Past Exhibits
September 4 through October 4, 2025
Steven Parkhurst is the featured artist for Studio 23’s annual Black & White Affair fundraising event, which will take place on Friday, September 12, 2025, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the galleries of Studio 23. Guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres by H2O’s Waterside Grill and Artigiano Artisan Cheese Shoppe, desserts by Petit 4 Pastry, cocktails and mocktails, and an exclusive silent auction with items and artwork generously donated by many local and state-wide artists and businesses.
Proceeds from this event help support 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. For tickets and more information on the Black & White affair, visit the Black & White Affair webpage on this site, or call 989-894-2323.
Interior Ecologies
Steven Parkhurst
Interior Ecologies are Steven Parkhurst’s impressions of places that he has travelled to around the world, local scenes, and his own imaginative creations. Steven’s work is a combination of observation and imagination, often combining abstract and representative subjects and translating them into what he calls “interior ecologies.” These works are the result of a free associative process where the basic observation is established, and the piece then dictates the direction. Steven states, “My plan is usually abandoned after the first brushstroke or photo editing, then the process and my imagination take over.” Like natural ecological processes, the interactions between organisms determine the character of the community.
In his work, Steven reduces his subjects into what he views as fundamental shapes and the relationship between those shapes. The colors in his work are not strictly representative of nature per se, but are a familiar part of his artistic language. Steven describes himself as a “maker”: he makes paintings and photos that please his artistic sensibility, and he finds joy in the process of making them.
Works in this show include oil and acrylic paintings and iPhoneography, photos taken with an iPhone and subsequently edited using various apps available on the iPhone and iPad.
