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.
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“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