Community News

Posted 10 October 2020 | art, artist, classroom, community, fall, fundraiser, gallery, programs, support, workshop

Falling into October

The leaves are changing, a cool breeze is blowing off the river and we are getting ready for fall.

Classes are in full swing and we are so happy to have the studio full of voices and laughter. Our students have been awesome with our mask policies, we thank you! Make sure to check out our fall workshops that are coming up. You can paint the Lord of the Rings or paint a pallet, new options are being scheduled each week.

MI Artists, a juried exhibition opened this September. We ran a virtual reception and had over 100 people join us through Facebook and Zoom! Each artist was thanked for their talents by Stephen Prince, who represented Representative Brian Elder. We really appreciated his support for all of our Michigan Artists and also thank MCACA for supporting Studio 23 with a COVID Support grant.

Stop in to see this beautiful exhibit. Thirty-two Michigan cities are represented and the artists are fabulous. I really have enjoyed seeing so many different mediums like fiber art, sculpture, cold-wax and more.

The Art Advocate campaign is coming to a close. This year we raised over $3,000 to help support our local artists. Since 2017 this program has invested over $21,000 back into our community through awards, scholarships, Art Around the City and exhibit opportunities. You should be proud to be an art advocate, you made the choice to support your local arts center. It is not too late to become an advocate today! Sign up through our donate page on our website.

The Black & White Affair is the annual fundraising event for Studio 23 and is getting a make over this year.

This evening supports our mission of providing the Great Lakes Bay Region with a vibrant arts center dedicated to making the visual arts relevant and accessible to all.

During this year’s event, you will enjoy an elegant sit-down dinner, catered by Old City Hall, accompanied by a wine pairing. You will enjoy a quaint setting with your closest friends, while artists paint the night in plein air style. The chef will take us through six courses, each paired with a wine, while we listen to sweet melodies and have fun conversations.

This dinner is limited to forty people. Tickets are now on sale through our website or by calling us during open hours. We hope you will join us!

Rosemary Kavanagh is our featured artist and will be displaying her family history through oil paintings. Her exhibit opens in November and will be on display until January.

Thank you for being a part of Studio 23. We are so happy that we get to be a part of our community and showcase the talent we have in our region. I will see you soon in the galleries or in a classroom!

Sincerely,

Tara Welch

Executive Director

by Megan Koch

Posted 12 September 2020

A Start to a New Fall!

A Start to a New Fall

A new semester means to us: children laughing in our classrooms, artists hanging new work, and the start of our annual fundraiser. Some things, like most, are going to look a little different, but we are happy to make adjustments so we can still enjoy our art center.

Classes now are limited to the smaller number of eight per session. Students will have their own tables and access to sanitizer, and must wear a mask during our sessions. We are taking steps to make sure you are safe in our facility.

Please check out the new sessions that we are offering and of course our classics. From clay to watercolor, pencil to oil, we hope we have something that interests you.

Thank you to everyone who has made the pledge to be an Art Advocate for our 2020 MI Artists All-State Exhibition. This program has helped support our artist prizes, lectures, juror fees, and more opportunities for local artists. You can still help us make the pledge to advocate for our local art!

We hope you will join us for our virtual reception on September 17th at 5 p.m. Stream live on Facebook as our juror walks us through exhibit, announces the winners, and participates in a question-and-answer session. It will be a great event! If you cannot join us live, we will be adding the video link to our website under the exhibition link.

I look forward to seeing you soon in the gallery with your most stylist mask.

Tara Welch, Executive Director

Our Newsletter is now available online. Please visit this link to view: Newsletter

Our Class schedule is now available online. Please visit this link to view: Fall Classes

New: Portrait Drawing!

Let our instructor Julie Tyslicky teach you her methods of using proportion, studying facial characteristics, and using value progressions to capture the effects of light and make your portrait appear three-dimensional.

This class runs on Fridays from 4 p.m.–7 p.m.

Oil Painting with Jim!

Just one example of student work from Jim Perkins’s oil painting class. If you’ve ever wanted to learn to paint, Jim’s atelier-style class is perfect for you! He will teach you the foundation you need.

This class runs on Thursday evenings from 6 p.m.–9 p.m.

New: Daytime Clay!

Our clay studio is one of the most popular areas in our gallery. Have you been wanting to make your own bowls, platters, or garden sculptures?

Give one of our clay classes a try! Now offering a Monday daytime session from 10 a.m.–1 p.m.

by Megan Koch

Posted 10 July 2020

Moving into Summer Fun!

2020 has thrown us some curve balls…

Our staff adjusted quickly when the #stayhome order came into place. We immediately started creating family art projects, art demos and artist studio tours on our social media pages. Our website was updated, so everyone can view our social media videos on our main page. The viewers, supporters, and artists made all of that possible. Join us every Friday now, for our Friday Live Art Talks! I begin with an art talk about one of our 50 Artists of the Great Lakes Bay Region. Autumn, our Education Coordinator pops on to give you a fun family art project to do in your home. Val wraps it up by doing an art demo inspired by the artist featured. We are working our way through the whole group of 50 artists and hope you will join us!

Studio 23 is fortunate to receive funding from DOW and funding with the PPP to continue our operations. This helped us while we transitioned our programing to online formats.

We now offer virtual programing for classes and workshops. You can take iPhoneography, drawing and plein air classes through the Zoom platform. We finished many of our children’s classes virtually this winter and are now offering two options for children this summer. You will see us continue to offer in person classes and online. With online classes we have seen our physical location become nonexistent, having students join us from Mexico and Germany. What an amazing opportunity to reach students from all over the world.

As we move into the rest of summer we have opened our galleries to the public again. Painters & Potters is on exhibit and showcases the talent of our students and instructors. This is an exhibit to see year after year, and watch all of our students improve their artistic style. The variety of mediums is very exciting! It creates a visual representation of growth of our programing.

Chalk Walk Art Festival is moving to an online format. We appreciate our title sponsor Thelen Subaru for supporting the festival during this change. Now adult, teens and youth can fill out their registration online and submit their original work through the online portal. Patrons will be able to view an online gallery of all of the artwork. Check out the Chalk Walk website for all information!

With all of the change that has happened, I couldn’t be prouder to work with our staff and artists to embrace the new. We appreciate everyone’s support and patience as we have worked through rescheduling and adjusting our exhibits, fundraisers and programs.

I get the question of ‘How can I help?’ The best way to support your local art center is to become a member, become an art advocate, or participate in a class or exhibit. I hope you will continue to support our center. Follow us along on social media and our website and share our content with friends and family who have an appreciation for art. Word of mouth is the best way for us to reach new audiences.

Thank you for sticking with us! I look forward to seeing you in our galleries soon.

Tara Welch

Executive Director

Upcoming Events and Programs

Our galleries are now open! Join us from 11am-5pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Galleries are limited to 10 people at a time. If you would like a private showing we are happy to accommodate. Please give us a call to set one up today.

August 4th, 3pm-6pm

Members of Studio 23 can join us for a Paint Pour workshop. We are offering to-go options for our members. If you would like to do this in our studio please sign up for a time slot. Thank you!

In person summer camp for children. Join us from August 3rd-7th from 8:30am – 3:30pm. Students will learn a variety of mediums in a safe environment. We are limiting our summer camps to eight campers.

Paint with Studio 23 from the comfort of your own home or even wrangle up some pals and paint from the patio…

grab your drinks because…

We’re offering a Sip ‘n’ Swirl through Zoom!!

We will be painting “Beautiful Buck” an image we’ve never offered at the studio.

This will be such a fun painting event and don’t worry, because it’s Zoom you’ll be able to ask any question you have in real time.

Does the deer look “too hard” to paint?! Promise it’s not as you will also learn to design transfer!

All supplies and instruction are included in the price!

$45 per person

Thursday, August 6th 6-9pm

You can pick up your supplies any time 11am-5pm August 4th, 5th, or 6th.

CALL FOR ENTRY

MI Artists All-State Juried Exhibition 2020 application is now available. Please submit your entries online through this link: https://form.jotform.com/201498925166161 This will be a virtual exhibit with the option of displaying your artwork in our galleries through a safe delivery system. Timothy Norris, artist and instructor is our juror. There will be a $1000 best of show award as well as additional awards of merit TBD.

by Megan Koch

Posted 19 June 2020

The longest day of the year.

In 2012 Studio 23’s board and committee created the Summer Solstice event, the year of the water dragon. A tent was in our north parking lot with beautiful decorations of bonsai trees and colorful fans. Our patrons enjoyed music, performances by a local dance group and the lighting of paper lanterns.

This event celebrated art. On exhibit was, A Women’s Perspective that featured fifty local female artists. With Studio 23 being a nonprofit we rely on these events to raise funds for our programing and operational costs. Luckily, throughout the years we have had wonderful committee and board members that create new and exciting events.

For this years Summer Solstice we decided to bring back the celebration of art on the longest day of the year. With the sun shining we can welcome summer here in Bay City, Michigan. Even though summer this year might look a little different, we believe that we all can enjoy a piece of art during this time. On Saturday, June 20th we will have thirteen artists participating in a critique, plein air and demos from 5pm-8pm on our FaceBook stream.

We are excited to feature:

Amy Gibas & Val Allen as our hosts of the evening.

Armin Mersmann will be creating in our windows. Walk by and say hi!

Our Panelist:

Mike Zureich

Armin Mersmann

Margaret Colarelli

Rebecca Zeiss

Sara Clark

Pam Hart

Our Plein Air Artists:

Ruth Howell

Elli Hennessey

Barbara Plezia

Walda Juhl

Rebecca Longoria

How can you support your local artists? It is easy, make a pledge to our PayPal account! I’m happy to make my pledge of $23 in honor of Studio 23’s first location on US 23. Without that beginning we wouldn’t be where we are today. I hope you will join me by making your pledge below.

Summer Solstice Art-A-Thon Pledge.

Have a great Summer Solstice and I hope to see you virtually tomorrow night.

Sincerely,

Tara Welch

Executive Director

Now is your chance to support local businesses and nonprofits through Buy BAY COUNTY!

Purchase a gift card to your favorite Bay County restaurant, retail or service business and receive 25% free! Studio 23 can apply your Studio 23 gift card purchase to artwork and/or classes.

Order your gift cards from this link!

Studio 23 is part of the Amazon Smile gives program for nonprofits. Please consider using this when ordering from at smile.amazon.com and choose Studio 23 as your nonprofit.

by Megan Koch

Posted 6 June 2020

Reopening at Studio 23!

Studio 23 Family,

We are so excited to open our doors to you again.

Throughout the stay-at-home order we have continued to provide content through social media and our website. That is here to stay: We will continue to offer virtual classes, free art projects, artist demos, and tours of artists’ homes and studios. Staying connected to you was so much fun, and we loved seeing your posts of your own creations. Thank you for supporting us through this time.

On Monday the governor announced that children’s day camps and museums can reopen to the public, but with guidelines.

We will open our gallery doors on Tuesday, June 16, at 11am.

Your safety is our priority, so we have some new procedures in place:

– You must wear a mask. If you don’t have one, we will have masks available for $1.

– Please keep social distance from others, remaining six feet apart.

– Our galleries will admit up to ten people at a time.

– Our classrooms will also have limited capacity, based upon space.

– Restrooms will not be available to the public.

– We ask that you do not enter the galleries or classrooms if you are feeling unwell.

– All individuals must enter through our main entrance on Water Street.

– We will have limited hours: 11am-5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Our staff will be cleaning, organizing, and getting ready to welcome you back. Please be patient as we begin to schedule classes at the studio. Also note that all of our virtual classes are still happening! You can still make art with us in the comfort of your home.

Thank you for understanding the changes we have made. We can’t wait to see you in our space, creating and admiring local art!

Sincerely,

Tara Welch

Executive Director

Support Studio 23 when shopping on Amazon. It is so easy, just start at smile.amazon.com and choose Studio 23 as your nonprofit.

by Autumn Reyes

Posted 22 May 2020

We’re Going Virtual!

With everything pandemic-related going on right now, Studio 23 has made the jump to virtual class… and we’re jumping right in! Besides the free virtual lessons we’ve been providing through our Facebook Live art lessons, we’ve also been busy planning away with our instructors to bring you classes through Zoom. We have some great classes already posted and we’re adding more every day. A great example of our virtual programming is our Still Life Colored Pencil Project with artist Julie Tyslicky! In this class you will be drawing and rendering in full color a still life of fruit on fabric. You will be instructed on ways to set up your still life. Composition, design and light source is discussed as well as color theory.

This class does not teach you how to draw but rather how to better use the color pencils in your drawing. This class looks to build on your existing drawing skills and done completely through the comfort of your own home using Zoom.

Another great class we’re offering is our Virtual Plein Air Workshop with artist Ruth Howell…
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood to take a Virtual Plein Air Painting Class with Artist/Instructor Ruth Howell.

Through a series of three sessions on Zoom, a virtual meeting site you can access in the comfort of your home or studio, Ruth will guide you through painting outdoor scenes in plein air. The opening virtual class will cover supplies, equipment and tips to paint outside. Ruth will announce the first assignment that each artist will complete during the week. The assignments will be discussed “conversation style” at the beginning of each session and then students will progress to the next topics listed below. Artists are encouraged to work in a painting medium such as watercolor, oil, acrylic or pen and ink.

We also have workshop offerings for children! Our teen instructor, Spencer Scharf is offering two workshop… A Dragon Trophy Workshop and a Tiki Mask Workshop…. In the dragon workshop, join Spencer as he takes you through his paper mache dragon trophy step-by-step. Spencer will be able to interact with you through zoom so you will be able to follow along AND ask any questions you need to create your masterpiece! With his Tiki Mask Workshop, Spencer will takes you through his cardboard Tiki Mask step-by-step. Spencer will be able to interact with you through zoom during this workshop, as well.

There is plenty more where that came from so I encourage you to check out our class listings on our website and Facebook and sign up for a class today- don’t let this pandemic stop you from getting creative. Studio 23 has got you covered- we’ll help you get creative while you’re being safe!

I hope you all enjoy your holiday weekend and I hope to see you (virtually) very soon!

Autumn Reyes

Education Coordinator

by Megan Koch

Posted 8 May 2020

Have a marvelous May with Studio 23!

Hello Everyone!

Can you believe its May?! Since the #stayhome order it almost felt like time was inching by, but now I sit here and type wondering how it is May already? A lot has changed in our world, but I believe that the importance of art remains relevant. We have seen authors read their famous books, actors perform on zoom and art lessons through video chat. Our art world has adapted to make sure we can still serve our community. To us, we need art just like we need fresh air! I hope that you have had time to enjoy our videos on Facebook. Now all of these videos are available on the home page of our website! No more worrying about not have a social media account, you can enjoy them anytime on our website.

Studio 23 is lucky to have the great staff we do. We knew to adapt quickly and now we are excited to announce virtual classes and a Craft Bar pick up.

Right before the order was put into effect we opened our Craft Bar. A place that you can pick up an art project and have the steps written out for you. It is the perfect thing to take home! Our directions all have step by step pictures, making your art experience stress free and fun. Visit our link to reserve your art packet from the Craft Bar! We are offering a pickup day and we will bring the items out to your car.

We have two virtual class opportunities that you will enjoy. Our first is an online critique session with artist, Armin Mersmann and our Curator, Valerie Allen.

Join Armin and Valerie for a relaxing conversation about your art.

This virtual conversation and critique on your work of art will be Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. Armin and Valerie will discuss the possibilities and “what if” solutions for each selected piece. At the end of this two-hour program, you will learn about overcoming specific challenges and discover new perspectives on your creative process.

Space is limited for this paid event. Each artist may submit one selection.

$10 per Studio 23 member and $15 for nonmembers.

Paint Your Neighborhood with artist Ruth Howell.

Ruth Howell is known for her plein air paintings and now she is offering a three week session for you! This will be a virtual class, where you will meet online with Ruth to receive the assignment and demo. After each session you will have a week to go out into your neighborhood safely and create your painting.

There will be an information session held for this class on May 14th at 6pm. Information on this will be posted very soon! After the information session the dates will be posted on our website for easy sign up.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who supported us on Give Local Bay!

We raised $3,014 dollars for our Art Advocate Campaign and operational funding. Didn’t have the chance to donate? Visit our donation tab on our website and make a difference today!

As the new #Stayhome order is until May 28th, we are hopeful we can open for you soon. Plans are being made to open in June and we will keep you updated.

For now, we hope you will join us virtually and please keep creating.

Sincerely,

Tara Welch, Executive Director

Studio23.Executive.Director@gmail.com

by Megan Koch

Posted 4 May 2020

Supporting local artists and art education.

#GiveLocalBay is tomorrow!

Studio 23 has continued to make the arts accessible to all during this #stayhome order. Our members and donors like YOU, help us continue our mission. You can make a difference tomorrow and donate to help us reach our goals. The funds raised will support visual art education, local artists and daily operations.

In 2019 we:
– Offered visual arts education to three elementary schools
– Created with over 2,100 children
– Hosted over 5,900 people in our galleries
– Hosted 50 Artists of the GLBR and awarded over $3,000 in cash prizes

We need your help! Please join our campaign and help us reach our goal of $5,000! We need you to tell your friends and family members about the important work we do and ask them to join us in helping to make a difference. Read below to hear from a local artist!

Get ready to give! On May 5th, starting at 12AM on May 5, visit https://www.givelocalbay.org and make a donation to us and/or to any of the great participating nonprofit organizations in Bay and Arenac counties. You will have 24 hours to make your donation, and all giving will end at 11:59PM on May 5.

Questions? If you have any questions or would like more information, let us know. Thank you in advance for your generosity to our organization!

My name is Katrina Rae, I’m a pastel artist. I reside in Frankenmuth, MI. I’m honored and humbled to have been one of the artist chosen for the 50 Artist of the Great Lakes Bay Region. I’m tremendously honored to have received the Award of Merit Peoples Choice Award, in the company of so many talented and gifted artist, for my piece, Thailand Tree Frog.

What this award has given me is encouragement to continue with my current artistic direction, to evolve and grow. Receiving a peoples choice award is exciting, due to being chosen by the people. The monetary addition to the award is aways a pleasant financial boost. Winning a monetary award helps aid in the purchase of supplies and entry fees needed for the next project or exhibition. The project I was able to fund with my prize money, is a series called Street Stings, this is my entry for ArtPrize 2020, held in Grand Rapids, MI. This was a large piece requiring additional pastels, wood, and insulation board, which is my painting surface. Additionally, I was also able to purchase materials needed to build a crate used for transporting my paintings.

I’m proud to be a member of Studio 23/The Arts Center, with Curator Valerie Allen. Studio 23 gives artists visibility and education, through their various events, classes and exhibitions. I’m also grateful for those who continue to support and sponsor the arts, and local art centers like Studio 23. The arts are such an important and vital part of our community.

Being a part of this exhibition has been a wonderful experience, and I look forward to more events and exhibitions in the future.

– Katrina Rae, Local Artist

by Megan Koch

Posted 30 April 2020

Making art accessible to all!

Studio 23/The Arts Center has been closed since March 16th. Since that time we have been focusing on online content for all of our members and community. Have you seen our live videos on FaceBook and Instagram? Make sure to visit our pages for FREE family art projects, artist tours and demos. A special thank you to all of the artists who are supporting us during this time.
Every Tuesday we release our weekly schedule. Check it out below to follow along with us!

Give Local Bay!

The annual Give Local Bay campaign is May 5th! Just a few days away. We participate with the Bay Area Community Foundation every year to help build our endowment fund. This endowment fund helps ensure the longevity of Studio 23.

Did you know that we celebrated our 60th Anniversary last year? We made a commitment to make it another 60+ years and you can help us do that!

On May 5th you can make a difference and support Studio 23 financially. Why support us on May 5th? With every donation there is a $25,000 matching pool that we have the opportunity to earn from. That means your $100 donation could potentially be a $110 (or more!) donation to Studio 23.

Help us win a contest!
Social Media Mavens: The organization with the most votes by 3 p.m. on Monday, May 4 wins. One vote per person. The poll is live, and you can start sharing the link with your followers, friends, and family: https://form.jotform.com/201123450911036

Calling all coffee lovers!

Populace Coffee is supporting local businesses. Purchase your Studio 23 bag of coffee and a portion of the sale will be donated directly to us! This will help support our mission of making the arts accessible to all.
https://populace.coffee/products/studio23

by Val Allen

Posted 16 April 2020

Curator’s Clipboard: There is so much talent here!

Hi! It’s Val, curator of Studio 23!

Hello from my home! I didn’t expect that we would be working from home but here we are. Actually, we are accomplishing quite a bit keeping the arts relevant and accessible to all via the internet. Within a week of the shelter at home order, our team rallied and began a creative stream of social media content that is serving as a source for visual art to bring encouragement, escape and education to the Great Lakes Bay Region.

The hashtags #Studio23OnTheGo and #MakeArtVirtual will now retrieve many informative videos, posts and events. I’m proud that we were in the forefront of joining forces with the Make Art Virtual movement and became part of a coalition with Midland Center for the Arts. This type of connection leads to a strong, robust art community and can only further prove that Mid-Michigan is full of talent!

We have had a few weeks now to refine our Facebook Live event titled, “Live Art Talk and Art Project. This 45-minute segment on the Arts Around the City Rail Trail highlights an art image by one of our 50 Artists of the Great Lakes Bay Region. To date we have featured artists Rosemary Kavanagh, Sally Rose, Sheri Moore, Sylvia Coon, Bonnie Lalley and this week we will feature Josh Roupe.

Here is a sampling of their artwork and we thank them for sharing their talent!

Rosemary Kavanagh

Bonnie Lalley

Sylvia Coon

Sally Rose

Sheri Moore

Josh Roupe

As the curator of Studio 23 and a professional artist, I have been creating artist demonstrations focusing on art materials and techniques. These presentations are inspired by the aesthetic of our featured artists. Since all of this is done live via Facebook, we sometimes have surprises while filming, often many comments from viewers and we are always learning new ways to connect regional artists with our audience.

Another exciting development that came about because of our increased awareness into virtual connections is the formation of our Studio 23 Books on Art Club. We are reading the book “The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith and will be having a virtual Zoom meeting next week. All of these online applications will serve us well into the future and allow us to expand our mission beyond our brick and mortar space! However, we hope that soon our community will begin to return to a new normal and we will see our friends again in the gallery. Until then, please enjoy these images created by Studio 23 member artists during our time of shelter.

“Wishing all love and happiness today!” Mark Piotrowski

“Walking through my woods during this time of seclusion, I made a great early morning discovery to paint.” Alan Maciag

Stay safe and keep well, Studio 23 family!

Kind regards,

Valerie Allen, curator