In September, 2015, 45 artists took to the streets of Detroit. Check out the result:
These 18 Amazing Street Murals In Detroit Rival Anything In The World
Thanks, Margi Weir, for the heads-up on this project!
Julie Friedman at Harris Stanton Gallery
TAAE 95 artist Julie Friedman, along with fellow printmakers Charles Beneke and Joe Vanderkhove, will be showing her work from November 13-December 12 at the Harris Stanton Gallery in Akron, Ohio.
“Ohio Printmakers showcases the new works of three noteworthy artists who explore themes of memory and loss through a variety of printmaking methods, including intaglio, screenprint, and plasterprint.”
The gallery is located at
2301 Market St.
Akron, OH 44313
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10:30-5:30, Saturday 10-4
For more information: info@HarrisStantonGallery.com
Katie St. Clair at Cincinnati Art Underground
TAAE 95 artist Katie St. Clair’s large scale paintings will be on view this winter at Cincinnati Art Underground, a brand new contemporary art space in downtown Cincinnati. She shares the exhibition space with glass artist Jacci Delaney. The gallery is located at 1415 Main Street, Cincinnati OH 45202. The exhibit runs from November 13 through January 2, 2016.
Cincinnati Art Underground is a newly opened space, and the website does not yet list hours of operation. For more information call 513-903-0623, or contact by email: info@cincinnatiartunderground.com
Bethany House Looking for Artists
Artist and Professor Erin Szavuly of Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio, is looking for artists to work on an arts project for Bethany House, a shelter for women and children who are fleeing domestic violence.
Artists are invited to create works that will hang in the main hallway of the residence. There are 7 large panels already created, and more of various shapes and sizes are needed. The Bethany House administration seeks artworks that celebrate cultural diversity, empowerment and positivity. This project calls for completed artworks, and in addition, there is an opportunity to work alongside shelter residents to create art collaboratively on site. The project is to be completed by mid-January.
If you are interested in contributing to this project, either by creating an artwork or by working on site with residents, contact Professor Szavuly : eszavuly@lourdes.edu for an application.
Julie Friedman at FAVA Gallery in Oberlin, OH
(Image: Like a Fish Out of Water, Julie Friedman)
Nature Revealed: The Paper Cuts of Julie Friedman
Opening reception with the artist on Sunday, September 27, 2015, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
The exhibition will be held in the gallery at Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, an arts advocacy and education organization located at 39 South Main Street, Oberlin, Ohio 44074. Gallery hours: Tu-Sa 11-5, Su 1-5. Phone: (440) 774-7158.
Exhibition runs from September 27 – November 8, 2015
Gardening and living close to nature, since moving to Medina County 24 years ago, has slowly influenced Friedman’s artwork. She is drawn to the relationship between the natural world and the man made environment. The themes she investigates relate to the beauty and the power or dominance of nature. Additional touches of magic realism or uncertainty and a mixed up evolutionary process (fish flying, out of scale insects, birds, pets) create a sense of surreality or dreamy make-believe.
The artist finds the physical cutting out of the negative shapes a magical and satisfying act. The abstract shapes fall to the ground to be swept away and reveal the silhouetted image. The shadows created by light illuminating the cutout produce another stratum to the art on walls and floor surrounding and drawing in the viewer.
About the artist:
Julie Friedman studied with book artist Walter Hamady while working on an M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She has a B.A. in Interior Design and B.F.A. in Printmaking from Kent State University. She works in multiple media (cut paper, drawing, printmaking, artist books). She is an adjunct professor at Kent State, John Carroll University and Cuyahoga Community College and is also director of Gallery West at Cuyahoga Community College. Friedman exhibits her artwork regionally and across the country. She has received an Individual Artist Fellowship Grant and a 3-month summer residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA through the generosity of the Ohio Arts Council.
Mattaei Botanical Garden Call for Art
University of Michigan’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens has issued a juried call for art to be installed in the garden’s conservatory November 28-January 3 as part of their winter exhibit. The theme is Forest and Tree: A Multitude of Gifts, and the show is open to all media. Artworks will be displayed throughout the conservatory building. Interested artists may send 3 images (72 dpi, maximum 1MB each) to mdbetz@umich.edu.
There is no fee to enter, deadline for entry is October 16. For additional information go to: http://bit.ly/1Kk7eCy
Wish List reviewed in Hyperallergic
Wish List, an art exhibit described as “a contemporary statement of curatorial desire” has opened in Toledo in a former department store Lamson’s (which was recently the venue for Artomatic 419). The show was curated by Rocco DePietro and Gloria Pritschit of Gallery Project. It has been reviewed in the online arts magazine Hyperallergic: http://hyperallergic.com/232456/an-abandoned-department-store-stocks-up-on-art/
Happy Birthday Detroit!
I was honored last week to participate in an exhibition and silent auction in honor of Detroit’s 314th birthday.
All the works in the exhibit related to the city’s early history as a French colony; participating artists were asked to create artworks relating to legends of old Detroit. The legend of the Nain Rouge and the tale of the Loup Garou were two favorites among many others that the artists chose for their commissioned works. My own picture “At Askin Point” relates to the tale of La Chasse Gallerie (The Wild Aerial Hunt).
Like many other arts-related events in Detroit, this was a one-night affair held at the Jam Handy, a former historic movie studio turned events venue. In addition to the art exhibit and auction, the “Fest d’Anniversare” featured a lecture by Amy Elliot Bragg, author of Hidden History of Detroit, on the early history of the city, beer by Brew Detroit and cash bar, a strolling dinner of French-inspired cuisine created by Upriver Local and music by DJ Erno.
The event was a collaboration of the Detroit Drunken Historical Society and Corktown Studios. To see pictures of the event:
Window Installation Opportunity in A2
Sorry for the rather poor quality of this photo, but I took this picture on my phone while walking around in downtown Ann Arbor. This is an installation by talented A2 artist Mike Sivak whose beautifully crafted artworks often refer to devotional objects such as reliquaries and altars, all in the service of his reverence for art.
This installation is part of an ongoing program of Ann Arbor Art Center which selects artworks to appear in the “Aquarium” microgallery on Ashley Street near Liberty, adding some much-needed visual liveliness to an otherwise featureless city block. The space is 8′ x 8′ x 2.5′
To quote the accompanying wall copy:
The Aquarium is a microgallery that hosts ten exhibitions annually. The mission of the Aquarium is to showcase the work of regional artists working with alternative media such as installation, moving image and performance. Artists are invited to fill the gallery in its entirety with a work of art that is unconventional and fun.
The Art Center is currently accepting proposals. For more information about making a proposal for the Aquarium Gallery: http://www.annarborartcenter.org/exhibitions/galleries/
I noticed that the windows project is funded by an organization called the Ann Arbor Awesome Foundation which I had never heard of. Upon a little investigation I found out that this group provides mini grants to support the “creation of awesomeness in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area” Their recent grants, in addition to the Aquarium project, include funding a mural on the Dos Hermanos Market in Ypsilanti. They have also recently funded projects by Bike A2 and Abundant Michigan Permaculture Ypsilanti. For more: http://a2awesome.org/
It’s Play Time at the Toledo Museum of Art
Play Time opened on May 22 at the Toledo Museum of Art. The exhibit celebrates the art of diversion and the value of play to both refresh the human spirit and inspire creativity. Unlike “look but don’t touch” exhibitions, this interactive, family-friendly, hands-on exhibition enables visitors to immerse themselves in contemporary art as they may never have done before.
“This show is not only about play in the traditional sense, but also the idea of being in the moment, of inspiring wonder, of invoking your natural curiosity,” said Halona Norton-Westbrook, who is co-curating the exhibition with the Museum’s associate director Amy Gilman.
“It’s an experimental exhibition that aims to defy traditional ideas of viewing art by providing interactive experiences. The exhibition is not confined to a single gallery, and in fact, it will change throughout June, July and August so viewers will need to come more than once to see it all,” said Norton-Westbrook, who is the Museum’s Mellon Fellow and associate curator of contemporary art.
Major works in the exhibition include room-sized Harmonic Motion by artists Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam and Charles Richard MacAdam, which was initially commissioned by Enel Contemporenea in Rome. The colorful, multi-sensory installation allows children and adults to climb and play inside its hand-crocheted hanging nets.
Play Time continues through Sept. 6. The exhibition is sponsored in part by ProMedica and made possible with the support of Museum members and the sustainability grant program of the Ohio Arts Council. In addition to works of art being added and subtracted from the exhibition during its run, a wide range of exhibition-related programs is planned. A list of programs follows. For more information, visit http://playtime.toledomuseum.org/. The Museum is open every day except Monday and will be closed on Memorial Day and on Labor Day.
Rustbelt Arts 