Curator’s Clipboard: Artists as collaborators!

 #Collaboration

Hi! It’s Val, curator of Studio 23! The artist Robert Rauschenberg has been a major influence in my life since art school. He lived between 1925–2008 and was very prolific in mixed media artwork involving printmaking, painting, photography, and performance art. He led the charge for many collaborations between visual artists, scientists, musicians, dancers and social activists and he strived to promote world peace and understanding. “There is no reason not to think of the world as one gigantic painting,” stated Rauschenberg in 1971. Not only does that quote speak to me of all the possible materials we can use in our artwork but also the big picture of defining collaboration as a complete creative process. Here are just a few of the collaborations we initiated at Studio 23 so far in 2020.

On January 25, Studio 23 collaborated with City Market Bay City for “A Taste of Art” held during the market’s Sample Saturday. Faculty members from our education department demonstrated drawing, painting, printmaking and offered a station for market-goers to do their own mini paintings. I’m happy to announce that this community event was successful and our collaboration will now be scheduled four times a year with the next “A Taste of Art” being on Saturday, April 25, 2020. Below you will see artists from left to right,  Amy Gibas, Julie Tyslicky, Ruth Howell, Deb LaRocque, Misty Coss, all instructors at Studio 23.

              

Studio 23 is collaborating with Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy to present Land to River, an exhibit that features artists in the role of communicators, explorers and environmentalists. Artists include: Mark Bleshenski, Zachary Branigan, Frits Hoendervanger, Erwin Lewandowski, Alan Maciag, and John Sabraw. This exhibit will open on May 14, 2020 at 5:00pm. The topics of conservation, restoration, education, utilization and activation as it relates to over 6000 acres of land in our region will be addressed through the message of visual art with the opportunity for our community members to participate in workshops and environmental events. This exhibit is sponsored by Waste Management.

The Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra and Studio 23 presented Where Art and Music Unite, a collaboration that featured artist Valerie Allen painting to the music of Haydn, Torke, and Copland performed by the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra and led by Conductor Fouad FakhouriThe painting was then auctioned at the afterglow for the evening. The collaboration also included a food drive for Hidden Harvest, a regional organization that strives to alleviate hunger and food waste in the counties of Bay, Midland and Saginaw. 

       

Kind regards,

Valerie Allen

Curator

Current Exhibit:

Teenworks & Kids’ Kreations continues until March 7, 2020

Don’t miss this popular exhibit featuring the young artists of Bay County. The exhibit features over 375 creations by elementary, middle school and high school art students. We have a family-fun scavenger hunt for this exhibit and if you correctly answer the questions you will receive a label. Collect a label from each exhibit in 2020 and you will receive a prize in December. Gallery hours are Tuesday and Wednesday: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm. We are closed Sunday and Monday.

Upcoming Exhibit:

Understory: Bonnie Lalley, artist and illustrator

March 19 – May 2, 2020

Bonnie Lalley is a full-time artist/illustrator and art professor at Delta College. She lives in the countryside by choice, as flora and fauna are the motifs she loves best. Her 100-year-old home and studio in the Thumb reflect her aesthetic with vintage colors and patinas. There will be large scale collages as well as mixed media works custom framed by artisan Timothy Lalley. 

Artist’s reception: Friday, March 20, 2020, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm 

A Conversation with Artist Bonnie Lalley: Saturday, April 11, 2020, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted 11 November 2022

21st Annual Back & White Affair and Art Auction

21st Annual Black & White Affair and Art Auction December 9, 2022 6 – 9 p.m. The Black & White Affair is returning this Friday, December 9, and we are excited for an evening of drinks, hors d’oeuvres, live music, and a live auction of artwork by local artists. The annual Black &...

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Posted 8 July 2022

Congratulations to the winners of our Summer Solstice Art-a-Thon Plein Air Paint Out!

On Saturday, June 25, 13 artists visited 12 farms growing sugar beets for Michigan Sugar and spent the morning and afternoon painting the fields, buildings, and scenery of the farms. Artist checked in at Studio 23 beginning at 8 a.m. and had paintings finished and framed by 4 p.m. the same...

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