries: September 7, 2008
2. Notification e-mailed by: September 11, 2008
3. Delivery or shipment of accepted works of art to the Northville Art House: September 25-27, Thursday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m.
4. Exhibition: October 3 - November 2, 2008
5. First Friday Opening: October 3, 6-9 p.m.
6. Pick-up, Return Work: Friday, November 3, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Northville Art House is located in downtown Northville at 215 W. Cady St. (1 block South of Main St. and 2 blocks West of Center St.)
www.northvillearts.org
Work may be delivered or be shipped to the Northville Art House in STURDY, REUSABLE PACKING. A PREPAID SHIPPING
LABEL MUST BE INCLUDED for your work to be in the show. NO Styrofoam peanuts! Shipped works must arrive
QUESTIONS?
e-mail Jeff Cancelosi at the address:
arthousevote4me@sbcglobal.net

The Anniversary Season: Center Galleries + Woodward Lecture Series
ANDRES SERRANO PICKS DETROIT
A Juried Exhibition of Detroit Artists
CALL FOR ENTRIES
JUROR: ANDRES SERRANO
Born in New York City, Andres Serrano first studied
painting at the Brooklyn Museum School before turning to
photography in the late 1970s. Since that time, his work
has been featured more than one hundred solo exhibitions
around the world, including a critically acclaimed
retrospective that toured the US and Europe. He is
perhaps most well-known for Piss Christ, a photograph that
in 1989 precipitated a national debate about free
expression and federal funding of the arts. Serrano’s
interest in portraiture as a means to investigate various
tensions in American society has been an important theme
and has led him to photograph subjects as diverse as
Catholic clerics, members of the Ku Klux Klan, homeless
men and women, corpses in the morgue, human sexuality,
and, in his most recent book, “America and Other Work,” a
series of portraits reflecting the numerous characteristics of
diversity in the US, published in 2004.
AWARDS:
1st Place = $500 2nd Place = $300 3rd Place = $200
ELIGIBILITY & CONDITIONS:
Artists 21-years or older living in Wayne, Oakland or
Macomb Counties are eligible to enter. Artists may submit
up to two works in all media for consideration. A nonrefundable
$20 entry fee is required. Entries are to be
recent works (completed within the last two years) that
have not been previously exhibited at CCS, and preferably
not exhibited previously in the Detroit area. Works in all
media are acceptable, including painting, photography,
sculpture, video, digital, etc. Works may not exceed for
2D: up to 50lbs. or more than 6-feet in any direction, for
3D: no more than 8-feet in any direction. Work must be
professionally mounted and framed and installation-ready.
Artist is responsible for any special hardware or installation
mechanisms, and must supply installation instructions or
assistance in installing, if necessary. Artist is responsible
for supplying video/DVD equipment for presentation of
film/video works. Artist is responsible for delivery or
shipping of artwork to and from exhibition. Work for
exhibition that differs from work accepted from entry CD
will be disqualified. Center Galleries reserves the right to
reject entries that do not meet these requirements.
ENTRY POSTMARK DEADLINE:
Friday, July 18, 2008 All entries must be postmarked or
hand-delivered to Center Galleries by Friday, July 25.
ENTRY PROCEDURE:
Artists must submit the following materials for
consideration. Entries will not be returned. A CD of up to
two (2) images in JPEG format, 300 dpi maximum
resolution, no larger than 1.0 MB. Additional images may
be included if they are details of 3D work. Images must be
labeled (as indicated on Application Form) with artist’s last
name-#1, last name-#2, etc. (e.g. “Smith-#1”, “Smith-#2”).
CDs must be clearly labeled with Artist’s name. A
completed Entry Form with works numbered to correspond
to CD. An artist’s resume or CV. A non-refundable entry
fee of $20 made payable to: CCS-CENTER GALLERIES.
Artists whose work is chosen by the juror for exhibition will
be notified by email. Please do not call Center Galleries
for jury results. Artists whose work is chosen for the
exhibition will receive a consignment form and artwork
identification labels by email prior to delivery of artwork.
SALES/INSURANCE:
Work may be for sale or NFS. Works cannot be listed
POR. NFS works must still include insurance value.
Center Galleries retains 1/3rd of the sale price (artist
receives 2/3rd) and will insure all work while on its
premises.
IMPORTANT DATES:
- Entry Deadline: Friday, July 25
- Notification of jury results (by email): Week of
August 18 – 22
- Delivery of work: Week of September 15 – 20,
between 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Exhibition dates: September 27 – October 25
- Closing Reception & Awards Presentation with
Andres Serrano: Friday, October 24, 6-8 p.m.
- Artwork Pick-up: October 27, 28 & 29, between 10
a.m. – 5 p.m. (Unless special arrangements are
made in advance, works left at Center Galleries
after October 31 will become the property of
College for Creative Studies.)
CCS’ Center Galleries is a dynamic forum for the contemporary visual,
literary and performance arts, and an integral component of the College
for Creative Studies. As the College for Creative Studies’ main exhibition
venue, Center Galleries presents the work of student, faculty, alumni,
local, national, and internationally prominent artists in four gallery spaces
for the education and enjoyment of the CCS family and the community at
large.

The Anniversary Season: Center Galleries + Woodward Lecture Series
ANDRES SERRANO PICKS DETROIT
A Juried Exhibition of Detroit Artists
ENTRY FORM
Please print clearly. List your name as you would like it to appear for publication. Center Galleries respects your privacy and will not
share this information.
Name:
Address:
City/State/Zip:
Daytime Phone number:
Email Address (required):
Images on CD must be submitted in JPEG format, 300 dpi maximum resolution, no larger than 1.0 MB.
Work #1: (Label image with Last Name-#1)
Title: Date:
Dimensions: Medium:
Work #2: (Label image with Last Name-#2)
Title: Date:
Dimensions: Medium:
You may include detail images of 3D works. These must be labeled Last Name-#1A or Last Name-#2A.
Detail Image Title of Work:
Please include a non-refundable $20 Entry Fee by check or money order made payable to: CCS-Center Galleries.
Application Checklist:
_______ CD
_______ Entry Form
_______ $20 Entry Fee
_______ Artist resume or CV Accepted entries must be postmarked by Friday, July 25, 2008.
I certify that the information submitted on the Entry Form will not change if my work is accepted, and that by entering my
work in this exhibition, I will abide by the regulations as set forth on the Call for Entries.
Artist’s signature
Mail your Entry to:
“Andres Serrano Picks Detroit”
CCS- Center Galleries
301 Frederick Douglass
Detroit, MI 48202
Questions? Call Michelle Perron at 313.664.7806

Russell Industrial Center

Centrifugal Force, a show by recent Cranbrook Academy graduates centered around the relationship of physics and art, is open to the public for one more Saturday at the Russell Industrial Center. The show is curated by fellow Cranbrook graduate Madeline Stillwell and explores the various ways in which physics and art intersect.

Each work of art involves the use of different forces in some way, from the deflated “Haikusarus” of Emily Lyman’s intricate ballpoint pen renderings to the counterbalanced structures in Abbie Miller’s “Odd Sympathy”. The use of forces adds something to the narration of the works of art; for example, Lyman’s drawings use the form of the deflated cartoon dinosaur character to elicit pity, while her tedious, elegant cross-hatching elevates the character. The codependent support system in Miller’s sculptures almost looks umbilical— if the mother and child were entirely zipped up in black vinyl, that is.

Photographs from Masa Yukimoto’s outdoor cantilever bridge installation, “The Revenge of Tubism”, flank the walls of the space, offering two very different views of the structure. One side of the room shows the whole large, solid concrete bridge, made of a rigid geometry of modular cement cubes, while magnified detail shots of its soft, hand-sewn cushioning are shown on the other— seemingly one object is alchemically divided into two.

The interior of the Russell affords the works of art the space to sprawl and interact with their surroundings in surprising ways. Mara Baker’s “Even The Kitchen Sink”, for instance, uses siphons to draw neon yellow and green liquids through a looping series of tubes along the ceiling, slowly trickling onto the floor, which is paint-stained from previous shows. Baker’s creation is based off of similar machines she made that make their own artwork by splattering on paper, except in this instance the machine makes the floor of the room its canvas.

Last is Katie Hinton’s “Heinrich Heine Strasse, Berlin”, an installation piece that was started in her studio but modified to integrate more wholly with its new space at the Russell. It is at once disorienting, yet places the viewer firmly by reacting to the peculiarities of the space. A tube protruding from the wall entangles in a conglomeration that spans both two and three-dimensions, and includes a strange plastic ball, strips of vinyl tape, a glass panel, photographs of other artwork, and a painted stripe that leads the viewer around a corner, across the floor and up a beam where it dwindles off and mixes with the ceiling pipes of the building.

Centrifugal Force is open this Saturday from 1-5 PM and by appointment until June 21st at the Detroit Industrial Projects gallery at the Russell Industrial Center. The gallery is loacated on the 3rd floor of the second building. For more information, call (248) 250-0330.

From Our Perspective, a national women’s art exhibition sponsored by the Oakland Community College Womencenter, Farmington Hills, Mi., is accepting digital entries, with a deadline of August 1st. This juried exhibit will feature women artists and will include two- and three-dimensional works of art.

The Juror, Susan Goethel Cambell, lives and works in Detroit, Mi. and has work in many public and private collections, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The New York Public Library, The Detroit Institute of Arts, The Toledo Museum of Art and The University of Michigan Special Collections Library. Fee: $25 for up to 3 works. Awards: Best of Show $800.00, President’s Award $250.00 and a Purchase Prize of $250.00 (for smaller pieces). To view full prospectus, and to upload images online, go to www.oaklandcc.edu/womencenter/artshow.htm. Exhibit runs Sept. 18-Oct. 10 2008. Please contact Arlene Frank with any questions at womenart@oaklandcc.edu.

detroit black gay pride - hotter than july 2008, seeks community artists to exhibit during the HotterThanJuly2008 art exhibit at the Garden Hilton in Detroit, Wednesday, July 23rd.

Interested… please contact LiberalArtsGallery@yahoo.com or 313.925.9578 gallery office. most media accepted, work must be ready-to-hang, delivered to the gallery no later than Saturday, July 19th, 5PM. the gallery is located at 3361 gratiot ave in detroit (one blk north of mack), open every saturday from 12 - 5PM.

Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center
Through May 30, 2008
Review by Marvin Anderson

In the collection of Wayne State University’s Administration Building is a large color drawing that is eloquent in line; radiant in color; and a dynamic burst of form. It is a powerful experience when encountered. It is the work of the artist Georg Vihos.

Presently, a retrospective showing of Vihos’s art can be viewed in a Michigan Masters Series exhibit at the BBAC. His work has always expressed its time, and so history suits it well. A selection of early drawings, circa 1960s and 1970s, present the art of a master draughtsman. A small but spatially expansive image of the Uffizi Gallery in Italy has a beautiful, articulate line quality that is basic to his art. In a group of studies of expressive heads titled “Anthropy I,” charcoal is handled with great sensibility. Importantly they show the existential angst of post-World War II fear of nuclear warfare, McCarthyism, and later tragedies of the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, and Vietnam.

The 1970 portrait “Archangel” breaks away from this psychological stress with both a more abstract linear rendering and a more distant reference to spirituality and emotion. Spiritual Flesh™, the title of the exhibit, is about a deep humanity however and Vihos’s pieces from the eighties forward take on a new direction, related to the archangel, but a more spirited use of line and color and symbolic imagery.

In a myth cited in the exhibit brochure, there is a tale of an illuminated feather and bird that, in short, symbolize the search for the spiritual through art. This symbolic feather and bird readily fit Vihos’ ardent use of line and color and the spiritually symbolic archangel. The feather and bird are found in many forms in recent works, and the gestural quality of his abstractions find more dramatic use in creating meaning. Witness the power of line in the painting “Blue Jay,” and the agitated gestural markings that trace the perilous winged flight of the floundering figure in “Icarus.”

Photographic images and collage become major components of more current works. “Spirit Wings,” 2004, uses dense panels of linear wings collaged on each side of a photo of a female figure to create a spiritual aura. Writhing lines surround a collaged dead bird in “War Bird Killed in Action,” a timely reference to the pain of warfare.

Unique technical methods of vacuum-mounting archival photographs have allowed Vihos to create large wall murals. Plates of about 11”x 14” size hang side by side to make 8’x 10’ and larger pieces. Two such murals dominate the exhibition. They do so not just in size but also in creative complexity and visual power.

“Lovers” is depicted by a large archival photograph of two winged figures that soar through a clearing in a threatening sky. They are accompanied by birds and butterflies, but surrounded by treacherous slashes of blue and grey; some of which are muted by golden washes. This is truly the mythic and empathetic expression of the spirituality of flesh…the beauty of human love.

The other mural, titled “Captain Art and Lady Muse in the Rose Garden Touching a Feather,” contains its title in a line of handwritten text at its bottom edge. A large photo image of two winged figures float horizontally amidst a dynamic array of vigorously drawn wing forms, feather-lines and sky-blue areas. Words found within all this visual activity read “YOU CANNOT OBSERVE SOMETHING WITHOUT CHANGING IN THE PROCESS”.

The exhibition is indeed a transforming experience. Vihos and the BBAC have done the community a great service in providing it.

Contributor Marvin Anderson is Professor Emeritus, Eastern Michigan University, where he taught art since 1963. He also served on the Board of Directors and Exhibition Committee, of Detroit Focus Gallery, from 1994-1998. With a bachelor of fine arts from Wayne State and an MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Anderson has exhibited extensively around the region, including at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Send comments to, ws@thedetroiter.com

We know spring is coming ‘cause the buzz around all the schools and colleges amps up a couple of notches. On Friday May 2nd with energy and expression the Wayne State Student Fashion show emerged as it does every year about this time. The show is produced by what is known as the Fashion Design & Merchandising Organization (FDMO) a group that has a long history in Detroit and now more than ever their relevance is clear.

This year the FDMO teamed up with the folks at the 555 Gallery for their show entitled “Industrial WEARhouse.” A switch from several years of showing at the Detroit Artists Market, and although the 555 can’t come close to having the ambiance of Art Gallery that the DAM has, the change provided a better spectator venue. I had the pleasure to sit with Dr. Rayneld Johnson Head of the FDMO at Wayne during the show, she was clearly proud of the student production.

And now on to the show…

Crystal Kenyon, used color and form with intensity; she is clearly having fun, ya’-know, in a Betsey Johnson sort of way. In one piece Crystal pays homage to the great design house Targe’t… with an empire waist, evening length dress sporting a gentle sweetheart neck bodice. Made of white fabric patterned with the ubiquitous Target bull’s eye, and covered with clear plastic. The mind bounces back and forth between a dress, packaging for a dress, focusing on the pattern, and then on the form; a fun experience in visual and mental gymnastics. A real crowd-pleaser for Miss Kenyon was a flowing pastel pink, blue, and orange shift with orange trim and straps. The see-thru outer layer floated over a white slip which itself was lined in orange, this we knew because our model was having much fun on the runway flirting with the crowd.

Milena Milenkovic Ketelhut, I thought to myself as Milena’s works came on stage “how hard is it to make a beautiful model look great?” one piece after another each sexier that the previous. It turns out Milena modeled her own work. With style and grace her fashion sense matches her confidence and body type perfectly. She first marched out in a leopard skin print pencil skirt and white tank top. Next she presented high waisted, button down, skintight jeans with a ruffled long sleeve dress shirt. The jeans came down and over a pair of pale orange high heels; always hot, great color work. I think the jaw-dropping piece however was the black on white Op-Art print sheath with full-length arms, and a turtle neck, accessorized with Ferrari red patent wedges; this could definitely stop traffic. Proof again that little or no skin need be shown for a knockout sexy look. Lastly she strode out in another sheath dress, black this time, accented with fabric strapped heels that tied on the side. I must say that being able to dress oneself properly or even perfectly is a fantastic first step towards fashion design; however making a creative statement on the runway is another. I look forward to seeing what next years Ketelhut Kollection will look like.

Patricia Murray, presented several pieces with a brown and gold color palette. The color scheme works especially well with the brown skin tones of her models that included sister Lakeshia. Patricia debuted a fall jacket with a snakeskin print that is especially sexy with traditional tails but modernized with a turned up Mandarin collar, long sleeves, and no cuffs; a sort of secret agent meets super star look. Next out glistening tea length, print dress, with a 4” belt over the empire waist, this piece has great stage presence. The Bamboo pattern went from white to yellow to gold and bronze, the shiny surface made a crisp, clean, new, look. Miss Murray also presented a gold, yellow, and brown, flower print skirt, toped with a brown scoop neck tee. The whole look came together with yellow-soled clear strap heels, a striped 70’s handbag, and single line beaded necklace, perfect for a Sunday afternoon stroll in style.

Stefanie Sintakis explored the sports side of the fashion pallet in addition to club wear. One sports piece stood out, a “convertible” sleeveless mini dress with a single zipper down the middle it is possible to turn the front around to the back for an entirely different look. There is certainly a whole product line in this one idea. In addition Stefanie created an intriguing ruched mini tube dress made from hand printed fabric. The horizontal wrinkles are very flattering and attention getting, whereas the news print pattern on the fabric gives us the up-close detail that rewards closer inspection.

Steven Tibaudo, put together several casual outfits. One jeans ensemble was topped with a snappy little red-plaid cropped jacket with a white lining; jaunty stuff to be sure. My favorite piece of Tibaudo’s is a bold and simple sack dress that pays homage to the “Mondrian” day dress, by Yves Saint Laurent (1965.) in Steven’s interpretation he breaks every rule Mondrian established… in a good way. Strictly red, white, and blue here, the horizontalish white bands are narrow and radiate from the waist. While the vertical bands start at the top of each leg, taper slightly as they cross the waistband and continue over the shoulder to meet up with the same leg in back. I was mesmerized following the lines around and around to see where they went. Accessorized with big white earrings and red sued heels, this a simple yet sophisticated exercise in design.

Adam Vitick, covered casual and daytime sheik this time out. Our beautiful model Jasmine challenged the runway with a pair of tight fitting, hip hugging, bellbottoms. The design came in the form of smoke color cropped jacket with rounded neck and mid length sleeves; perfect for our weather. When the jacket came off a double Tee look was exposed, an off the shoulder short sleeve tee over a tight fitting white tank with spaghetti straps; a great look for the girl on the go and looking good doing at it. Another jacket premiered by Adam has a real colonial look; a “nouveau traditional” gray wool, long in the back covering the bum, with the arms scrunched up and a belt, very professional yet bright and young looking.

Tiffany Wong, returns this year with a collection of fashionable office and nightclub garb. Tiffany is prolific; her symmetrical works are modern, clean and sophisticated. The waist-high, short white satin skirt is combined with a black sleeveless top that finishes tight around the neck. The band collar came to a point in the center of 9 narrow columnar black on black pleats; this outfit illustrates a perfect balance of proportion and subtle detail. Another piece had full-length wide flowing slacks and a tight fitting black vee neck bodice, again, clear and concise proportion.

I have referenced only a hand full of the works that were presented on this fine evening; all of the participants, models, staff, and backstage, are to be congratulated.

Adam Vitick’s comments sum it for the students: “The day of the show is hectic and you can’t wait for the show to start. Once it does, it’s a blur. It seems to only slow for the minute that your outfit is on the runway. Hearing people clap and cheer for your clothing is an incredible feeling. I hope that everyone enjoys the Wayne State shows because I know that the designers put a lot of hard work into them.” As did everyone!

I will stress two key elements that need constant vigil. One is the importance of the name cards. Readability is paramount because their value cannot be over emphasized. You are your work, your name is you, and for that brief moment you are the star, that name card is like signing a painting; every photo should have your name in it. Secondly but not less important is craftsmanship; fashion designers are Craftspersons, understand what that means and live it.

I think the main reason I love fashion is because of the people involved in it; they are full of energy, hard working, and generally fun-loving people. The more style, grace, and hard work that emerges from our Metro schools, the more are lives and our communities are enriched.

Congratulations to all the graduates and on to your internships!

Tom Carbone designs shoes and other things, and is thedetroiter.com’s arts calendar man extraordinaire.

From far away in New York, I saw the email in disbelief. “Must be someone else with the same name” was my first thought. But it was true, Detroit artist and musician, Matt Blake had died of a heart attack on Friday, May 9th.

I didn’t know him as well as I’d have liked, but I’d had the pleasure to write about his work on several occasions, and in trying to think of a way to describe him, I keep coming back to thinking of him as a “sweet” guy – utterly genuine. In looking back to what I’d written of his work, I found some key themes that stuck out that might serve as description: “playful,” “delightful,” and “beautiful and serious.” I think of the joy he gave (and must have felt) in resurrecting old toys, things rescued from the trash, and making them into something beautiful, something joyful all over again. For me, his works retrieved pieces of our childhood and I smile thinking about them now.

He did so with great skill. In a review, Mike Richison wrote on Blake’s facility as maker: “Regardless of the tools and materials Matt Blake decides to use – found objects, saw blades, paint brushes, drumsticks or small black shapes that look like military aircraft – he always seems to know what to do with them.” Others who knew him better will have a great deal more to say, and Rebecca Mazzei has a short tribute for Matt at MetroTimes, which will be followed by a longer piece next week. Check that out here. Details about memorial tributes are below.

Look at some of our past words on Blake in reviews of his shows at:
Oakland University; Susanne Hilberry; Motor City Brewing Works (by Mike Richison); Heavy Alien Chevy (at DAM) (by Kevin Ewing); Johanson Charles “Telephone” (collaborative):

Our thoughts and support go out to his wife Hazel, his family, his friends, and Detroit’s arts community, which has lost a source of delight and play far too soon. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

FROM METRO TIMES:

In a tribute to Blake, “This Week in Art” presents a one-night exhibition of his work. Guests who would like to share work by Blake which they own can contact Graem Whyte at graemwhyte@yahoo.com or 313-832-2700. “This Week in Art” runs from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Wednesday, May 14, at Motor City Brewing Works, 470 W. Canfield, Detroit; 313-832-2700.

A memorial gathering will be held at 4 p.m., Thursday, May 15, on the third floor of the Piquette Model T Plant, 461 Piquette Ave., Detroit. Please call Susan Hilberry Gallery at 248-541-4700 for further information. There is elevator access. Check metrotimes.com for updated information. If you would like to share a few lines about Matt, please write to Rebecca Mazzei at rmazzei@metrotimes.com by Friday, May 16.

Excerpts from two of our past reviews on Blake:

At Susanne Hilberry (2005): Matthew Blake offers an unprecedented opportunity to reference the fabled Elgin Marbles (on view in the British Museum) for the second time in as many months. Last time it was with Snider and Hocking’s Relics, which I referred to as the Elgin Marbles of our time. Here, Blake has purposefully created works out of our detritus, rummage sale refuse, and by careful conglomeration has elevated the status of such junk into essential elements of modern temple statuary. Instead of grey eyed Athena and ferocious centaurs, we have grey painted Incredible Hulk, Transformers, army men and more. As past cultures had their heroes, their mythology, Blake depicts these toys and icons from our youth, our past in that same light. To a culture that forgets its own history almost immediately, where history flip flops with the turn of public opinion, these are modern shrines to our not so distant past. He’s created meaningful altars (note, the various elements are juxtaposed thematically and with great intent) as was done in antiquity to hold up our past in a quite beautiful and serious, if playful, sort of way.

Oakland University (2006): Matt Blake also connects to mythology – using superhero figurines and other toys and trinkets from garage sales to build classic looking friezes with modern day imagery. The look of something uncovered in an archaeological dig is accentuated by a smart use of paint providing a rich range of patina-like surfaces over the otherwise wildly colorful objects. As the Greeks preserved their stories and history in such works, Blake captures a point in our own history, both a memory of childhood and the stories that these characters inhabit. Blake collapses whole genres of figures and settings into a single space as to almost construct a grand narrative, though that task is left to the imagination of the viewer, much as the discoverers of statuary past attempt to reconstruct the ancient tales. Blake makes inspired choices as to what he puts alongside one another – Batman, the Flash, the Thing, and other superheroes hang out together in a Valhalla of heroism in one, while horses and old sailing ships are together in another speak to the romance of another time. In a time when the rich myths that played such a significant role in times past have been discarded in favor of doctrine, such fables have been relegated to kid stuff that we are supposed to outgrow. Blake has rescued these from the trash and given them a new and delightful existence and meaning.

The Ann Arbor Art Center is accepting entries for Displaced Spirit: A Visual Journey. This juried exhibition seeks to acknowledge, explore and celebrate the universal creative spirit that perseveres through war and genocide. Michigan based artists who have suffered forced displacement from their homelands either personally, or through the experience of their parents or grandparents are invited to submit a maximum of two entries in any media created within the last three years. The panel of five jurors includes, Hashim Al-Tawil, David T. Doris, Gloria Pritschet, Susan E. Waltz and Elise Weisbach. The postmark deadline for submission is August 11, 2008. A prospectus is available online at www.annarborartcenter.org.

This weekend nearly every gallery in the Detroit area will be hosting an opening of a new exhibition or a special event in celebration of this historic occurrence. There’s an amazing array of different venues, types of works, and events to check out this weekend. Below we offer you just a few samples (in no particular order) from all that might be seen, along with some words from some of the operators of the venues. As always, our arts calendar has the rundown of EVERYTHING going on in Arts. And this week, everything really is everything. So scan below for a teaser or two, and check out the arts calendar for all the specifics and all the events going on. This is really an opportunity to celebrate just how strong and diverse Detroit’s arts community is. Click here to go to the arts calendar.

G.R. N’Namdi

G.R. N’Namdi Gallery’s Art Detroit Now exhibit will feature three of the gallery’s representative artists, Anita Bates, Christine Hagedorn and Allie McGhee. Each of them has been asked to select a companion artist, whose work they know and admire and with whom they have had some professional connection, thus the title of the exhibit “Connections”. Anita has chosen Alice Smith, a Detroiter and professor at Wayne State, Smith states, ”my quest through art expresses my appreciation and respect for all humans and everything that has dwelled upon this earth, respect for the unending circle of change.” Brian Pitman is Christine’s connection. They have been friends and associates since graduate school and “share a love of all things organic, found objects, discovery and craftsmanship.” Allie McGhee chose longtime friend Ibn Pori Pitts. As budding artists at Cass Tech Allie and Ibn bonded and remain friends as each expresses their talents with varying applications.

The “Connections” exhibit in the G.R. N’Namdi Gallery exemplifies the vision of the Art Detroit Now weekend. This project provides the opportunity to sample the diversity of the Metro Detroit Areas’ artists along with showcasing our numerous galleries and museums. For details see the Arts Calendar.

555: O’Bryan’s and Press/Play

The 555 Galleries and Studios present a variety of art and performances exhibiting along with Art Detroit Now opening on May 8th 6pm-9pm, May 9th 6pm-1:30pm to May 10th Noon-1:30am. The 555 is an artist run non-profit with three gallery spaces and many artist’s studios. The core mission of 555 Gallery/Studio is to further enrich and diversify cultural life in the greater Metro-Detroit area. In support of this mission 555 facilitates the development of emerging artists. 555 consists of leaders and collaborators that continue to develop greater possibilities for the performing and visual artists of the Detroit area.

First Floor Gallery: Aqua O’Bryan and Billy O’Bryan will be showing new work

Father Billy will be exhibiting “Nutrition/Defecation” which explores organic resources and material, natural processes, and bodily functions in creative development and discipline Daughter Aqua will be presenting “Electric Church” a portfolio of brilliant digital photographic prints of Detroit’s churches.
Come join us, better yet come by bicycle!! (weather allowing) bikes for rent @ the Hub, spoketwanger of the former back alley bikes.

Two live acts will be happening on May 10th

5:15 pm – A Disconnect – A simultaneous performance happening live in New York, web streamed in real-time and projected onto the stage in Detroit. Aadika Singh will be performing in New York and projected onto Kt Andresky’s body in Detroit making this an illusional experience you cannot miss.

6:00pm-8:00pm – Press/Play – This Artist ‘News Reel’ is a one-time collaboration of about 20 artists world wide, all coming together to discuss the current happenings of their art world.
The artists will be calling in LIVE via Skype, a real-time video conferencing technology. Each will broadcast for five minutes and creatively interpret what is happening within their art community. Press/Play welcomes all artists and art supporters to be inspired by the artists of this world. - be prepared for art, dancing, performances, live music, and possible interaction with each of these artists.

Come see what is happening in New York via experimental performing artist Biba Bell. Hear what Pittsburgh sounds like through a talented musician and performance artist Pfunkt. See what is happening on the streets of Minneapolis through the eyes of stencil and street artist John G. Detroit is happening, did you hear? Well you will hear more about it from Detroit’s very own James Dozier. What about the action in Pakistan? Faisal Malik of Thespianz Theater will tell us all about it. Technology can be an artist’s tool, come see it work and see what the Lab Factory of Vienna, Austria has to say about art and technology too!… plus many many more!

Need inspiration, this is where you should go to get some. Find out what is happening in the art world around the world presented to you by artists and not someone else. (This is an anything goes sort of viewing, kids are welcome, but i do not have any control censoring what the artists choose to do while performing live during the event.)For details see the Arts Calendar.

MOCAD: CONSIDERING DETROIT

This is the first exhibition in a series that MOCAD is launching exploring contemporary art in the Detroit area. The concept of the series is to effectively document the recent history: that is of the last forty years. The seven artists or groups participating were selected on the merits of their work and for their various connections to the place. For the 2008 exhibition MOCAD has chosen the following seven artists to highlight: Ellen Cantor, Maurice Greenia Jr. (Maugre), Jim Gustafson, Allie McGhee, Heather McGill, Gordon Newton, and the artist collective TIME STEREO.

Ellen Cantor grew up in the City and mines her memories in abstract ways for videos and drawings. Maurice Greenia Jr. (Maugre)’s installations have appeared on various buildings in Detroit and Ann Arbor; poet and performance artist Jim Gustafson’s written and visual work will be exhibited. Allie McGhee plans an original installation that includes his landscape-based paintings. An installation by Heather McGill will combine her sculpture and prints, which transform the images and processes of the auto culture. Gordon Newton has been assembling large industrial sculptures since the 1960s of which highlights will be exhibited; and the collective TIME STEREO plans a new installation covering the entrance of the museum that will include popular culture images, music, and structural forms. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Community Arts @ Paramount Bank: Inner Surroundings

It is possible to envision a time when there wasn’t oil painting or video art, but drawing seems to have been with us always. Barnett Newman swore that the first man, who happened to be an artist, made a line in the dirt with a stick, creating the first drawing and simultaneously the first artwork. For Newman and other postwar modernists, drawing was the most direct and unmediated method of catching the creative process as it happened.
…“There is no way to make a drawing – there is only drawing,” Richard Serra remarked in a well-known interview. “Anything you can project as expressive in terms of drawing – ideas, metaphors, emotions, language structures – results from the act of doing.” (Laura Hoptman “Drawing Now: eight propositions.”)

Community Arts @ Paramount Gallery invites you to explore the way drawings of Addie Langford, Jae Won Lee and Emily Lyman connect and react to their immediate environment. Discover how that environment becomes a drawing and leave your own mark in our collaborative artwork located at the Gallery.

Community Arts @ Paramount Gallery is proud to be a part of Art Detroit NOW weekend. “I believe that this is a very important first step towards putting long deserved Detroit Metro area art on a national art map. As well as drawing attention of our own communities to the resources that they have in the area. Art is an industry that can change current economical situation in Michigan. This weekend is the time to discover how.” – says the curator of the gallery, Narine Kchikian. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Ariana Gallery: 21 Years of Exhibiting Fine Art Glass

For 21 years Ariana Gallery has been focusing on a small select group of glass artists whose design will resonate for years. This years Glass Invitational features over 20 acclaimed artists including Tom Philabaum, Scott Bayless, Ed Branson, Brian Russell and Mark Vandenberg. For details see the Arts Calendar.

River’s Edge

Art Detroit Now is one the most exciting art events to have hit the Detroit area. Not only does it portray the vitality of the Metro Detroit art scene but it has had a residual effect of unifying us. I remember the art scene in the 70’s and 80’s when groups would travel from gallery to gallery and show to show. You wanted to arrive early so that you had the best selection from which to choose your next piece of art.

Metro Detroit artists and galleries and institutions have created an art scene like no other. It is hot and gritty and new. At my gallery I show only Metro Detroit artists and my show right now is a takeoff from Earth Day. On my second floor I have art that has been made from throwaways. There is an installation is by Tim Burke (how more Detroit can you get???) who found industrial waste from Nerf footballs laying in a field near his home and studio on Heidelberg Street. He took these, what he terms “Schrooms", and made tiles at Pewabic, bronzed them at Wayne State University and put them on wall plaques and on and on. If you just make that trip “downriver” for that alone…it will be worth it but there is many other reasons including visiting Patricia Izzo’s Fine Art Photography Studio and Gallery on our third floor. We’ll be here Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 8 PM. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Patt Slack
Owner River’s Edge Gallery

Biddle: A Creative Environmental Happening

“Green Bunny” is a conscience effort to recycle and reuse to reduce our environmental foot print. “Green Bunny” is open through June 7, 2008 at Biddle Gallery. It is a mixed media show featuring recycled and earth friendly materials. Artists include Rick McQuaid, Ryan Weiss, Jerome Ferretti, Terri Sarris, Dave Moroski, Carl Oxley III, Mrrranda Tarrow, Joan Painter Jones, Joey Merchant, Taryn Boyd, Davin Brainard, Michele Kramp, Greg Loselle, Heather Fagan, Faina Lerman, and more. Biddle Gallery started the successful event called “Craft Uprising” back in January. Many of the artists who participated made things from recycled items

Here are a few examples:
Miranda (aka Mrrranda) L. Tarrow juxtaposes delicate and even perishable objects found in nature with pre-loved toys, antique hardware, and consumer debris - often looking worse for wear than their organic companions - Tarrow’s assemblages are subtler and more complex in structure and meaning.
Michelle Pappas creates felted handbags and bags using recycled sweaters.
Taryn Boyd of TalkingSquid creates handmade rugs from old t-shirts.
Birch bark jewelry by Heather Fagan of BirdsGather. Earrings, bracelets and necklaces made from bark she collects off the ground that naturally peel off birch bark trees.
Michelle Kramp creates one-of-a-kind handbags from sentimental and recycled textiles. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Paulkotulaprojets: Mytty and Vogel

Amy Vogel: At Two with Nature and Melissa Mytty: Urban Couture. Amy Vogel (Chicago, IL) makes paintings and sculpture based on her vacations in northern Michigan. Open and vast, her landscapes are filled with trees, evergreens and remnants of man - trailers, fencing, chopped wood for fuel. Painted on prepared linen mounted on masonite, Vogel’s works are formed with lively marks that sit upon and absorb into her unique ground.

Melissa Mytty is from Birmingham, MI. She earned her BFA in 2005 at the College for Creative studies and her MFA in 2007at Cranbrook Academy of Art. In this her first exhibition since graduating, Melissa continues to explore cultural issues within the framework of a cup and its saucer. Informed by fashion and urban street life, Mytty created graffitti-like volumes that hold oddly playful and sensual cups. She is currently an artist-in-residence at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Bike Detroit Now! Gallery Crawl for Art Detroit Now

Encouraging the benefits of art and biking for the individual and for the community at large, The Center for Creative eXchange has teamed up with Detroit Bikes! to host a special event for Art Detroit Now called Bike Detroit Now. This moderately-paced bike tour and costume-optional gallery crawl will begin in front of the Detroit Institute of Arts at noon on May 10th and will travel to galleries in Eastern Market, New Center East, and Woodbridge before heading back towards the Cultural Center to stop at Motor City Brewery, Back Alley Bikes and finally to the DIA at approximately 4pm. At each stop a brief synopsis of the exhibition will be given by artists and gallery staff followed by a quick look around.

Back Alley Bikes will be offering bike rentals at $5 for the day plus deposit and pre-registration. Bikes can be picked up at The HUB at 3611 Cass Ave. between 11am and 11:45am on May 10th directly before the event. Pre-registration for rentals required by May 3rd. (No registration required to participate in Bike Detroit Now. )

This is a free event and costumes and helmets are encouraged!

Participating Galleries and Venues
Eastern Market: The Detroit Film Center, Johansen Charles Gallery.
New Center East: The Pioneer Building, Russell Industrial Spring Show. Woodbridge: Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, The Center for Creative eXchange,4731 Gallery, 555 Gallery.
Cass Corridor: Back Alley Bikes; The Hub, Motor City Brewery.
www.centerforcreativeXchange.org
www.detroitsynergy.org/projects/detroitbikes, For details see the Arts Calendar.

Lemberg Gallery: Mark Fox

Mark Fox explores the possibilities of chance and the strange narratives that emerge from the juxtaposition of images, addressing the glut of information imposed upon our daily lives by news media, advertising, religion, cinema, street noise and telephones. In two main works in the exhibition, Construction and Ply, Fox eliminates representational imagery from his constructed drawings and focuses on linear elements, which have their origin in sacred texts. Fox’s ongoing interest in eschatology-theologies concerning the end of the world-and its prevalence in the dogma of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is a driving force behind these large-scale sculptural drawings. The cloud-like paper forms, affixed to upright wood plinths, are comprised of words from various texts describing fantastical religious and mythic events, such as the Catholic doctrine of the Assumption of Mary. The brushwork originates in Fox’s calligraphic reproductions of such texts, which are reduced to bold linear elements, then cut from their paper grounds and reassembled. As with his choice of raw plywood, Fox also employs sawhorses and workbenches to undergird his delicate paper forms. His intention is to create a striking contrast between these basic construction materials and the esoteric fragments and lofty proclamations they support.

Many of Fox’s recent works have incorporated reflective surfaces in order to give the viewer multi-faceted access to the drawings. The most recent work on exhibit here, Triptych, presents the reflective surface as its main subject matter. The large curtain-like form (a favorite motif of the artist) is made of cut stainless steel and suspended in the center of the gallery. With equal amounts of reflective and perforated surface, the placement of this piece in the middle of the gallery calls into question what seen as a reflection behind the viewer and what is seen through the openings in front of the viewer. While working to decipher these challenging optics, the viewer may at times see a single amalgamated image, a unified field comprised of everything visible in the gallery space. Fox’s work may be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, among others.

For over thirty years Lemberg Gallery has exhibited modern and contemporary paintings, sculpture and works on paper by regionally and internationally acclaimed artists. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Alfred Berkowitz Gallery – University of Michigan Dearborn

There is energy and excitement in the process of inventing and exploring new possibilities and the ARTDETROIT NOW project is a great example! Marc and the “founders” have taken the lead in activating the arts and cultural community in a fresh new way! Their effort has has been widely embraced and supported!

The Art Museum Project at UM-Dearborn presents 7-10 exhibitions each year. We are just closing our annual Michigan Glass Month presentation, “Privileged Access,” seldom seen studio art glass by celebrated master craftsmen on loan from important regional collections, and will open “James Scripps Booth: Artist, Engineer, Polymath,” a project of students in the Museum Practices Seminar in our Art History program, on May 16.

The gallery will be in process of installation until then so we are not open for ADN this year.

We are looking ahead to our 12th Michigan Annual Competition, June 27 - July 24; the Michigan Water Color Society traveling exhibition, August 4 - 28; a special exhibition of children’s book illustration, September 12
- October 24; and finally, as part of our community outreach, we’ll feature the Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, November 14 - December 12.

It’s great to be a part of this celebration of the arts in our region!
Ken Gross,Director,
Art Museum Project / Alfred Berkowitz Gallery University of Michigan-Dearborn

Art Space: Twenty-Four Years of Reselling Fine Art

Born is Detroit in 1904, his working life extended for more than six decades during which time he traveled and studied with and was influenced by some of Europe’s greatest painters. He studied with Andre LHote in Paris and was juried into the Carnegie Institute competition by Henri Matisse who much admired Yaegers work. As a celebrated modernist, Yeager has exhibited in many of the most prestigious arts institutions in the nation, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Smithsonian Institute, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He was much in demand as a WPA artist painting numerous murals in the Detroit area. An interesting note: Yaeger never purchased a tube of paint. He ground and tubed all his paints himself because he felt that the colors were fresher that way.

Art Space shows the work of modern 20th century masters, Detroit Cass Corridor artists as well as emerging artists in an ever changing selection. You never know what you may find. For details see the Arts Calendar.

CAID Opens Four New Galleries

The Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit opens four galleries with four curators, five jurors, twentyone artists, one Eco Village, seven bands, two art shuttles and one MassiV kick off party. Founded in 1979, the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID) and its half dozen members moved into its first home on Rosa Parks Blvd after 25 years of nomadic existence. Now only 3 years after that move, CAID operates four venues throughout Detroit and has over 500 members and growing.

May 10th brings the debut of CAID’s 2008 exhibition season with shows at all four venues: CAID, the Carriage House Gallery, Ladybug Gallery and Studios and the newest addition to CAID’s family of galleries, MassiV.

Amy Green Deines, Board Chair of CAID, explains the exciting new programs and growth, “Recently, we [CAID] have been criticized for spreading ourselves too thin. With four galleries with different programs extending throughout Detroit’s landscape, one might agree. We feel that Detroit is in desperate need of art and art education as a catalyst for change and exchange, with that, the idea of ’spreading thin’ is appealing. We consider our expansion as a conceptual veil that is delicately laid over the City of Detroit, it touches, effects and consumes. Even at moments when the veil is so thin that it becomes porous or torn, it becomes evidence to this group that friction or reaction is embraced. As our non-profit evolves moments in the veil will thicken, while other area’s will stay thin, that’s fine with us. We are in the business of changing the consciousness of men and women, children and the elderly; we are in the business of changing the world.”

Each of the four galleries offers a completely different perspective of the CAID exhibition and education vision and mission.

CAID Main offers the Eco Village Student Design Competition. Eco Village is part of the City of Detroit’s latest green initiative. The exhibition includes cutting edge solutions to vacant land usage including the potential of developing eco-villages.

The Carriage House Gallery features the work of Madeleine Barkey, Jeanne Bieri, Teresa Petersen with their collaborative exhibition, The Harvest Gold Club: COLLECTING, CREATING and CLEARING OUT. The exhibition will display artwork within an environment that imitates a typical living room or clubhouse.

Ladybug Gallery and Studios, which opened last fall in Southwest Detroit’s Whitdell Building, hosts the Curator’s Choice exhibit. This show features the work of Sandra Cardew, Simone DeSousa, Bill Dolson, Tirtza Even, Tom Humes, Curt LaCross, Jayson Lowery, Azucena Nava-Morena, Teresa Petersen, Don Pollack, Len Puch, Sam Wolf, Sharon Que, Daniel Timlin, Ram Singh Urveti, Tiffany Sayre, Ropert Showalter & Stage 3 Productions.

MassiV is the latest addition to the CAID family of galleries. The inaugural exhibition, Chido Johnson: Domestified angst – first recording, includes a major solo installation of new work. Born in Nyadiri, Zimbabwe and currently the chair of Sculpture at the College for Creative Studies, Johnson’s work explores his own state of cultural negotiations. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Russell Reschedules for ADN

Russell Industrial Center moved their Spring show from late April to early May to participate in Art Detroit Now. The Spring Show has over 70 artists that open their studios and showcase their art to the masses. The tour usually sees around 500 visitors but with participation in Art Detroit Now over 1000 are expected. Russell exhibits artists from all walks of life and genres. Painters, sculptors, metal fabricators, furniture makers, photographers, clothing designers, film makers and many more will exhibit work.

Russell also has four walkable art galleries. DIP (Detroit Industrial Projects), CAVE, MASSiV (CAID GALLERY) and the OVERPASS gallery. Michigan Hot Glass is also on our campus. These galleries will also be open on May 10th. The campus will be open May 10th, Saturday 2pm-Midnight.

The RIC is very excited to participate in this event. The creative class at the RIC (and the Detroit area), is happy to help draw attention to the wealth of creativity in this region and its beneficial effects on the effort to help Detroit thrive and prosper. For details see the Arts Calendar.

CAVE: Still Moving

In the weekend of Art Detroit Now, Cave will be showcasing work from eight distinct artists. This particular show titled “Still Moving” will include works by Vanessa Merrill, Vince Troia, Gilbert Vasquez, Nate Morgan, Andrew Davis, Kevin Beasley, Jenny Ziegler (all of whom occupy studios in the space) and Ed Brown who recently had a solo exhibition at Cave and will be showing at Robert Kidd Gallery this weekend. The show seeks to offer the audience a chance to see where each of these artists are at this point in time with their work in a climate that presides in a paradox. This particular show represents a young ambitious group of artists who are eagerly taking part in the rapid growth of the luscious Detroit art scene.

A year ago, Cave was non-existent. A mere idea that was only exercised for the need of a working studio for a group of avid artists. After months of renovation, building, and a slight vacation, the space began to take shape into a studio/working playground. Having 4000 sq. ft. of space to work with, the group decided to build out a 1500 sq. ft. clean space that would serve as an area for documentation, events and possible exhibition. Seven months after the first exhibit during the People’s Arts Festival, Cave has become a must-see in the Detroit community.

The development of Cave embodies the essence of blatant possibility in Detroit. It is a space that was developed by a young group of determined artists that exemplifies the spirit of the do-it-yourself mentality of the Detroit art scene. If its not happening, then make it happen. Cave is a fresh space with fresh faces that is openly looking to join forces with the rest of the community that Art Detroit Now has brought together so valiantly. This event is very significant to not only the threading of the art community here in Detroit, but also as a firm statement to outsiders that the Detroit Art scene is alive- and thriving. For details see the Arts Calendar.

The 52 Hour Chance @the OVERPASS at Russell

Join us in a 52 hour open jam of music, mural, collage, assemblage sculpture and t-shirt screen printing. Just bring any useful materials; paints, brushes, instruments, noises, magazines, images, found objects, t-shirts…
Music and Poetry by;Angelo Conti, Tom Budday, Mother Whale, Food for Owls, The Beards, Eric Waters, Urine Sample, As Centaurs, Black Seal, Weston Parker, Arrow/Spear/Sword, Jason Tobin, the Questions, Polar Opposite, The Nerve, Joe Whizner, the JIG… and others. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Zeitgeist Gallery

In the Main Gallery – “SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION” an eclectic collection of Found Object Art by M80 and Joan Painter Jones. In the Bar Gallery – “WORK” by John Aretakis (neon sculpture) and Tony Patterson.

THE ARTISTS: M80 and Joan Painter Jones are no strangers to the Zeitgeist.
They have been important players in the “Visual Jam Sessions” that we have hosted every summer for 6 years. They always bring good junk to play with and to share.

Expose yourself to more ART!! For details see the Arts Calendar.

Northville Art House: “Osmosis” Adnan Charara Solo Exhibition

Be a pART of it! Enjoy spring – take in art. The Northville Art House is delighted to welcome back the artist Adnan Charara to the Northville Art House for a wonderful new solo exhibit, “Osmosis,” in the Art House Gallery. Adnan Charara is an artist that you will want to meet.

Adnan Charara has participated in many group exhibitions, as well as having several solo exhibits. His most recent solo exhibit was hosted at the Arab American National Museum, March 2007 in Dearborn, Michigan. Adnan Charara is the subject of numerous articles, most recently, “Tried and True,” by Nadia Abou-Karr, in the Detroit Metro Times, 4/18/07. His work is a part of both private and public collections, such as the Whistler House Museum of Arts, Lowell, Massachusetts, and the Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Bohemian National Home: Slippery Weasel Society

Slippery Weasel Society – Interstate Reunion Exhibition
Society members – inducted Weasels: Jeanne Bieri, Carl Butler, Todd Erickson, Mary Fortuna, Matthew Hanna & Arturo Rodriguez
Photos: Mary Fortuna, Slippery Weasel

Rather than saying which style, trend, movement or period we fit;
let us say we indulge in whatever strikes our fancy. - Slippery Weasel Society, 2005

A History of the Slippery Weasel Society

Though the origins of this secretive fraternal organization are shrouded in mystery, its antecedents can be found in several Native American Medicine Societies of certain Great Lakes tribes. The first mention of the society can be found in H.R. Schoolcraft’s “Algic Researches” of 1839, wherein Pauppukeewiss, a “crazy brain”, likens the slippery weasels in his lodge to a “sack of fish” and wishes them good luck in surviving the harsh winter. (La Poudre, Historical and Statistical Information Respecting…the Indian Tribes of the United States. Mentor L. Williams, Editor.)

The society not only managed to survive, but thrived. During the war years it claimed the largest number of furniture movers among its ranks of any other civic organization of its kind in North America. Though interest waned at times, the society has enjoyed something of a renaissance during the ferret boom of the mid 1990’s. Today Slippery Weasels are everywhere. Membership is up, and council meetings are more egalitarian. Due to multiple lawsuits in the early part of this decade the Society has been forced to open its doors to women, dancing bears, and the Irish.
- excerpted from the Slippery Weasel Society Historical Archive

Recent activities of the society include an exhibit at Paint Creek Center for the Arts in August – September 2005, and a traveling extravaganza which graced the University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts Gallery in September, 2006. With each subsequent exhibit, newly inducted members present their works. For details see the Arts Calendar.

Work : Detroit offers Engagement: U of M projects in Detroit.

Assistant Professor Nick Tobier’s Detroit Connections class brought students from the School of Art & Design to Detroit every Friday to work with the 4th grade students at Greenfield Union Elementary on East 7 Mile Road. U of M students got a chance to get to develop sustained time with the children while getting to know the city through its neighborhoods, cultural institutions and to engage their time in the city as artist-educators with the hopes that these bonds continue.
Assistant Professor Stephanie Rowden’s Digital Audio Narratives class sat down with members of St. Pat’s to make audio recordings of life stories and reflections. St. Patrick’s Senior Center is a vibrant and vital day program on Parsons Street, just around the corner from the UM Detroit Center.

A&amp graduating senior Happi Williams collaborated with Detroit foster care teens who have “aged” out of the foster care system to produce a photo essay as well as a book. In addition, there is a photo essay documenting the work of Doc to Docks, an organization that provides much needed medical supplies to Africa which was compiled by Happi Williams and Peter Schottenfels.

The Art Detroit Now event provides a well choreographed unprecedented forum for users to connect to and engage in a wide variety of artistic offerings over a condensed period of time. As director, I am looking forward to engaging with gallery users here at Worketroit as well as connecting with many of my fellow gallery colleagues and sharing in their exhibitions. I also look forward to discovering exciting new creators as well as new creations by familiar artists. For details see the Arts Calendar.

BBAC- In and Out during Art Detroit Now

The BBAC is hopping with so many activities during the May 9-11 weekend both inside the 50 year old regional art center and in downtown Birmingham.

Inside the BBAC:
Michigan Masters Exhibit- Georg Vihos: Spiritual Flesh 50 Years and Soaring
Free exhibit through May 30. Georg Vihos is an artist whose passion is so large that it cannot be contained on any small scale. Vihos’ works sweep the walls of office buildings, homes, lobbies and art galleries all over the world. He has said that, “My work has reached proportions that stagger even my own imagination.” This is the first retrospective exhibit of Vihos’ half-century of work and includes works in a variety of media.

Regional High School Competition
27 schools participating with 100 works in a juried competition. This prestigious event includes prizes like a college scholarship to Kendall College of Art and Design and others. Special Opening Reception Friday May 9 6-8 PM

Outside w/BBAC:
The 2008 National City Birmingham Fine Art Festival
Hours Saturday May 10 AM 6PM
Sunday May 11 10 AM- 5PM
Shain Park- Birmingham
Over 200 artists from all over the US
Artists in Action- BBAC instructors live demos
Hands on Art Activities for all ages
Entertainment

Design .99: not necessarily functional furniture

Design 99 is pleased to present ‘not necessarily functional furniture’, an exhibit honoring the common objects we live with by rendering them not entirely practical and/or functional. New work and some reinterpreted older works will be included by artists Mark Moskovitz, Abigail Newbold, Chris Riddell, Clinton Snider, Team D99, and Graem Whyte. This show brings together work exhibiting an ideas-based approach to furniture, revealing personalities and lives beyond our immediate control. Each artist explores the potential of an object by resurrecting neglected and abandoned furniture for new and unusual uses (Riddell) or building a sculpture to touch the ceiling or reassigning indoor chairs as outdoor seating (Design 99) or making a seat that’s a lamp from a stump (Moskovitz) or casting aluminum landscapes for use in your home (Whyte) or hand dipping household objects (Snider) or prepackaging and pre organizing furniture and parts (Newbold).

D99
We are also celebrating the launch of our publications department – D99 – with 2 initial offerings:
[1] A People’s Guide to Detroit
“… a collection of personal narratives and clipped entries based on individual experiences living here in the city, bound together for ease of use and enjoyment. This is not a comprehensive guide to the city. No, this guide offers a character study of the city based on personal experience. What we offer are impressions of places that hold our interest, places that we’d like to share with you; perhaps where we would take you if you came to visit.” (from the introduction)
[2] Shipwrecked
a collection of photography by Mitch Cope, Scott Hocking, & Corine Smith

“This time… the tropical island is in the Mid West and the isolation is more cultural than geographic, although geography still plays a major role. In fact the landscapes of a tropical island and inner city Detroit are not dissimilar, carrying many of the same traits of wild untamed all consuming growth, providing a backdrop to be reckoned with, to discover what’s beyond the wall of foliage and to harvest for survival.” (from the introduction) Pre-order your copies now! For details see the Arts Calendar.

PAINT BY NUMBERS DEADLINE: MAY 31, 2008

The Detroit Artists Market announces a call to artists for its upcoming June 6, 2008 exhibition entitled “The Spirit of Paint By Numbers.” Dan Robbins, creator of Paint By Numbers, created a new piece for DAM. Entrants will be given a 18 x 24″ blank imprinted with a numbered outline of Marshall Fredericks’ “Spirit of Detroit".
The blanks will have the sections numbered, but otherwise will come with no rules or instructions. It is up to each artist to have fun with this blank and to let your imagination run wild. The blank may be painted, colored, collaged, cut up, defaced, deconstructed, reconstructed, folded, spindled and/or mutilated.

Blanks are available now for pick up from the Detroit Artists Market, 4719 Woodward Avenue, Detroit.

All works will be sold by silent auction during the exhibition. Artists and DAM will take a 50/50 commission split, or the artist can chose to donate all proceeds to DAM. Open to all artists. Deadline: May 31, 2008. Completed artworks should be delivered or mailed to DAM between May 27-31, 2008.
Opening Reception and Bidding Starts: June 6, 2008
Closing Reception and Bidding Closes: July 11, 2008

Questions? Please contact Matthew Hanna (313) 832-8540
OPEN SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE: MAY 31, 2008

Selection of Work for Elements Gallery Featured Artist

Six or more artists will be selected for solo feature in the Elements Gallery.

Selection of Work for Group Shows

We will select an undetermined number of artists for group shows in the Main Gallery, to be scheduled for an upcoming season.

All submissions may be considered for either Main Gallery group shows of Elements Gallery featured artist.

DAM’s Exhibition Committee will review all proposals and make selections for group and solo shows.
For the purpose of this open call, we will not consider pre-determined group proposals.

EXHIBITION GUIDELINES: applies to solo feature and group exhibitions.
ELIGIBILITY
Open to all Michigan and Ontario residents 18 years and older. Artists my submit a maximum of ten slides or jpegs in any media created within the last two years. Works submitted must not have been previously shown at DAM.
ENTRY PROCEDURE
Entries will be juried by 35mm slide or CD jpeg fomat. All images (slides or jpeg) must be of professional quality.
SLIDES
Glass or metal mounted slides will not be considered. Each slide must be clearly marked with the following: Name, title, medium, size and top.
DIGITAL IMAGES
Digital images must be jpeg format. Suggested minimums: 800 pixels in either direction at 150 dpi. Maximum file size: 1.8MB. Name the digital file as follows-johnsmith-title-entry#. CD’s must have the artists name written with permanent marker. Each CD must be accompanied by sheet with thumbnail images, artist name, titles, dimensions and medium.
SALES
All art work must be for sale. A sales commission of 33 1/3% is taken from artworks sold during the exhibition.
LIABILITY
Every precaution will be taken to assure protection of the work; however the Detroit Artists Market is not responsible for loss or damage.
DELIVERY
Works may be hand delivered or shipped. If shipping, the artist is responsible for complying with all regulations pertaining to works of art. Artists must make arrangements for return shipping and cover all expenses. All works must be delivered and picked up on the dates specified.
AGREEMENT
Submitting an entry to this competition shall constitute the agreement with all conditions in this prospectus. The Detroit Artists Market reserves the right to reproduce accepted entries for use in the catalogue and for publicity purposes.

Detroit Artists Market
4719 Woodward Ave., Detroit MI 48201
313.832.8540
www.detroitartistsmarket.org
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 6pm

Hello Everyone, Yourist Studio is offering a selection of new classes this Spring and summer. If you know anyone who may be interested, please pass this message along.

For more information check out our class schedule on the web http://www.youristpottery.com/classes.html
or email kay@youristpottery.com

::ADVANCED CLASS - “PUT A LID ON IT”
6 or 14 Weeks

Kate Tremel teapot

This 14-week, team-taught, course will introduce students to a variety of methods of creating both wheel-thrown and hand-built lidded forms. In the first 7 weeks of class, Kate will guide students through exercises to create a series of thrown covered jars with different lid styles. They will finish the first half of the term with a larger project involving either a teapot or a casserole form. During the second half of the course, Nancy will instruct students in making several types of lidded boxes and covered jars using slabs, and other hand-building techniques.

Instructor: Kate Tremel/Nancy Bulkley
14 week class tuition: $349
6 week class tuition: $180

To gain the most from this class we recommend that you enroll for the full 14 week semester

*Wednesday evening series: May 1 - Aug 6 6:30-9:00 (14 week session)
Wednesday evening series: May 1 - Jun 4, 6:30-9:00 (6 week session)
*Wednesday evening series: Jun 18 - Jul 30, 6:30-9:00 (6 week session)

*No class July 16th

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::COFFEE & CLAY - INTRO & ADVANCED HAND BUILDING
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the
day. Come make forms that will hold hearty and
nourishing breakfast delights. Ramekins for baked eggs, bowls for oatmeal or grits, plates for cream cheese and bagels… We will complete our class with a breakfast potluck, using serving ware that we have made. This class is for students of all levels.

Instructor: Nancy Bulkley
6 week class tuition: $159

Saturday morning series: May 3 - June 7, 9:30-11:30

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::LOW-FIRE CLAY: COLOR, TEXTURE & DECORATION
In this 8 week class of in depth exploration, students will work with rich red terrracotta clay. We will complete a range of functional and sculptural projects, which will involve both hand-building and wheel-throwing. Students will learn to develop surfaces using a variety of historic and contemporary techniques by applying colored slips, maijolica inglaze painting, textured sculptural glazes and stains, and burnished terra sigillata. If you like color and painting or you feel like you need to develop your decorating skills, this may be the class for you!

Instructor: Kate Tremel.
8 week class tuition: $259

Tuesday evening series: May 6 - Jun 24, 7:30 - 9:30

——–

::SPLENIFOROUS GARDENING FORMS
Come learn various hand-building techniques to create interesting containers for your flowers and plants, houses for the birds or even a bird bath. Your imagination is the only limit. Using a variety of slab and coil techniques we will make useful and beautiful garden art to use and gaze upon. This class is for Students with all levels of experience.

Instructor: Nancy Bulkley
6 week class tuition: $159

Tuesday morning series: July 8 - Aug 12, 9:30 - 11:30

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::GLAZE DEVELOPMENT FOR RIGHT BRAINERS
Do you want to develop new glazes quickly and easily? A basic understanding of glaze materials may be all you need. This class is designed for students wishing to increase their knowledge of glaze materials and how they function in a glaze. Students will learn to interpret formulas, use line and triaxial blends and conduct tests to discover fabulous new glazes. Color development, textures and glaze fault correction will be discussed. We will also practice glazing technique. Some clay work will be included in this class, as we will make lots of test pots.

Instructor: Deb Oliva
6 week class tuition: $159
Lab fee: $20

Tuesday evening series: July 8 - Aug 12, 7:30 - 9:30

CALL FOR ENTRY – May 1, 2, and 4, 2008
Images of Mothers
MAY 9 – JUNE 13, 2008

Thousand of images of Mothers dating back to 30,000 – 25,000 BC have been found across Europe. These ancient primordial mother figures and images represent the eternal creativity of women and of the Earth herself. The first images worshiped the mysteries of birth, cycles, and fertility. The ancient Great Mother was a dual figure, both benevolent and terrifying. The Goddess metaphor, a symbol for “the goddess within,” the liberated female spirit, was literally worshiped through witch cult or druidism, as a pagan substitute for the patriarchal judgmental attitude of main-line Judeo-Christianity with its anti-nature and anti-sex biases. Mothers can change social dimensions and are carriers of social utopias. (Chile, Mothers of the Disappeared.) Everybody has one, but to talk about her implies to learn how to speak about mother. Let’s approach and be inspired by one of the oldest and everybody\’s first Images of Mothers.

Juror: LAURA WHITESIDES HOST

Laura Whitesides Host, BFA University of Michigan, is an exhibiting watermedia artist; enjoys painting and printmaking; teaches experimental painting and monotypes at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center and is one of the founding members of Lawrence St. Gallery, an artist-run exhibit space in business since 1987.

* * * * * * *

CALL FOR ENTRY – May 1, 2, and 4, 2008
Images of Mothers MAY 9 – JUNE 13, 2008

GROSSE POINTE ART CENTER
15001 Kercheval, Grosse Pointe Park

Show Awards
First Place $300, Second Place $200, Third Place $100, 4 Honorable Mentions

Eligibility and Specifications
Participation is open to all artists 18 years and older. Work must have been done in the last three years. Works completed under an instructor are not eligible. Work juried into a prior GPAA show is not eligible. All art forms except room installations are acceptable. A diptych or triptych will be considered as one piece, if attached. Companion pieces are considered separate pieces. No specific size limitations, but gallery space will be considered during jurying. Two & three-dimensional work to be hung must be properly wired for hanging. Physical take-in preferred, but digital or CD imagery acceptable if complete view of piece (no details) and dimensions are provided. Submission limit: two (2) pieces per artist. Email Subject: Images of Mothers gpaa@grossepointeartcenter.org Acceptance is dependant upon juror & GPAA.

Entry Procedure and Sales [Check calendar for specific dates]
All work must be for sale. No price on request. No changes in price after entry. Entry fee $25 for members and $35 for non-members. All work 30% commission upon sale. All sales payable to: GPAA

Liability/Agreement
Entries will be handled with all possible care. GPAA will not be responsible for loss by fire, theft, or other damage, whether caused by the negligence of its officers, members or others. GPAA reserves the right to reproduce accepted entries for publicity purposes. GPAA reserves the right to alter dates or cancel the show at any time. All works remain until show ends.

Calendar for Exhibition:
Submission of Art Work: Thurs,May 1, 12 – 6 pm
Fri, May 2, 11 – 5 pm
Sun, May 4, 3 – 8 pm
Jurying & Notification Calls to Entrants: Monday [Do not call – we will call you.]
Pick-up of all work not in show: Tue & Wed, May 6 and 7, 12 – 6 pm
Show Opens, Reception & Awards: Fri,May 9, 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Show Closes: Fri, June 13, 5 pm
Work Picked-up: Sat, June 14, 11 – 5 pm

ENTRY FORM TO BE SUBMITTED WITH ART WORK:
(Can be obtained at art center at time of submission.)

Location of Grosse Pointe Art Center: 313.821.1848 www.grossepointeartcenter.org
15001 Kercheval, corner of Kercheval & Wayburn, Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, 48230

I94 West to Cadieux exit,
Left on Cadieux (you will be in Detroit) Cadieux into Grosse Pointe until you reach Kercheval. Turn Right on Kercheval travel about 1.5 miles. Gallery is located on the corner of Wayburn and Kercheval.

I94 East to Cadieux exit
Right onto Cadieux (you will be in Detroit) Cadieux into Grosse Pointe until you reach Kercheval. Turn Right on Kercheval travel about 1.5 miles. Gallery is located on the corner of Wayburn and Kercheval.

Buckham Gallery, Flint
Through May 3, 2008

“Signatures” at the Buckham Gallery in Flint (MI) is devoted strongly to installation art as well as art-as-object. This unique gallery’s raftered loft-space supports a show of diverse works that comes together with cohesive power and interest. While there is some commonality among the artists in their use of found/recycled materials and sometimes high-tech materials and fabrication techniques, each artist applies his own unique signature – in terms of ideas, creative methods, and truths.

Larry Cressman is a visual poet. Two large wall installations meticulously constructed with delicate black tree branches and twigs work in concert with their cast shadows on the white walls to create mesmerizing images. A floor installation uses an array of scrap materials – things we walk over every day – but gathered by this artist for all their worn, weathered, and weighty characteristics. Often scraps are joined together by wire or string.

Another piece is a wall of shelves that hold paper, cardboard, and other flat scraps which are fixed together as bound and glued, and called “prints” by Cressman. These intricate, labor-intensive works are fascinating with their multiplicity and visual richness, yet there is a tenuous feel to them. They are beautiful, but fragile, and suggest the stressful sociopolitical state of our times.

Music history substantiates the worth of musical artists in their time, and provides basic and ultimate values of episodic time. Through Charles McGee’s art, time has revealed both of the above. His work always has been like music – most specifically the rhythmic and improvisational beat of jazz, and it has given him masterful insight into a broad range of art, which is evident in this expansive and balanced exhibition that he curated. In his own art, McGee gives us constant visual music. Several approaches, including combinations of painting and collage; complex metal sculptures that utilize computer and high-tech cutting and painting technologies; and dynamic linear sculpture swing us and bounce us with what he calls energy. There is no doubt that a series of metal relief sculptures, dealing with the virtues of modern medicine, project such dynamic activity by way of abstracted figures and bio-organisms that we are jolted into a state of exhilaration.

Meanwhile, our eyes may be soothed back to the rich texture, color, and celebrative figuration in several painted-collaged combination works. In these pieces, paint, in conjunction with fabric, paper images, and other unconventional materials create form and surfaces that pull us close in for intimate, nuanced experiences. McGee’s energy is the essence of life in art, and it also defines his own artful life that has moved him through a long and important career.

No art has value without structure and this exhibit emphasizes that issue through the sculpture of Harry Zmijewski. His work addresses the concreteness of how a sculpture is put together; the nature of materials; and engineering concepts. There is no abstraction or figuration; rather, concept/content is literally read in processes or systems. This reading is similar to the aesthetics of mathematics.

For instance, a row of boxes along a wall repeat the process of geometrically being bound to their containers in direct seriality. The repetition specifies the forms, materials, and processing that creates a beauty of configuration via repeating proofs.

A few Zmijewski pieces take on random binding and containment and crude processing, and appear experimental, but suggest a breakdown of rigid system, and point to potential value of looser structures. Overall, Zmijewski’s work reveals the beauty of system and process; the intrinsic nature of material; and the importance of physical structure in three-dimensional form.

While the title Signatures may signify the individuality of the artists, the exhibition is much more than that. The energetic and rhythmic movement of Charles McGee’s work carries us through the gallery and leads the viewer to the other works. It also influenced his curatorial choice of including the differing art of Cressman and Zmijewski to create an integrated forum.

Accordingly, the stress on physical structure in Zmijewski’s sculpture helps us recognize the importance of this element in the art throughout the gallery – be it the structure of movement in McGee’s compositions or the structure of grouping and repetition in Cressman’s quiet, contemplative installations, which provide contrast to the dynamics of the other two artists. This is a cohesive and powerful exhibit of richly developed art.

Buckham Gallery has been an important venue for new art for twenty-four years. It is a significant resource for art viewers at 134 ½ West Second Street in downtown Flint. This exhibit can be viewed through Saturday, May 3, 2008. Gallery hours are 12 noon-5pm Wednesday-Friday, and 10am-3pm Saturdays.

New contributor Marvin Anderson is Professor Emeritus, Eastern Michigan University, where he taught art since 1963. He also served on the Board of Directors and Exhibition Committee, of Detroit Focus Gallery, from 1994-1998. With a bachelor of fine arts from Wayne State and an MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Anderson has exhibited extensively around the region, including at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Pictures by Marvin Anderson, Install shots courtesy of Larry Cressman

1. Call for Submission Representing Cultural Diversity in the Fine Arts
Ways of Being, Ways of Seeing: River Gallery Fine Art in Chelsea, Michigan seeks artist submissions that represent cultural diversity in order to expand their current inventory of fine artists in all media. River Gallery is committed to progressing beyond the status quo and to fulfilling our full potential of exhibiting works representative of the diversity of the art and artists present in our culture.

We are seeking fine art expressing diversity of:
Ethnicity
Gender/sexual expression
Age
Physical abilities
Race
Political beliefs
Religious beliefs
Socioeconomic status
Educational background

Deadline: Ongoing
For submission information go to our website at www.chelsearivergallery.com or call the gallery at 734.433.0826

2. Call for Submission: Fine art in all media
River Gallery Fine Art in Chelsea, Michigan seeks artist submissions in order to expand their current inventory of fine artists in all media.

Deadline: Ongoing
For submission information go to our website at www.chelsearivergallery.com or call the gallery at 734.433.0826

Patti Schwarz, Director
River Gallery Fine Art
120 S. Main Street
Chelsea, MI 48118
734.433.0826
www.chelsearivergallery.com
patti@chelsearivergallery.com

Call for Artists!

The Ann Arbor Art Center seeks submissions for its 86th annual exhibition, Annual: All Media. Michigan-based artists are invited to submit up to two works in any media to this juried competition. This year’s juror Vincent Castagnacci was a Professor at the University of Michigan School of Art & Design for thirty-four years. Postmark deadline for entries is June 23, 2008. A prospectus including rules, application procedures, and a calendar of dates can be found on our website, http://www.annarborartcenter.org/docs/annual08_prospectus.pdf. For questions or more information, contact Irene Gelbord at 734.994.8004 x 110 or igelbord@annarborartcenter.org.

The Institute for Arts Infused Education offers
multiple professional development trainings for artists and teachers!

Marygrove College Institute for Arts Infused Education presents two professional development workshops in May. These workshops are great for teachers and teaching artists. They offer a chance to work with others in your field and develop lesson plans and skills you can directly transfer into the classroom.

Saturday, May 3, 2008, 8:30am to 3:00pm
Using the Arts to Teach Geometry
Course # AR-103

This workshop will present teachers working with teaching artists to present hands-on activities using the arts to investigate Geometry and English Language Arts. Teachers will work in cohorts (K-2, 3-5, and 6-8) to learn how to incorporate arts standards into math and ELA grade level content expectations.

Saturday, May 17, 2008, 8:30am to 3:00pm
Using the Arts to Teach Graphing and English Language Arts
Course # AR-104

In this workshop, will also see teachers working with teaching artists presenting hands-on activities, but this time using the arts to teach Graphing and English Language Arts. Once again working in cohorts, participants will create lesson plans they can immediately use in their classrooms. Participants will also learn about brain-based education and how to talk to parents about the learning styles of their children.

The cost is $65 each day for these May workshops and we will offer .5 SBCEU’s per day. Continental breakfast and lunch are included.

A schedule breakdown for each day is included in the attachment.

TO REGISTER: please call the Marygrove College Enrollment Center toll free 866-903-3033.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: please contact Mary Lou Greene, Director, IAIE, 313-927-1853, mgreene@marygrove.edu or Elizabeth DiDonna, Administrative Assistant, 313-927-1538, edidonna@marygrove.edu.

Visit IAIE website: http://www.marygrove.edu/academics/art/aie

Come do art! You won’t believe how good you will feel and all of the ideas you will have to take back to your classrooms!

MARYGROVE COLLEGE
8425 West McNichols Road
Detroit, Michigan 48221
313-927-1200
www.marygrove.edu

Juror: Ed Fraga

Deadline: Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Blooms, Bugs, Beasts is an annual exhibition with a theme of flowers, insects, animals, landscapes, and seascapes. Submissions may be made as jpgs, photographs or slides. Participation is open to all artists. Entries will be accepted by mail or may be dropped off in person at the Scarab Club until 5 pm on Wednesday, April 23rd. Entries dropped off after gallery hours may be left in the mailbox located to the right of the front door.

For more information, please download the call for entry form here, or by visiting http://scarabclub.com/exhibits.html. The exhibition will run from May 21st-June 29th. Contact Treena Flannery Ericson at tericson@scarabclub.org, with any questions.

Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition

May 8th-31st 2008

Selected sculptures will be on display during Art Detroit Now and will be placed outside around 555 Gallery and Studios’ building visible along Grand River Ave. and Warren Ave., located at the southwest entrance of the historic Woodbridge Neighborhood.
Specifications:
• Sculpture design should be original. Artists may work alone or in groups.
• Recognizing the public installation nature of its display, sculptures must be sturdily constructed. Consider safety features to protect the public i.e. no rough or pointed edges, etc. Entries will be reviewed by a structural engineer.
• Design must include an anchor mechanism for securing to a cement base-WHICH WILL BE PROVIDED TO YOU ON SITE AT NO COST.
• Suitable for outdoor exposure over an extended period, i.e. be “weatherproof.”
• Once accepted the design may not be significantly changed without the written agreement of the Outdoor Sculpture Committee.

To Enter: Email, mail, or deliver drawing, sketch, model, or jpegs with dimensions, design detail, anchor mechanism, and artist/builder comments if any, to:

Submission Fee- $25 per entry, artists may submit multiple entries if they desire.
555 Gallery/Studios, P.O. Box 8173, Detroit MI 48208
OR deliver to:
555 Gallery/Studios, 4884 Grand River Ave., Detroit, MI 48208
Or email to: sculpture@555arts.org
to arrive by April 14th, 2008. Entrant’s name, mailing address, telephone and email address MUST accompany proposal.

March 1-April 5, 2008
paulkotulaprojects
23255 Woodward Ave.
Ferndale, MI 48220
(248) 544-3020

We live in denial of the brevity of life, the indignities of illness, and the constancy of death. Brenda Goodman paints these things we prefer to leave unmentioned. She holds them up to us like a mirror that bores into our soul.

Goodman’s lush, organic “song” paintings delight us with their operatic voice. A figure sings and calls out to the landscape, the trees, the air, the sky, and fields. It calls out to the universe of which it is so much a part and to which it will eventually return.

Her newest works I think of as “balance” paintings. They are mythological, Sisyphean, in the way they present the balance between life and death over and over again.

In one painting a tiny red ball threatens to upset the balance between two figures poised on a beam, even as a third figure, like us in denial or unable to face the difficult task of confronting mortality, crawls out a window. Goodman the painter is all of those figures. Her canvasses are piled under the fulcrum of the balance beam. Something wispy is pinched in the pile, perhaps the soul of her work caught by the impending disaster. One canvas is starting to slip, destabilized by the escapee…pointing out the danger of denial…the risks of running away from our problems rather than confronting them.

She uses thin glazes and complimentary colors of red and green (stop and go) to mute the tone in another painting. A figure stands at the bottom of an incline with a long line of black boulders rolling toward it…like the problems we all encounter in life that threaten to crush us. Sheer will power of the tiny figure is all that keeps them at bay.

In another work, a tiny, lone figure hangs by one hand from a trapeze that is slipping off a huge hook being pulled straight. A coffin covered with a pile of canvasses is below it and off to the right. This composition speaks to our delusions in thinking we can conquer something that is not only beyond our control, but may even be beyond our awareness. We put off death by working, working, working when perhaps we should just let go and leave our work as our legacy.

In a predominantly red painting a solitary figure again barely hangs onto a long bar by one hand and looks down at a gray circle on the floor below. How often have we suspended our dreams to perform in someone else’s ring in the circus of life?

A dark blue painting speaks of determination, timelessness and peace. The obstacles of life are gone; the figures of denial have vanished. A lone individual ascends an incline to penetrate the wall to the star streaked universe beyond it: a simple portrayal of the final walk up the incline of life. Death has never looked so peaceful.

In all the paintings, Goodman demonstrates her facility with paint. Her glazes are sheer translucence enhancing the depth of the surface. Her impasto areas bloom with luscious colors too rich to be used in larger amounts. Her figures, thinly drawn and tiny in cavernous spaces, droop under the exertion of living. They pull us into these intimate works in oil on paper, which measure only 15 x 20 inches each.

These are works worthy of meditation. Published in book form, they would be a 21st century book of hours. To read them again and again would inspire us with their courage and comfort us with their power.

Dolores S. Slowinski, artist/writer, living/dying in Detroit.

Ann Arbor Art Center
Through March 28, 2008

There’s something more than a bit magical about a two-dimensional surface being transformed through only a series of bends, folds, and cuts into a three-dimensional form. Witness Origami, pop-up books, and the works of Buckminster Fuller. Such is the terrain of Matt Shlian and Graem Whyte, who bring their related geometric approaches to art-making to the Ann Arbor Art Center. For those familiar with the two artists’ works, this is a perfectly complementary pairing, a long time in coming.

For this outing, Whyte offers up a creative explosion of ideas and diverse works realized in cast bronze, wireframe, paper, and mapped onto existing objects. What began as forms based more purely on an exploration of the geometric give way to manifesting forms that become environments in themselves. (Though some become recognizable forms – for instance his humorous tribute to Bruce Lee in tiled triangles.) There’s a wonderful playfulness on display as these surfaces become something habitable, akin to the various worlds visited by the little Prince. There’s a touch of Escher as well, not only in the mathematical sense, but in this creation of worlds with their own rules, as up, down lose their meaning, and humans and monkeys hang out, graze, and roam on the environments he’s created for them. Whyte’s wry sense of humor is ever present, and it seems in much the same way that the folding increases the possibilities for form from the flat, this means of working too has become a way to expand and continually feed his work. He can explore the geometric in numerous ways – in one instance a paper grocery bag is turned into one of his forms and cleverly installed high in a corner of the gallery, in another, he forms a loose wireframe titled and clearly representing “The Structure of Clouds.” Riffing on the landscape front, he meticulously covers his planar and more curving creations in faux lawns and other surfaces, and inhabits these manicured worlds with suburban and surreal imagery. They all end up working well together, and while there’s great similarity between the forms – they have a distinct “Whyte-ness” about them – they are all distinct worlds, something we can visit and enjoy individually, again, much as the little Prince toured his planetoids.

Shlian’s primary piece in the show is a large folded paper construct. It sits on the floor, piled flat on top of itself, waiting for visitors to raise it ceiling-ward on an elegant pulley system. In raising it, it’s a graceful, spiky caterpillar, growing and stretching, delicate (it’s paper after all) yet with great presence, quite an achievement of craft and aesthetics. In its hands-on pop-up nature, it captivates, and its scale in relation to Whyte’s miniatures works well. We get one other taste of Shlian’s three-dimensional works, small, wonderfully curved paper forms – also offering a terrific sense of the possibilities of folding paper. The rest of what Shlian shares here consist of drawings. The primary body of which are cut-through or exploded views of architectural renderings whose densely layered nature draw inevitable comparisons to Julie Mehretu’s work. On their own, this would be just fine, but in this context, where there’s such delight to be had in his pop-up works, the drawings, though imaginative, extremely involved works, don’t add to the sense of play on hand throughout the space. One set of drawings stands as an exception to this, intensely – obsessively – detailed, a network of lines dividing up the space, but all laid out flat, not layered on the surface, they seem to function like incredibly complex folding diagrams, or a view into how Shlian is able to conceive the flat becoming the three-dimensional. One can almost imagine patiently folding it up upon itself along the lines he’s plotted out, and come up with some wildly concocted form. These works serve as a welcome bridge to his three-dimensional works and are quite stunningly achieved.

All in all, this is a great pairing, and the Ann Arbor Art Center should be commended for bringing together these two artists whose works inform one another – great for each of them and the audience, as well as intersecting two regions – Shlian of Cranbrook and now Ann Arbor, and Whyte of Detroit. It is an engaging, imaginative, and ultimately joyful expression of creativity, definitely worth checking out. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

A Place at the Table is a collaborative and diverse multi-media exhibition of ¡§chairscapes¡¨ by female artists. The exhibit examines the beauty and variety of seating ¡§at the table¡¨ and the
symbolism of the places we sit ¡V or are excluded from sitting ¡V in the social, political, and personal arenas.

This exhibition is a project of Michigan Chapter of Women¡¦s Caucus for Art (WCA) hosted by the Ann Arbor Art Center, 117 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104 from June 27 ¡V August 8, 2008. This is a juried exhibition and works will be selected by Patricia Olynyk, Director of
the Graduate School of Art, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

About WCA and Ann Arbor Art Center
WCA is a national arts organization whose mission is to support women in the visual arts professions. WCA is unique in its multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural memberships of artists, art
historians, students and educators, gallery and museum professionals, and others involved in the visual arts. WCA has focused attention on the enormous contributions of women and people of color throughout the history of art. WCA has affiliates in over 40 states.

Ann Arbor Art Center (AAAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging the community in the education, exhibition, and exploration of the visual arts. Founded in 1909, the Ann Arbor Art Center is Michigan¡¦s third oldest arts organization.

ELIGIBILITY: Entry fees constitute membership in both the national organization of WCA and the WCA-MI, it is required that exhibiting artists be members of the Michigan Chapter of Women¡¦s Caucus for Art and Michigan residents. Works submitted must have been completed
within the past two years. All participating entries must be consistent with the vision of the show and the mission of WCA and the Ann Arbor Art Center. Two- and three-dimensional works will be considered for this exhibition. Performance and Video will also be considered.

Any piece requiring special equipment must be supplied by artist.
EXHIBITION CALENDAR:
Entry Forms Due (Postmark Deadline) April 19, 2008
Jury Results Mailed May 23, 2008
Delivery of Work to AAAC June 13-15 (10-5 pm)
Exhibition Dates June 27 ¡V Aug. 8, 2008
Opening Reception June 27, 2008 (6-8 pm)
Pick-up Work Aug. 9-11 (10-5 pm)
JUROR: A Place at the Table will be juried by Patricia Olynyk, Director of the Graduate School of Art, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Olynyk, an artist herself, has an extensive artistic career spanning over the past twenty years.

ENTRY PROCEDURE:
1. Artists may submit up to 2 pieces of work for consideration.
2. Entries will be juried by digital jpeg images. Artists may include 1 additional detail
image for each piece. This is not to exceed a total of 4 images.
3. Images must be a minimum of 300 dpi and not to exceed 7 inches in any direction.
Disks should include an image list with title of work, media, and dimensions (H x W x
D). Emailed images will not be accepted. Artists wishing to have disks returned
should submit a SASE. Disks should be clearly marked with the following:
a. A Place at the Table
b. Artist Name
c. Phone Number
d. Email Address

SALES: It is preferable that works be for sale. All sales will be conducted through the Ann Arbor Art Center. Prices should reflect retail costs. A 15% commission on each sale will be paid to Michigan Chapter WCA. A 35% commission on each sale will be paid to the Ann Arbor Art Center. No artwork may leave the premises prior to the completion of the exhibition.

AGREEMENT: Sending an entry to this exhibition shall constitute the agreement with all conditions in this prospectus. The WCA and Ann Arbor Art Center reserve the right to reproduce accepted entries for publicity purposes.

PRESENTATION: All two-dimensional works must be framed in a professional manner and prepared for installation. Works requiring special installation should provide detailed installation instructions. The juror, WCA and Ann Arbor Art Center reserve the right to remove artwork no accurately represented by submitted images.
LIABILITY: Every precaution will be taken to assure protection of artwork; however, the Ann Arbor Art Center is not responsible for loss or damage.

DELIVERY: Works may be hand delivered or shipped UPS or Parcel Post. If shipping, artist is responsible for complying with all regulations pertaining to works of art. Artists desiring return shipment of work must send the entire cost of return shipping with accepted piece.
Return shipment will be packaged using the same shipping materials they were shipped in.

Refer to ¡§exhibition calendar¡¨ for specific dates pertaining to delivery and pickup.

ENTRY FEE:
Existing WCA Members: $20
Nonmembers: $45, which entitles applicant to a one year WCA national and state
membership.
A Place at the Table Entry Form
Please enter my membership in WCA, MI chapter. I have enclosed my $45 membership fee.
Mail To: Exhibitions Manager, Ann Arbor Art Center, 117 W. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Name_____________________________________________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip_______________________________________________________________________________
Phone (________)_______________________ Email_______________________________________________
Entry Information:
Entries must be the original work of the artist. All media accepted must be prepared to install in a professional
manner.
Title:_______________________________________ Title:_______________________________________
Media:_____________________________________ Media:______________________________________
Size:_________________ Price: ________________ Size:_________________ Price: ________________
Insurance Value (if NFS):______________________ Insurance Value (if NFS):______________________
Please provide a short statement about each piece submitted
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Existing Members: Membership # _____________________________________________
New Members: Please provide a short biographical statement about yourself or attach an artist¡¦s resume
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
„h please keep a copy of all forms/information for your records

Zeitgeist Gallery
February 16th – March 15th, 2008
Gallery Hours: Fridays 5 - 8pm; Saturdays 12n - 5pm

Borrowing its title (perhaps) from a Gordon Parks directed 70s action film, “Three the Hard Way” brings together an unlikely but quite complementary trio, Dennis Jones, Tom Carey, and ChrisTopher Crowder. While their approaches are quite distinct, they share in bringing forth in their works a critical response to society, a perspective that cuts through surface layers and image, and portrays something rather, as Holden Caulfield would say, “cruddy.”

Each of the artists is also known for his signature approach to the figure and the characters that inhabit their respective compositions. For this outing, as he did in his Oakland University solo show, Jones forgoes his sad sack, lost boys, Charlie Brown-like characters and distills his approach to text in paint on canvas and objects. The words are aphorisms, fortunes on a tea bag, ironic, sardonic versions of Jack Handy, or to offer a more obscure reference, like Alan Moore’s “Weeping Gorilla Comix.” An example: the word “Oblivious” written in bright orange-yellow, glaring forth on an equally Ronald McDonald red background. Another, typed perpendicularly across a sheet of lined paper oriented horizontally, “Someday you might be crushed by a big rock.” The words are small and out of place, appropriate stand-ins for the human, in the face of a world that’s too big, where we can get squashed without anyone noticing. It’s not then simply the words, but Jones’s use of the medium accompanying his message that makes them complete and quite compelling. If we could miss the words, we can’t miss the images, and vice versa. One piece consists of children’s wooden blocks with letters painted on them, arranged in various ways, spelling out, “Never a care, never a worry.” Even without his iconic child-figure (who does turn up on a role of toilet paper on display, as if to suggest, “$#!+ on me”), Jones’s strong empathy for children comes through in the work, as it also does in “Good night sleep tight” – white transparent letters on a midnight blue painted light box. This fusion of text and imagery is proving to be fertile terrain for Jones, as the strong aesthetics and his sharp, pared down observations in text, carry the messages deep. We might imagine these as billboards or large-scale installations in much the same way as Martin Creed’s neon signage adorning MOCAD at the moment.

If Jones offers a lot of words, Carey’s images are silent, mute, a single figure inhabiting each composition. These are whimsically grotesque, oddballs with antenna for eyes, part 50s robot, part monster, part alien, part Spongebob Squarepants. They’re a cross too between the mechanical and the cellular, as is reinforced by the more organic, almost washed, patterns adorning the surfaces behind the clean inked figures. This vibrant, bright color is a lush field that comes alive, like dyed bacteria cultures under a microscope, and almost exists in a separate world than the figures – the compositions are teeming with life on multiple levels. They could be scary as they lumber and writhe across the compositions, but Carey infuses them with humor, and as with Jones’s they instead elicit our curiosity and our empathy, and end up being rather delightful.

Crowder shares much with Carey’s figurations, his are human, though often grotesque and composed of the mechanical. It’s a bit of Brueghel by way of MAD magazine’s Don Martin or R. Crumb. The hyper-detailed works highlight the compulsion of the artist, as a landscape of sex, mechanization, and medications are eviscerated in his imagery. It may be generated by feelings deeply personal, and to be sure there’s a therapeutic quality about them, but what comes out is such a display of intensity as to be entirely compelling even as they prompt us to turn our heads. Crowder’s large scale, ornately detailed expansive works are not on hand here, instead he offers some of his more narrative, almost comic book pages, and then a small body of perhaps fragments from “Dear John” letters written to the artist in his youth, illustrated with great intensity. And here is the one downside to the show, these illustrated letters are great, disturbing, humorous, works, but they are sandwiched together and slighted as a result. They’d be served better, spread out, and given their proper due without being cramped by the other works on this occasion. His stand-in, with pompadour, often engaging in crude intimate acts, offers a raw expression of emotion, very honest if disturbing. The images depict a closeness of the letter writer and the receiver, in stark contrast to the almost dismissive, casualness of what was written, no doubt prompting even a stronger graphical response. We’ve received and written such notes ourselves, and perhaps share in some measure of the same dark thoughts that Crowder brings to life.

It’s a great grouping, each artist offers a lot to see, to take in, to relate to. As dark as they go, they all bring forth a lot of humor at the same time – they can laugh in the midst of it all, balancing the works, and helping us all get through these same dark moments. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

By Leyland DeVito

The Russell Industrial Center, the hulking remnants of a car factory and current bastion of the Detroit do-it-yourself art scene, plays host to “Feedback”, a show put on by a group of College for Creative Studies students known as the Lollybot Collective.

Lollybot are just one of many artistic tenants to utilize the building, which recently celebrated its creative community by throwing the People’s Arts Festival in September. In January, it held an Art Battle, inviting contestants to create art live to compete for cash prizes. And CCS has been encouraging its students to use the opportunity to show their work, helping sculpture classes organize end of the semester exhibitions.

The DIY spirit that fuels places like the Russell comes from the multitude of industrial-sized available spaces that Detroit’s vacant buildings afford, but also from a desire of by Detroiters to have a viable art community.

“For the kind of show we wanted to put on, the Russell was the only place we could have the freedom to do what we want,” explains Matthew Pritchard, a senior at CCS and one half of the creative pairing behind the art group, on the choice of venue. “Everything’s based on a handshake, and it’s relatively cheap.”

It is the collective’s second show. Jeff Nolan, Lollybot’s other creator, eventually chose Scrummage University, a DIY venue in Eastern Market that typically features underground music by the likes of Dan Deacon and Black Dice, as the venue for their first show, and invited classmates to submit work. The laid back and extracurricular nature of venue drew experimental, and often whimsical entries, in a variety of media and disciplines.

At the Scrummage show, whose theme was simply “accidents”, a sort of kinetic sculpture involving a bowling ball and fake grapes precariously balanced on a two-by-four in the center of the room. It repeatedly fell over throughout the course of the night as people bumped into it, causing the bowling ball to roll into peoples’ feet. What would be a nightmare for some art venues is just a part of the fun at the show. “You couldn’t do this at the D.I.A.,” sculptor Kurt Greene said while rebuilding his perpetually destroyed artwork. Artist Kristina Rafalski agreed that the atmosphere was refreshing. “People have such short attention spans,” she says. “Shows need to be more interactive.”

But the appeal of student-led shows isn’t only to see what you can get away with. Part of it is to prove that students have the drive and ability to put on a good show. CCS Student Chelsea Kirchoff recently organized a show at the 4731 Gallery. “My partner, Alen Catolico, and I had been to a few student shows prior to planning for our own and felt that they fell short of what we expected,” she says of her decision to do it herself. “We thought, ‘what can we do to show people what we believe an art show should encompass?’” But, she agrees in the appeal of freedom from authority. “We were allowed to use the gallery however we wanted and I was grateful for that. They were involved just enough and I enjoyed the independence that the gallery gave us.” In all, over 70 artists entered work and 275 people showed up.

“We’re just going to keep throwing the same kind of parties we know how to throw,” says Matthew Pritchard, on what to expect from Collective’s second show. “Things of this scale, this is the kind of thing you can only do in a place like Detroit.” He adds, “We’re not concerned about selling work, so we can take more chances. We’re nonprofit; we just want to make enough to throw the next show. These kinds of shows create their own crowd.”

Chelsea Kirchoff agrees. ““Before, it was all of us going to shows that other places were throwing. Now, it’s these other places coming to the shows we’re throwing.”

The upcoming Lollybot show at the Russell is entitled “Feedback”. The theme of the show is communication, and artists are encouraged to talk about their work.

The opening party for “Feedback” starts at 9 PM on February 16th; the gallery runs from the 15th to the 17th from 6 PM to 10 PM. It is located at The Cave Gallery, in building 4, floor 3 at the Russell Industrial Center.

For more information, check out Lollybot Collective at http://www.lollybotcollective.com

Photos by Micaela Ruiz

9pm Friday, February 08, 2008 at MOCAD, Admission $5.
MOCAD
(Co-listed in Music)

Along with “Holy Hip Hop!” new portraits of hip hop icons by Russian-born artist Alex Melamid, and Rei Kawakubo’s ReFUSING FASHION opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit tonight, Detroit-based hip-hop artist MIKE-E Ellison will be performing live at 9pm. MIKE-E is a growing sensation around the country and in Africa, and most recently he’s garnered greater attention as a song of his has been featured as part of Barack Obama’s campaign. We caught up with Ellison a while back to discuss “AfroFlow,” his debut album and the movement (in all senses of the word) that it represents.

Ellison defines “AfroFlow” as meaning, quite literally, “flowing from Africa.” In his words this concept, is a curriculum, an approach to educate and bring awareness of not just African-American’s roots in Africa, but all of humanity’s, and thereby help “create a culture of respect.” It’s a socially conscious message – that you can dance to – out to alter people’s perceptions of Africa, Detroit, Hip-hop, and themselves.

I’ll take it all the way back – where it all began

The message and the music are about educating and giving a sense of identity to African-Americans, and understanding of all peoples. As he says, unlike Europeans who came to America fully aware of their cultures and a strong sense of self and thus could start over, those who came from Africa, came by force and lost their culture, their very identity. Without that, it leaves a lot of people struggling. So AfroFlow is in part a history lesson. Instead of devoting a single month to the history of African-American people and learning just a few figures, MIKE-E’s talking about it as a true curriculum – discovering inventors, scientists, the contributions from Africa and African-Americans. Not at the exclusion of others, but inclusively – to teach respect for all cultures. And rebuild a sense of identity.

4 the red, 4 the green, 4 the green, 4 the gold

This message of empowerment comes through in MIKE-E’s lyrics, as well as his actions. Listening to his words is an education – as the history of Africa comes through, a few listens and we pick up on references from the colors of our traffic lights coming from the Ethiopian flag to the Berlin Conference of 1885, that led to the division of Africa by European colonial powers to a pretty stirring excerpt from a Sidney Poitier speech in the movie “A Piece of the Action.” MIKE-E is active in the Detroit Public Schools, working with the kids and doing public service announcements. Trying to help change their perception of Africa, and thus their own perception of their origins and themselves.

Ethiopian Child

AfroFlow applies to Ellison’s own origins too. He was born in Ethiopia, to African-American parents, and spent his first few years there. From there it was off to North Virginia where he grew up. But it was summers spent in Queens visiting with his cousins, where he was introduced to hip hop. As a young man, he went into, as he puts it, “jobs that seemed like you were supposed to go into.” This led to a career in sports management, first in New York, which then brought him to Detroit. Despite it being a solid job, something was missing. “For me sitting in a cubicle is a prison sentence. I’ve always been a pretty hyper guy.” As he sings in “Four More Exits,” “I’m in the office, trapped like a mouse in 4 corners. U call ‘em cubicles, I call ‘em unsuitable. It feel like punishment, cruel & unusual. My energy’s creative, but I never get to be creative.” Something had to give. He had to find his art.

From the Blue Nile 2 Belle Isle

“Detroit woke me up out of a creative coma.” Ellison credits the city and its rich musical and creative heritage and environment as helping him tap into the poetry and rhythms he’d been struck by as a child in Queens. He began honing his writing skills on the slam and spoken word stages in Detroit. This experience made him a better lyricist, as he puts it, “When you take away the music and the hype, you need integrity.” It’s this foundation of strong lyrics, good thinking that his music is built on. In fact, he says, “In some ways, AfroFlow is a cleverly disguised spoken word album.”

Ethiopia to Detroit & Back Again

Ellison would return as an adult to his birthplace of Ethiopia. He wrote “Everything will be alright,” for the people there, which slid through the underground to become a huge hit in that country. Many of his songs reference Ethiopia, trying to bring respect to a place that’s seldom been given much. In “Call Us By Name,” he combats the view of Ethiopia of just starving children and a helpless people. “They make it look just like hell, they never show u the wealth/ They always got lies 2 tell, folks always got jokes as well/ They never say 1st on earth, they always say last in line.” Using a clever, catchy rhythm, he turns from what “They Say” to what is: “this is the home of the earth’s first inhabitants / The birthplace of science, medicine & mathematics.” And “I’ll never hold my head in shame / I’ll make the world call us by name.”

The beautiful rhythm, The powerful rhythm

As MIKE-E brings cultures together through his words, he does so through the music as well. The music is a mix of African, hip-hop, and other world beats, all mixed together into a cohesive whole. It creates not only something lively and strong, but an education of rhythm as well.

People sacrificed life so I could rap on this mic

In putting forth a positive message of empowerment and education, MIKE-E also addresses the hip-hop and rap cultures. He turns away from emcees battling each other, and instead credits the civil rights leads and the sacrifices that they made, as being the real emcees, the one to learn from and emulate. “A Malcom, Mandella, Martin Luther lovin’ lyricist / U want sum inspiration 4 the nation, baby, her it is”

I had 2 take it back home & make the people feel it

And so now, MIKE-E is lending his talents to a modern day political emcee, Senator Barack Obama. A retooled version of his song “Everything will be alright” has been part of campaign rallies for the aspiring presidential candidate. From Detroit Public Schools to Ethiopian towns, and now across this nation, MIKE-E is spreading a message of empowerment, of possibility, through music.

Catch him tonight at MOCAD, and from there he’ll be continuing the AfroFlow Tour, which is put on in conjunction with the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY (ACS), “as part of an anti-tobacco initiative aimed at historically black colleges and universities throughout the United States.” For more on MIKE-E and AfroFlow, check out his website here. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

9pm Friday, February 08, 2008 at MOCAD, Admission $5.
HOLY HIP HOP! New Portraits by Alex Melamid
ReFUSING FASHION: Rei Kawakubo

“Everything will be alright” remix for Obama:

Interview with Mike-E:

2008 Mike-E AfroFlow Tour Dates (As of February 5, 2008)

February 20 – South Carolina State University (Orangeburg, SC)
February 21 - Claflin University (Orangeburg, SC)
February 22 - Savannah State University (Savannah, GA)
February 28 – Winston Salem State University (Winston Salem, NC)
Feb. 29-March 1 – CIAA Tournament Fan Experience (Charlotte, NC)

March 10 – University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Princess Anne, MD)
March 11 – Howard University (Washington, DC)
March 12 – Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD)
March 18 – Delaware State University (Dover, DE)
March 28 – ACS/HBCU Conference - Carolina Theater (Raleigh, NC)
March 28 – University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)

April 1 – Morehouse College/AUC (Atlanta, GA)
April 4 – Shaw University (Durham, NC)
April 5 - St. Augustine (Raleigh, NC) - Afternoon
April 5 - Duke University (Durham, NC) – Evening
April 8 – Benedict College (Columbia, SC)
April 10 – Norfolk State University (Norfolk, VA)
April 11 – Hampton University (Hampton, VA)
April 17 – Fort Valley St. University (Fort Valley, GA)
April 18 - Albany State University (Albany, Georgia)
April 23 - Bowie State University (Bowie, MD)
April 25 – ACS Relay 4 Life (Onslow, NC)
April 26 – Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (Jacksonville, NC); to be confirmed

May 2 – ACS Relay 4 Life (Brunswick County, NC)
May 9 – University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)
May 16 – ACS Relay 4 Life (Bertie County, NC)

* Stay Tuned for additional dates

At the Detroit Film Theater

(France/2007) Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
In French with English subtitles. (95 min.) Fri. at 7:00 and 9:30; Sat. at 4:00, 7:00 and 9:30; Sun. at 2:00, 4:00 and 7:00

“People are people so why should it be, you and I should get along so awfully.” – Depeche Mode

The film version of Persepolis and Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel that it is adapted from may not help us understand what makes a man hate another man, but it does paint a very human portrait of the Iranian people, and their struggles. The story chronicles her coming of age in Tehran during the Iranian revolution and subsequent war with Iraq, particularly timely at this moment when our government is threatening to enter into conflict with these people.

Visually, the film is absolutely stunning. Satrapi’s straightforward cartooning style is brought to life faithfully on the big screen. This simplified figuration mixed with her personal narrative brings the story close to home, as Scott McCloud writes in “Understanding Comics”, “when you enter the world of the cartoon you see yourself.” Where the spareness of imagery works perfectly in the tight panels of the comic book format, for the big screen, the animators have created a lush and textured environment for the characters to inhabit. It adds tremendous depth and visual interest to the film – often, single frames could stand by themselves as engaging compositions – they’re that strong. The filmmakers incorporate a number of different animation styles to capture different aspects of the narrative and continually draw the viewer into the world on the screen.

The film is quite funny and heartbreaking simultaneously. Satrapi’s character is sharp and outspoken in the serious world of adults even as a very young, extremely precocious child. Naturally inquisitive, she gathers information from adults, her own reading, and it is through her perspective that we learn about Iran’s history and political situation. Her outlook continues to shift as we see her adopt one philosophy, only to reject it in the face of some new experience. In this way, the audience is educated along with her and thus the film never comes across as preachy or political, just human. As a side note, in the graphic novel, we see her as a young child gaining a great deal of knowledge on politics and philosophy from comic books on the subject – as her work now does for another generation.

The film is incredibly layered and full as we watch her life unfold and Iran change around her, yet it never feels dense or static. The medium, whether film or comics, allow for the viewer or reader to absorb a lot through image and words all while moving along at the pace of entertainment. In trying to write about it, the list of scenes one would want to relate is too big, the film never quits. Perhaps one of the more startling overall aspects that comes through in the story, is the rapid transformation of Iran from a secular to Islamic society. We see her family, particularly the women, all more progressively educated and living a very Western lifestyle, having to start concealing themselves in veil, restrictions on parties, and other things. The contrast for them between life before and after is extremely unsettling, and also points to just how fragile the constructs of our society can be. Yet, even in the midst of revolution and war, we see life go on. The family goes to parties, we watch Satrapi buy a tape of Iron Maiden on the black market – they laugh, as do we. And this brings to mind how people in war-torn countries today – even as bombs explode around them, they struggle to make do. The needless loss of human potential is painfully sad, and as she writes in the graphic novel version, “When I think we could have avoided it all… it just makes me sick.”

It’s hard to not draw comparisons to Art Spiegelman’s holocaust tale told in comics form “Maus.” Like Spiegelman, Satrapi has crafted a tale that transcends cultures and mediums, which will continue to touch and educate people for generations. The film brings it to another audience in its own unique way, and gives the story even longer legs to reach people. It’s an important educational story, and one people need to experience so as not to make decisions out of ignorance and fear, but rather through understanding. Satrapi writes in her introduction to the Persepolis collection, “I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists.” One should hope that we will not be judged thus either. Go see it. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

This week, in order to try to keep pace just a little bit with the number of shows opening all at once in the Detroit area, we once again encapsulate a number of exhibitions in a single article. This by no means signals an abandonment of our single, in depth arts coverage (as witnessed in Dolores Slowinski’s review this week of Marianne Letisi’s work.) It’s simply an effort to give credit to all that’s going on and bring people up to speed on the depth and variety of works and venues, so that as we continue to move forward and focus on particular shows, those single reviews will be viewed against broad and full backdrop that the Detroit arts scene has to offer. (It also doesn’t mean we won’t revisit some of the ones discussed in brief below in longer format in the near future.) As with our last outing, we follow along your arts editor on a night (or two) of openings in the city.

Deborah Friedman “Claudene”
Ellen Kayrod Gallery at the Hannan House

Ellen Kayrod Gallery offers up another showing of Deborah Friedman’s expanding “Claudene” project. We reviewed a body of the work here. Friedman continues to explore memories of her childhood in Detroit and her best friend who lived next door, but in this current exhibition, what began as more text-driven work is shifting to more solely image-driven pieces. She shows a new piece in colored pencil of rows of grey and orange houses, against a purple-polka dotted sky, and majestic trees coming to life in a beam of intense orange light. Wordless, the image speaks volumes of a city’s past, the power of memory (“to grow roses in winter”), and hope for its future. It’s also quite interesting how another Detroit art project (the Object Orange house painting collective, which she references throughout) inspired another artist in such different fashion, and triggered an entire body of work that looks to continue to feed Friedman for a good long time.

CCS Center Galleries/Hallway Space
From the Hannan House, it’s a quick trip to CCS, where in the Center Galleries, former distinguished faculty show their works in “Emeriti.” Over the last year or so, there have been a number of shows around town featuring artists who’ve taught up and coming artists over the years. In doing so, the galleries not only give due to these significant artists and educators, but they also help to draw a connection between generations. On that note, in the Hallway gallery, recent CCS alum Craig Paul Nowak returns from Chicago for a solo show of works all exploring his own image. From so singular a subject matter, he’s exploded his approach – a realistic painting, cut apart with pieces exploding away from one another, an iconic graphic image plastered over a wall of comic book covers, t-shirts, and more. It’s interesting terrain and seems to be serving him well. Additionally, it’s great to see the work of this young artist in the context of those long-established artists in the main gallery space.

Kingswood Academy Gallery (At Cranbrook Campus)

Leaving CCS, we take the long haul up to a gallery space at Kingswood, to see Sarah Kate Burgess’s exhibition. We’ve been exploring the idea of signature quite a bit of late, and here as with Friedman and Nowak above, we’ll continue on that vein. By signature, I mean not a style, but finding a voice, a means of exploration to feed the artist in ever more challenging ways. A monster-aside of explanation: if we think of some of the earliest vertebrates on this planet – a creature with four limbs, a tail, spinal column, etc., from this most basic of forms, came forth the incredible diversity of creatures we see today – from whales to people. It’s all built on the same basic chassis if you will, but over time, each has developed remarkably different features. Bringing it back to Burgess, she has been delving into the idea of jewelry and adornment, and the reconfiguration of the existing – from cup handles to earrings. Here she cuts apart to forge new meaning, mirrors an earring in multiple forms to transform it from object to pattern, adorns the walls themselves, and draws using jewelry chain as compass. There’s a clear aesthetic, an identifiable “Burgess-ness” at play, but each offer their own delights.

The trip north meant missing Susanne Hilberry, and Detroit Industrial Projects openings. I did however, make it back to DIP the next afternoon. As they’ve done so strongly in the past, it’s an installation show responding to the very space itself. Put together by Andrew Thompson, it features Gabe Hillebrand, Madeline Stillwell, Amanda Thatch, Nathan Vince, and Thompson. It’s a diverse field with each artist getting their own region to inhabit, yet it holds together quick well. Using a plethora of pallets Thompson builds a wooden fort, that at first look, seems as if they’re just thrown together, piled up as in “Les Miserables,” but it becomes clear that certain areas have a grace to them. There’s an archway at one end curving into the wall, where he’s carefully oriented the wood forms. It’s an interesting architectural mass in and of itself – but wait, there’s more. The archway is an entranceway leading to the inside. Crawling over the carpet he’s laid down, you arrive at a tiny room with wood-finished flooring, a dresser, chair and TV on the inside. It’s a fort we built or imagined as children, brought to life with the skills of being grownup. Thompson’s playfulness and obsessiveness work together well here to make this a delight on multiple levels. If Thompson’s “house” is playful, Hillebrand’s metal tiny house, suspended (not hung) by stretched aircraft cable attached to the columns and walls, is surreal and continues this exploration of place. Thatch’s forms are ethereal square columns of translucent netting suspended by ceiling-mounted pulleys, in great contrast to the mammoth support columns in the industrial building. Vince has made small earth mounds, cast from cut up small curved gas tanks. He’s planted grass in the dirt, tiny straight lines rising up, life growing from pollution. Finally, Stillwell uses industrial found objects to interact quite directly with the space itself. In fact, it’s not immediately clear at first what she’s done and what’s part of the building. Yet it is all very purposeful. Industrial interior becomes canvas, rubber tubes, pvc pipes, plastic forms and other elements become drawing tools to form her composition. Each of the different works makes for a solid and engaging show. DIP continues to offer something very Detroit, yet with a refreshing approach that is welcome in this landscape.



Susanne Hilberry
http://www.thedetroiter.com/v2/artscalendarfiles/G_SHilberry.php

Saturday night means twin openings at Lemberg and paulkotulaprojects. Upstairs at pkp, Jim Shroesbree presents “Zero/Suspension.” It’s a spare show of small, wall-mounted colorful works against the white walls. From simple construction elements – wire hanger, nylon mesh – he’s created curving, edged, topological forms, which offer some of the gracefulness that can be done in clay – yet weightless. Bright color applied to both the forms and wall, add another layer of content, as they become abstract compositions as well, altering their form from different perspectives. At Lemberg, the show “Small Treasures is aptly-names, as these are just that – small works, which one could carry home in a shoe box (or perhaps a boot box), featuring a number of artists from Lemberg’s stable. Just to mention one out of so many varied works, Lesley Dill offers up a sculptural head, made of a collage of cut out flat letters. It’s an engaging object with rich metaphoric possibilities, a description that might apply to many of the objects in this show as well.

Sadly, I didn’t make it to MoNA or the comic book show at the Pontiac Center for the Arts. Such northern venues, along with other strong spaces like Oakland U, and Paint Creek, just to name a few, really demonstrate the need for a northern correspondent (or three!) to keep up with all that our region offers.

That’s it for the overview, we’ll see you with the longer form, next time. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

Eastern Market Area

Studios and lofts suitable for artists and others looking for work and living space in walking distance from Detroit’s Eastern Market, just outside of downtown.

Call Roger - (313) 218-4298 for more information, and tell him thedetroiter.com sent you!

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – Anyone can make art for display! Create a mini masterpiece (decorate a postcard) for the Anton Art Center’s upcoming show, “Mailed and Mounted.”

Here’s your chance to show off your creativity! There are no limitations on medium or the style of artwork. Any color or material standard 4” x 6” postcard will be accepted. All submissions must include the artist’s name and contact information on the postcard.

Work must be received at the Anton Art Center via the U.S. Postal Service no later than February 15, 2008. Be sure to use at least 26 cents or sufficient postage. No pieces mailed inside envelopes or other containers will be accepted.

There is no limit on the number of entries per artist, but each postcard must be mailed individually. Upon receipt, all works become property of the Anton Art Center.

Mail your postcard(s) to the Anton Art Center, 125 Macomb Place, Mount Clemens, MI, 48043. Each piece will be sold for $20, with all proceeds benefiting the center’s programming.

One postcard will be selected as “Best in Show” and will serve as the design for a collection of folded note cards that will be sold in the center’s gift shop. The winning artist’s bio will appear on the back side of the note card. The winner will also receive an allotment of 100 note cards.

The exhibit opens Friday, February 22nd, 2008, with an opening reception Friday, February 29th at 7:00 p.m. The exhibit will run through Thursday, March 20th. Hours are Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 am – 6 pm, Thursday and Friday, 11 am – 7 pm, Saturday, 11 am – 5 pm, and Sunday, noon to 4 pm.

Exhibit sponsors are still being sought. Contact the Anton Art Center for details.

The Anton Art Center, the hub for the arts in Macomb County, is located in historic downtown Mount Clemens on the southeast corner of Southbound Gratiot Avenue (M-3) and Macomb Place. Convenient public parking is located in the adjacent Roskopp Parking Lot. For more information please visit www.theartcenter.org.

River’s Edge Gallery
3024 Biddle Ave.
Wyandotte, MI 48192
(734) 246-9880

by Dolores Slowinski

Marianne Letasi, once a staff photographer at the Detroit Institute of Arts, is known for her ability to charm the frostiest personalities into posing for photographs and for capturing the flavor of the Detroit art scene. But local nostalgia is not the subject in this exhibition.

Letasi has traveled throughout the US, Slovakia, and China. The photographs in this exhibition are taken from these trips as well as from excursions into her backyard. These are gems to be savored for the beauty they capture and the way they direct your gaze to observe the magic of everyday things.

Letasi points to the decorative painting that graces several Slovakian buildings as if to say, “Just look at this! There is a grace and loveliness here you should not miss.” Or focuses your attention on an added turret to a bell tower as if the addition was an effort to reach higher into the air in a time before skyscrapers.

In Yellow Car, Letasi reaches into her subconscious, saturated by her exposure to the Diego Rivera murals at the DIA, and creates her own homage to the automobile in Slovakia. Like Rivera, she places the car in the distance at the end of a narrow passage that pulls you along to find it. But unlike the Rivera mural that is crowded with monstrous machines and workers and spectators, her view shows a quiet courtyard with only one person silhouetted in the passageway. The yellow car fills up the entire opening as if it were the proverbial light at the end…a hope and dream for Slovakian personal freedom and prosperity.

Letasi loves people. Look for a Chinese man squatting down enjoying the restlessness of a toddler. In three or four frames the toddler’s movements and facial expressions change, joyfully accompanied by those of his adult companion. Portraits of Geisha’s in Kyoto look as if they were transmuted from another time. Two of her young friends appear in dramatically posed portraits that accentuate their fresh outlook and mysterious potential.

Letasi directs her lens toward natural wonders at home: water freezing into a prickly pattern at the edge of a pond imprisoning a fallen leaf; a dramatic sunset; a mystifying fog…simple observations reminding us that there are fascinating discoveries to be made very close to home.

Work your way to the third floor of River’s Edge Gallery to enter a very small, intimate space containing the photographs of Marianne Letasi. She will relieve your stressed existence and refresh your sense of wonder.

Dolores S. Slowinski, Detroit artist/writer delighting in the frost patterns on her studio windows.

It’s the middle of January and the art season is back in full swing. Despite rumors to the contrary, it seems there is an ever-increasing number of arts events going on in Detroit and the surrounding area as a quick scan over our arts calendar, gallery listings, and maps pages reveal. It’s hard to see them all, let alone write about them all, so this week, we’re departing from our usual long format single (and occasional dual) show reviews, and offering a bit of an overview of what one might see on a typical night (or two) in Detroit. Specifically we’ll be following the particular route I took, with some comments about destinations I couldn’t get to as well.

WSU: Elaine L. Jacob Gallery
Sheila Pepe and Janet Hamrick

On Friday, January 11, the night began at WSU’s Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, which featured two artists in its bi-level exhibition space. New York artist Sheila Pepe took over the ground floor with her installation piece “Drawing in Space,” while local painter Janet Hamrick displays several years worth of “Weaving with Light and Shadow.” A good pairing can really help elevate appreciation and inform the viewer about each of the artists. This does that well. Pepe’s installation is woven together string and shoelaces, a brightly colored spider web stretching through the columns of gallery and attached to its back walls. It’s wonderfully intricate, offering the complexity an orb weaver brings to its sticky net and playful at the same time, as we really wish to climb on it, through it. Where it works best is from within the webbing, where it begins to surround you, and one wishes the entire gallery might have been overtaken by this web. This idea of knitting, crocheting, as drawing in space seems prominent in the art realm, as recent Detroit shows of Orly Genger and Andrew Thompson’s knit together plastic bags demonstrate. As thinking about Pepe’s web as drawing alters one’s perception of it, so too does thinking about Hamrick’s paintings as weavings make one look at them in a new light. Her pattern-based work can be seen as more dimensional, layers of light and shadow pressed atop one another. Excellent pairing, strong visual experience.

WSU: Community Arts Gallery

Moving along, we travel to the other end of WSU’s campus to the Community Arts Gallery where inside Alana Bartol and Bernie Brooks are exhibiting together as the first of the WSU MFA thesis shows. Despite the great diversity of her works, Bartol’s works hold together quite well - they all bear her distinct signature. The works here are a recording of nature – bird tracks on glass, roots, rock collections - observations of the seldom-noticed brought to light by her actions. While we’re witness to a broad, diverse body of Bartol’s work, Brooks offers up primarily a single series of stylized and skillfully rendered paintings, based on photographic snapshots. The contrast between the two, offers a look at the range and strength of Wayne’s program.

The Scarab Club
Out of Cranbrook and into the World
Featuring Melanie Findayson, Lauren Jacobs, Chris Schneider, Mark Sengbusch, Curated by Vince Carducci

A short trip around the corner, brings us to the Scarab Club, where that venerable institution is filled with artists in and recently out of Cranbrook courtesy of the curatorial efforts of Detroit arts writer Vince Carducci. The show displays a diverse group of artists highlighting some of Cranbrook’s signature traits, attention to craft, process, and aesthetics no matter what the medium. Plenty to see and think about, and I’ll just mention one here, photographer Chris Schneider, the founder of the HATCH arts collective in Hamtramck displays his “Red Pants” series, years’ worth of photos taken all over of people wearing red pants all captured in public spaces. Brilliantly obsessive, coupled with the fun in a ‘Where’s Waldo” kind of way for some of the more hidden pants. Carducci does a great service to the community with this exhibition. Cranbrook brings in students from all over the world, and they are increasingly becoming a part of the Detroit arts community. In a town that suffered from a monoculture business model, such crosspollination makes for a healthier, richer environment.

Detroit Artists Market
ALL Media Exhibition

The Artists Market opens the year with its annual all-media exhibition. A strong and diverse field, various types of work. Another Cranbrook artist Haewon Yoo gets a prominent installation space, alongside more established and up and coming Detroiters, like Topher Crowder (who continues to amaze with his insanely intricate drawings) and others. One odd note, this featured the earliest closing time in memory of the gallery, especially odd given the number of artists in the show and all the other arts events happening. Having been involved in hosting a number of openings, I can relate, but it seemed to do a disservice to people who really wanted to make as many of these shows as possible. That said, to really see the work, going back after the opening is essential. That night, other Detroiters were showing at Gallery Project in Ann Arbor, among other places, pretty impossible to get to all of them.

Minister Dawud Bey Mohammed
Liberal Arts Gallery

Saturday, I missed out on CPOP’s Carnivora – a car-themed show in CPOP style, and the Art Battle at the Russell Industrial Center – an iron chef meets art sort of thing, that apparently attracted a huge crowd, and I hope to offer a report on in the coming week. What I did catch was Dawud Bey, or Minister Dawud Mohammed at Liberal Arts Gallery. Bright colored, flowing, layered abstractions, spiritually motivated works, quite different than other works covered above, though perhaps sharing a bit with Hamrick. Good show, warm, well attended reception, but a show few Detroiters who attended other shows that weekend saw. There are still barriers that we have to breach, communities that need to come together, and perhaps in gathering all these events under one hat, we might encourage others to see what else is going on right around them in their city.

And that’s just what I saw, I also missed out on “Reflections of the Spirit” at UM Dearborn, Contemporary Realism at Marygrove, Oakland University’s faculty show, and even more. All strong offerings, all displaying just how strong this community is, and how it needs our support. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

Some times need some chang’n! Did you find yourself becoming increasingly frustrated as you dashed from gallery to gallery, wishing to spend more time(and perhaps more $$$$) on art works that aroused your attention; yet compelled to leave one gallery to attend another’s all too short opening hours? Promising to return to one or more them again before their exhibitions end? A promise(purchasing opportunity?) you know you’ll likely never keep. Is their no solution to this time/space dilemma, you cry! If physicists can unify the time/space of our universe, you may reason, what’s up with our cultural community? Surely, our collective creative minds can(and should!) create a Unified Time Theory, you muse.

How would such a theory work? Well lets consider a few ideas from Newtonian physics: Distance=RateXTime, as you can see, with increasing distance between galleries, you must increase the rate at which you travel(impossible during rush hours(4:30-6pm) and exposes you to a possible speeding citation!) or reduce the time(viewing art; allowing the artist/gallery to sway you to purchase a piece, etc.). Another idea from old Sir Isaac: Force=MassXAccelera -tion, meaning to cover increasing distances between galleries within a fixed time interval will require expending increasing amounts of gas(for your car?) or reducing mass(to a bike or feet !). Which will have a BIG IMPACT, per that first equation! Even Einstein would agree our cultural community would benefit from a Unified Time Theory.

Now it’s important to remember that theories aren’t laws(which is why wise persons don’t hold them to be absolute), but they do have evidence(persuasive?) to support them. Lets then reason how a Unified Time Theory could work. For our first example we’ll use the Chelsea River Gallery, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Buckham Gallery, and Space237 Gallery. All are about an hour’s drive from the heart of our cultural hub, Detroit. Using contemporary ideas from physics, if all openings within bounds(as defined by named venues) were extended by merely two hours, it would enable far more people to attend the event; maybe even a logarithmic increase in attendance. An even greater change may occur if the boundaries are reduced! The theory also predicts bountiful returns on gas savings, reduced physical and psychic stress; extended exposure times to be persuaded to purchase some art. Isn’t this absolutely astounding when you consider it’s only a 120 minutes change!

Times need’ah chang’n! Cultural venues, let us put this theory to the test. Let’s begin using the Unified Time Theory to synchronize our efforts and expand our much needed audiences. After all, might not we all benefit from encouraging those on our community’s boundaries to join us and we them? I say YES! And yes, this theory can also be applied to days of the week. Lets try it, say, for this summer.

J.H. Dozier

PS: Don’t forget to checkout the new offerings in OPENING!S REDUX! Note: The best playback quality is obtained by viewing the videos at their original size. To see them at this size, use the control menu in the lower right hand side of the viewing window(Google) and on the inner and lower button on the right hand side(YouTube).

70TH ANNUAL MEMBERS SHOW – 1938 to 2008
GROSSE POINTE ART CENTER
15001 Kercheval, Grosse Pointe Park
Members of the GROSSE POINTE ARTISTS ASSOCIATION
A 501 (C ) (3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

CALL FOR ENTRY – February 7, 8, 9, 2008
SHOW DATES: February 15 thru March 28, 2008

Juror Mel Rosas
Slide/Lecture by Mr. Rosas, Monday, March 3, 2008, 7 pm

Show Awards
Best of Show $300, Second Place $200, Third Place $100, Monetary Awards by Special Donors,
4 Honorable Mentions

Eligibility
Participation is open to all artists who are members or would like to join membership in the Grosse Pointe Art Center. Work must have been done in the last three years. The show includes all art forms except room installations. No specific size limitations, but gallery space will be considered during jurying. Two & three-dimensional work to be hung must be properly wired for hanging. Works completed under an instructor are not eligible. Work juried into a prior GPAA show is not eligible. Final acceptance is dependant upon juror & GPAA. [Membership Levels and Benefits attached. Join when you submit.]

Entry Procedure and Sales [Check calendar for specific dates]
Physical take-in, digital or CD imagery acceptable. Intake limit two (2) pieces per artist. Email: gpaa@grossepointeartcenter.org
All work must be for sale. No price on request. No changes in price after entry. Entry fee $25.
All work 30% commission upon sale. All sales payable to: GPAA

Liability/Agreement
Entries will be handled with all possible care. GPAA will not be responsible for loss by fire, theft, or other damage, whether caused by the negligence of its officers, members or others. GPAA reserves the right to reproduce accepted entries for publicity purposes. GPAA reserves the right to alter dates or cancel the show at any time. All works remain until show ends.

ENTRY FORM:

Artist________________________________________________________Phone__________________.

Address____________________________________________________________________________.

City/State/Zip______________________________________Email_______________________________.

Signature________________________________________________________Fee Paid $__________.

Entry #1 Title________________________________________________________________________.

Price$ Media_________________________________________________________.

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Entry #2 Title_______________________________________________________________________.

Price$ Media________________________________________________________.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - cut here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Entry Label - Affix to bottom, or back upper right of art work
Artist:______________________________________________________________________________________

Phone_____________________________________________________________________________________

Entry #1 Title_______________________________________________________________________________

Media____________________________________________________________________Price $___________

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - cut here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Entry Label - Affix to bottom, or back upper right of art work
Artist:_____________________________________________________________________________________

Phone____________________________________________________________________________________

Entry #2 Title______________________________________________________________________________

Media____________________________________________________________________Price $___________

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - cut here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Calendar for 70th Annual Exhibition:
Submission of Art Work: Thurs, Feb 7 12 – 6 pm
Fri, Feb 8 11 – 5 pm
Sat, Feb 9 11 – 5 pm
Jurying & Notification Calls to Entrants: Mon [Do not call – we will call you.]
Pick-up of all work not in show: Tue, Feb 12 12 – 6 pm
Wed, Feb 13 12 – 6 pm
Show Opens: Reception & Awards: Fri, Feb 15 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Show Closes: Fri, March 28 5 pm
Work Picked-up: Sat, March 29 11 – 5 pm

Location of Grosse Pointe Art Center: 313.821.1848 www.grossepointeartcenter.org
15001 Kercheval, corner of Kercheval & Wayburn, Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, 48230

I94 West to Cadieux exit,
Left on Cadieux (you will be in Detroit) continue traveling on Cadieux into Grosse Pointe until you reach Kercheval. Turn Right on Kercheval travel about 1.5 miles. Gallery is located on the corner of Wayburn and Kercheval.

I94 East to Cadieux exit
Right onto Cadieux (you will be in Detroit) continue traveling on Cadieux into Grosse Pointe until you reach Kercheval. Turn Right on Kercheval travel about 1.5 miles
Gallery is located on the corner of Wayburn and Kercheval.

SLUSSER GALLERY: The Graphic Imperative: International Posters for Peace, Social Justice and the Environment 1965-2005. The exhibition opening reception will include remarks by co-curator Elisabeth Resnick. Slusser Gallery, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd. 1st floor

In his essay accompanying the exhibition the Graphic Imperative, Steven Heller asks, “Can a flimsy sheet of ink saturated paper influence peace, social justice, and the environment?” The answer offered by this traveling show of over 100 posters from around the world, currently making a stop at the UM School of Art & Design’s Slusser Gallery, is an unequivocal “yes.”

However literate we may become as a species, the road to our hearts remains perhaps best reached through our eyes. Think of the effect of a good logo, or why a cereal box has a bright picture on it, instead of just a list of ingredients and nutritional information. We might care about all the words behind the image, but image is often everything. Such then is the challenge of the designer trying to find an iconic image that speaks volumes with very little. Something that no matter what the level of literacy of the viewer, will hit home without having to read, though something that may encourage deeper reading on the subject after the initial encounter with it.

As Heller writes of such advocacy posters, “It should also resonate for years, even decades after it is published.” This is definitely the case with these works. To take one example, McRay Magleby’s 1985 poster “Wave of Peace,” is a tranquil image of a cascading wave transforming into doves with the word peace across the top. It’s simple, memorable – the calmness of the imagery evokes the message, making it effective and lasting.

A current example familiar to most is the conflation of Apple’s clever ubiquitous IPod ads with silhouetted dancing people and the hooded figure from the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. It becomes something at once immediately catchy, then haunting, hence captivating. It’s this use of imagery and message that can strike a chord with us as individuals and perhaps then resonate with national conscience in a way that reams of articles on the subject seldom do.

The show is hung salon style, with a lot to take in and absorb. Even emanating from multiple cultures as they do, the strength of the imagery works to makes them universal. This is an important show to be sure for the educational value of being seen in a university environment filled with young designers. But it is just as significant for all of us to help find our voice, or rather imagery, to help bring about change in a time when the need to find the means for change is certainly imperative. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

DETROIT: IT’S WORTH IT
Photo Project Now Accepting Submissions.

There’s the crime. And then there’s the disinvestment. There’s the lack of public transportation. And the bad roads. The schools are in trouble. There’s a lot of taxes and no street food. But you love it. And it’s worth it.

SHOW US WHY.
SHOW US YOUR CITY.
Detroit: It’s Worth It is an invitation to share photographs that show off the best of the city. We’re seeking images that reveal the underdog beauty and singularity of Detroit and its people.

ALL SUBMITTED PHOTOS WILL BE DISPLAYED AT AN UPCOMING EXHIBIT REPRESENTING DETROIT.

Step One: Show Us Why It’s Worth It.
Take digital photographs of Detroit that show why our city is worth it. We’re looking for images of Detroit that reveal the underdog beauty and singularity of the place and the people.

Step Two: Pay Entry Fee.
Pay the entry fee at Detroit Synergy’s webstore at http://shop.detroitsynergy.org. Fee is a mere $5 per photo submitted and covers the cost of printing and matting the photograph.

**Note your confirmation number from the transaction, which you will add to the title of your photo when you submit it via e-mail.

Step Three: Submit Your Photo(s)

Send your photos to photosubmissions@detroitsynergy.org. Make sure to include your confirmation number from step two in the subject line of the e-mail. Please submit one photo per e-mail, to a maximum of three e-mails.

FOR DETAILS AND FULL SPECS CLICK ON http://www.detroitsynergy.org/projects/photo

What should an art museum be today? In earlier times, they started out as temples amassing troves of treasures, colossal cabinets of curiosities. With ever growing collections of culture, the museum’s mission expanded to one of preservation and eventually interpretation of that culture. Over the course of their evolution, these additional purposes accumulated like strata, over the core of the collection. The mission today has become strongly about educating a broader public. The museum and its collection are no longer that isolated temple, but an integral part of the community.

In its redesign, the Detroit Institute of Arts is out to further redefine the museum’s role in society as indicated in their updated mission statement, “To serve the public through the collection, conservation, exhibition and interpretation of art of a broad range of cultures and to expand understanding of these diverse visual forms of creative expression for the enjoyment and appreciation of the widest possible array of audiences.” It’s a challenging task to negotiate such terrain – preserving and building upon the collection, while making it accessible and truly educational. At times, these purposes, or rather their proponents, can be at odds with one another, involved in a push and pull over the shape of the museum.

After missing out on the grand re-opening festivities, I finally “let myself go” (and go again). The DIA holds an almost mythical place in my memory, as it does for so many of us. I fondly recall delightful visits there as a child, most often with my grandmother. We’d ride the bus down and spend the day taking in all that we could – different eras of art, perhaps a puppet show, and always the suits of armor – my favorite then (ok, maybe now too!) The grand place was magical, the experience opened my eyes wide and filled me with wonder. And that’s an important turn of phrase, “fill with wonder,” as in to amaze or awe, but also to question and instill curiosity. To fill with wonder then is the core mission of education – to create excitement in the student and the desire to learn more. I can’t then help but hold my experience at this hall of wonders as an important element of my education – and influential on who I am today.

And so, although I’d been eagerly anticipating the museum’s rebirth, I also approached it with a bit of trepidation. There’s a part of me that worried that some of its mystique and significance from childhood would be tarnished with all the changes. But in visiting, I found such notions were almost immediately dispelled, and a new sense of wonderment restored.

One of the biggest concerns I had had about the redesign was talk of a spine or “promenade,” and an easily traversed museum. I realize I’m in the minority, but one of my favorite things about the museum has always been its labyrinthine layout. Sounds crazy, right? I mean who wants to get lost in a place? Sure, it could be confusing, that’s true, but in getting lost one would discover the unexpected and in wandering, be free to make connections that would not have happened otherwise. This is something I find that most museums lack – you frequently end up boxed in, trapped within cul-de-sacs, having to backtrack to see something new, and follow the path someone else wants you to. I mean, the Guggenheim is a pretty cool structure to be sure, but there’s only one way to go through it. In successfully making the DIA more navigable, I’m quite pleased to find that you can still get lost, if you choose to. This new spine, much like an interstate slicing through a city (though far more attractively), definitely helps visitors speed from one end to the other. But it doesn’t prevent a quite nonlinear tour, prompting new discoveries with each visit. It’s as if, to paraphrase the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, you cannot step into the same museum twice.

For those who’ve spent a lot of time in the museum in the past, the reconfiguring of existing spaces might be akin to a phantom limb sensation. That is, to offer an example from my parents’ home: there was for all of my growing up a little room in their house that, with the expansion of their kitchen and bathroom, was subsumed, leaving only a shallow closet. We still, instinctively, head to that room to find something that can’t be there anymore. Such is the experience of the experienced DIA visitor trying to place where you’re standing in relationship to what once was there – it can be almost a game of sorts, adding to the experience, though obviously a non-issue for those having spent little or no time here previously.

And then of course, there’s the artwork – the collection that everything’s built upon. It’s astounding just how much is on display. Sure, we hear about the immensity of the DIA’s collection – the fifth largest in the United States, but now you can really see a great extent of it, and just how strong a collection it is. Calling something “encyclopedic” always comes off as a bit of a dig, but it’s an accurate term, and a collection of that sort is vital. In addition to representative works from all the significant players in art history that one might expect, the museum also gives due to Detroit’s rich artistic heritage, including Cass Corridor artists, and others like Jim Pallas’s delightfully interactive “self-portrait,” Charles McGee’s epic “Noah’s Ark: Genesis,” and many more.

As the museum incorporates a regional component, it simultaneously is reaching outward, not just to the works of ancient Egyptians and the Greeks as we’ve come to expect, but extensive collections of African, Native American cultures, and more. By devoting a gallery to a rotating exhibition of contemporary craft arts – in glass and wood, often kept separate from the fine arts, the museum reaches across barriers not only of geography, but within the art world itself as well. All in all, the museum offers a truly comprehensive global cultural experience that is far more than a single visit (or article) can hope to cover.

On the subject of attendance, I hear peeps of grumbling about the new mandatory admission fee, but let’s think about this calmly. Agreed, it would be nice if we lived in a society that valued such cultural institutions so as to fully support them for the good of the public. But until that shift in values comes, the price is still less than a movie, and significantly less than comparable institutions. And there’s membership, which yes, some will say that they won’t go enough times a year to justify. Perhaps there’s some truth to this for the individual, and perhaps, just supporting the organization isn’t enough on its own. However, there’s another way to look at this. It’s understandable that if you pay every time you go to a museum, you want to dash around and see everything in order to feel like you got your money’s worth. But as we observed before, there’s far too much to ever take in in one trip. If you are a member though, you can visit without thinking about the price, over and over again. And that’s really how a museum like this should be visited – on a regular basis. We can come in for a quiet moment, a pause for beauty, a bit of joy, taking in only one room, or maybe only one single work at a time. In doing so, the museum becomes something we live with, and definitely something we can’t live without.

With so much to see, there is to be sure, some cramping. In one particular instance a massive sculpture of interlocking wooden beams by Mark di Suvero really prevents standing back more than a few feet from Helen Frankenthaler’s painting “The Bay” (which perhaps serves to protect it from future gum incidents.) In other cases the work is given great space – their Anselm Kiefer is viewable from a good distance in a room that seems as if it were built for it. In those more snug areas, it feels a bit like how the work would look if hung in one’s own home. Not with a massive expanse of white wall space around it, but right up next to that other piece, or the couch. It’s never salon-style (as during the construction period), but it’s a closeness that acts in a way to make it feel more accessible, more within our figurative reach. On that subject of living with the art, a major component of the redesign has involved placing the works in a living context. Throughout the galleries and the spine, the decorative arts are exhibited alongside the paintings and other objects of the time. This works to bring greater attention to the decorative arts and better understanding of the art works by offering greater insight into the world the work was created in.

One of the defining aspects of the new layout is storytelling – about the art and the people that created them. And I don’t mean the gossipy, tawdry bits, but that of the conditions within the cultures that spawned them, and of the ideas and issues that people wrestled with. It’s an attempt to open eyes to a new view of what art is and what art means, and perhaps set us off on our own searches. There’s been some hubbub about the labels, but while I can’t claim to have seen all of them, I found them to be a help. That is, they don’t tell one everything about the work of art, but they do offer an introduction, a little hook to get a grip on what’s going on with the work or works. It’s enough to get one to look and just maybe, really look – which is why we’ve come to a building with art works in the first place. If the viewer wants to know more, in this information rich age, at the touch of a keyboard we can read up on any of these works that we experienced – in person – in the museum. In one example, I appreciate that the label linking Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman doesn’t use the word abstract expressionism, for it’s a label Rothko resisted as well, but we do get a sense of what they were up to with color. If anything, labels fall short when they offer too much and act as the authoritative last word. The label, and the museum, can act as gateways to our own explorations.

In telling stories there must also be some story throughout, an organizing tool – categories. So what then of the new African-American section, does separating artists along the lines of race help raise awareness or perpetuate a kind of segregation? What these galleries do is tell stories of a people’s struggle, of those who struggled, of perseverance and works that address race. It’s a story of building an identity in the face of adversity – and a story that those facing similar struggles can look to, can identify with, and find strength in, and a story that can help build understanding between people. It’s a necessary story to tell – it’s a space to pause and reflect, but beyond these devoted rooms, the works of African-American artists are integrated throughout the rest of the works in the museum, and such separateness disappears.

The story of the museum’s reopening is often tied to Detroit’s own quest for rebirth. My initial thought was that this is too much to ask of the museum. But in visiting, my view has changed somewhat. Yes, it’s still too much to expect a museum to transform a city, but it can have a significant effect, and the increased presence of African-American artists is a strong step. The huge upswing in attendance means a lot of folks returning to the city that haven’t in too long, and even after the mammoth success of the opening festivities, it’s continuing. Both times I went, weeks and over a month since the opening, the museum was packed. They were excited, they were pointing out things to their friends. And they were talking about Detroit. A lot of people are becoming aware of what else is happening in the city, and they are enthusiastic about it. There’s a lot of hope in this crowd. Perhaps most importantly, what the museum can do comes back to the stories it tells and the education it offers. The lack of arts education in the city (and state for that matter) is indisputably, perhaps criminally, poor. Our children need to see possibilities, they need stories, they need to have their imaginations stimulated and their minds challenged. This is a place where they can discover heroes to emulate, and perhaps eventually surpass. It’s a diet we need to make our future rich.

As to whether the cost was worth all that they got? Absolutely. Construction costs what it costs – and yes, it’s always too much. This nation spends in one single day in another country almost exactly what was spent on all the years this reconstruction project took. From that perspective, funding an educational, cultural institution is a drop in the bucket and something we desperately need. Could it be bigger? I don’t know. What it most definitely shows is a commitment to education, to bringing up a generation who appreciate art and see its value for our society.

One more question that comes up a lot, concerns how well does the new DIA serve Detroit’s arts community? I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a more ardent supporter of the art community here than me. However, I don’t see the Met or MOMA reserving a gallery for New York artists. I know of the Ongoing Michigan Artists Program (OMAP) that was held at the DIA some years ago. It was certainly important, and we do need more such things. Yet sometime along the way, in a culture that valued art and culture less, monies shrank, and the institution made a choice to use what they had remaining to focus on their collection and on education. A return to OMAP would be great, no doubt, but maybe it’s not the DIA’s function. There are non-profits and other galleries that can serve such a purpose in town. And here, perhaps the DIA could do more. Distribute info, a “like what you see here, why not check out these places” sort of thing. They could work to develop a more symbiotic relationship with the art community. It’s simple stuff and it feels good. Though they may not have a gallery devoted to contemporary local artists, they are reaching out in making artists a significant part of their educational programming. Some of this comes in the form of day long public lecture/demonstrations. On the day I went, artist Andy Malone was showing his mechanical artworks and explaining his ideas and methods to visitors. (www.andymalone.com)It was a great opportunity for kids and adults to see what an artist looks like, and interact in a human way, and for the artist to have his work seen by a huge audience in a grand space.

There’s so much more I’d like to mention here, and I realize there’s so much more I’d like to see, and see again. One thing that is essential to mention is the wise decision to transform a series of smaller rooms just off the Rivera Court into a special exhibition space. It’s not only an excellent gallery showcase, but it gives greater exposure to these contemporary exhibits and allows time periods to collide. The first show in this space features the sprawling, gesturally and symbolically layered works of Ethiopian-born, Michigan-raised, New York-based artist Julie Mehretu. These offer great vistas at a distance, and much to dive into and explore up close. It’s great to have them near such a staple of the museum as the Rivera murals, allowing visitors to see how artists address similar issues but with the ever changing visual language that defines their time.

Overall, I’m thrilled. I want to go again and see what I haven’t seen, and see what I have seen from a different direction. I think that both the collection and the mission of education are served well. Those two purposes can exist side by side. They’ve done a strong job of educating and making this a live, real place, as I think the response from people reflects. It’s a great asset to our community and I’m glad to welcome it back. What should a museum be? To return to that idea of wonder, the museum today can be more than a hall of wonders, but perhaps a gateway to wonder. It can be a place to amaze us, set our curiosity in motion, and send us on our own path of discovery. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com

Photo Credits: DIA photos are by Eric Wheeler, DIA, and Nick Sousanis. Julie Mehretu image copyright 2007 Julie Mehretu, photo by Erma Estwick.

How often have you declined to attend an opening due to scheduling conflicts, distance, or uncertainty that the show would be worth your time? So you inquire about it amongst your friends and get mixed responses that leave you wishing you had gone to see for yourself. So you tell yourself I’ll go next week; which becomes next week; which becomes I’ll squeeze it in(somehow, after seeing this other show that opened last week); which becomes, well maybe next time. Yeah, next time!

Or you attend a show that rocks your world! You’re excited about it. You eagerly want to tell your friends about it before it’s over. They listen attentively and say maybe they’ll go sometime next week or before the exhibition closes. Sadly, too often, their intentions succumbs to the tyranny of time and scheduling conflicts(and the lure of attending newly opening events with friends).

Which often leaves gallery owners wondering, why am I so lonely for weeks after an opening? Surely, I suspect they think, many more didn’t come to the opening, than did. Why? Were there other openings?
Concerts? Games? Movie openings? Why is my gallery soooooo empty!! See above!

Times are a’chang’n! I’m re-announcing OPENING!S REDUX! Where you’ll find videos of many of the exhibitions/events you may have missed; interviews with artists; and venues you may want to venture to once you see what’s happening there. OPENING!S REDUX! exists to promote and inform Detroit’s cultural community(which isn’t defined by political borders!) and increase our presence in the global art consciousness. To achieve this I also encourage you to visually document the events/openings you attend and post them to GOOGLE.com (best) or YOUTUBE.com and let me and theDetroiter.com know about it. In the meantime, view the videos that are currently posted on GOOGLE using this link:
http://tinyurl.com/yrvbym and on YOUTUBE using this link: http://tinyurl.com/3y4f9u

J.H. Dozier