Art

Art Rick Coates One of the first stories the Northern Express covered in 1991 was the opening of the Dennos Museum Center on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College. Gene Jenneman has served as executive director ever since, and he took time via Skype to be interviewed while at a museum conference in South Korea. Jenneman reflected on the past 20 years of the museum and the Milliken Auditorium, its importance to the region and some thoughts on the future.

Northern Express:  Why are you in South Korea?
Gene Jenneman: I was invited to speak at the first Yeongwol Yonsei Forum: A World of Museums in Yeongwol, South Korea (near Seoul).
Yeongwol is a community seeking to revitalize its economy through the development of an extensive number of museums on various subjects, becoming Korea’s Museum City. This project was begun in 2005. The purpose of this forum is, in part, to assess the project to date. The focus in Yeongwol has been to develop museums with single collections. 
When the Dennos was created there was a need to address the integration of the college’s unique collection of Inuit art into the overall program of the museum. I have  been invited to speak on the development of the Dennos as a community museum that serves the purpose of being a specialized museum of Inuit art, while offering a much broader range of programming. This trip and my visit to China points to how the Dennos has become a global institution. 

Art Al Parker It’s easy to see that artist Char Bickel is serious when it comes to joy and fun.
“It’s good to keep in touch with that childhood joy,” advises the smiling Northport resident who creates evocative, handsome shadow boxes of painted silk and cotton fabric that is painstakingly cut and glued. “I loved making art as a kid and I still do.”  
Paying homage to collage, Bickel’s works draw their inspiration from the nature that surrounds her in Leelanau County and most of her works include images of animals – rabbits, fish, birds, and most noticeably, bears. In fact, her haunting image of a Juggling Bear has become synonymous with her work, appearing in a variety of her shadow boxes.
“There’s something about the shape of bears,” she says. “I’ve been doing the Juggling Bear since 1992. It’s sort of a logo for me now. To me, it reflects that you should handle parts of life in balance and joyfully.” 
Bickel’s shadow boxes begin simply with white silk that is screen printed with splashes of color. Then she cuts and glues the silk into images as simple and subtle as bears flying kites or ponies romping on a beach. The scenes may seem other-worldly, yet are rooted in the familiar. Take a closer look and you’ll see sturdy stitching linking a stone to the beach or fixing the moon in the sky.
“I like adding detail,” she says. “I like to start with a strong image first, then see something else and something else, adding details.”

Art Rick Coates The Swirly Art of Pammy Tinsley: Radio host offers twists & turns at Opera House exhibit
By Rick Coates
Pammy Tinsley grew up a “muse” for the bullies at her school. After years of verbal torment that led to her dropping out of school, she was uncertain of her talents and purpose in life. Now at the age of 50, Tinsley has focused the creative flame within her by launching into a new career path that includes radio personality, graphic designer and artist.
An exhibition of her works will be on display during the month of May at the City Opera House in Traverse City. She will host and artist reception on Tuesday May 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. that will also feature the musical stylings of Jon and Johnny, along with DJ Nesta.
For Tinsley, her life has been about either being in the wrong place at the wrong time or the right place at the right time. One of those right places was three years ago at a bar when she met up with WKLT Morning Show personalities Omelette & Finster.

Art Rick Coates For women between the ages of 35-54 cancer is the leading cause of death. In 2003 a group of female artists and cancer survivors led by Rosalyn Tyge and Jen Hutchinson launched “From Women’s Hands,” an art show and sale to benefit the Women’s Cancer Fund of the Munson Healthcare Regional Foundation.
This year, the event will take place April 29 - May 1 at The Streeters Center in Traverse City, featuring over 100 female artists exhibiting and selling original art.
“We are really excited about the event this year it has been really ramped up with addition of the ‘Tickled Pink,’ our opening night celebration on Friday,” said co-chair Jen Hutchinson.
“Tickled Pink” will feature celebrity waitstaff from the area serving drinks and food. The ticketed event on Friday, April 29 includes a separate dance area featuring national touring seven-piece funk band Soul Xpress and goes from 6 to 10 p.m.

Art Skin Deep… ‘Bodies Human: Anatomy in Motion’ gets under your skin

A blend of the fascinating and the macabre comes to the Dennos Museum
Center this spring and summer with arrival of over 100 human specimens in
their most ‘revealing’ moments.
The exhibit is “Bodies Human: Anatomy in Motion,” which runs April 10 -
Sept. 4 at the museum on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College in
Traverse City.

Art Kristi Kates Art Meets Ice at Bay Harbor 1/17/11
By Kristi Kates
Back in 2000, the marketing folks at Bay Harbor were thinking up ideas
to bring more people in to the Bay Harbor community. A couple of
professional ice carvers were invited to create ice sculptures in Bay
Harbor’s Village on Main Street - and the response was a more than
positive one, with a plethora ofvisitors and locals stopping by to
view the unique art pieces crafted in the cold of a Northern Michigan
winter.

Art Robert Downes Digital Art at the Dennos: Korean artist Lee nam Lee brings classic paintings to life 1/17/11
Blending digital technology with classic paintings of the East and West is the challenge of Lee nam Lee, whose exhibition “A Conversation Between Monet and Sochi” will run at the Dennos Museum Center through March 27.
A sculptor by background and a master of digital technology, Lee nam Lee brings wall-sized paintings to life, even to the point of interacting with other paintings.
In the exhibit’s main work, a waterscape painting by French impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) is projected side-by-side with a water scene by Korean artist Sochi (1803-1893) on a 40-foot-wide wall. Other than their shared use of water, the paintings are completely different in style. Yet by using digital technology, Lee nam induces the paintings to move and interact.

Art Al Parker Cog’s Creek Collective : Offers New Art Gallery & Café
By Al Parker
Kim Bazemore smiles widely, wipes her hands on a rag and talks about her latest project of turning a neglected building into a home for creative art and artists. “It’s been a lot of work over a long time, but it’s coming together,” she says, her voice rising with excitement.
“It” is the Cog’s Creek Collective, a 6,000-square-foot building in Traverse City’s “Little Bohemia” neighborhood, tucked behind the popular Lil Bo Pub & Grille on North Maple Street.
The former home of Coddington Cleaners, the building now houses an art gallery for Bazemore’s gold and silver jewelry creations, an eatery, a clothing designer, a knife sharpening workshop and room for more artisans.
A grand opening celebration is set for Friday, Dec. 3 at the century-old building that took about a year to renovate. About 10 artists are expected to display their creations – paintings, photography, furniture, modern art quilts, ornaments and more. It’ll be catered by their neighbor, Lil Bo Pub & Grille.

Art Erin Cowell Five Friends in Art: Jill’s Gallery offers a fall open house
By Erin Crowell
Unlike most art sales that bring the work of several strangers
together, the Second Annual Fall Open House & Art Sale combines the
work of five sisters and friends. Expect lots of color and variety
when these five Northern Michigan female artists present their work in
support of a local cause at the Second Annual Fall Open House & Art
Sale at Jill’s Studio, in Traverse City, on Saturday, Nov. 20, from 9
a.m.-5 p.m.

Art Kristi Kates Sutton Foster Brings Broadway to TC
By Kristi Kates
Actress, singer, dancer, and Broadway conqueress Sutton Foster may have been raised in Troy, Michigan, but it didn’t take long for this ambitious talent to find her way to Broadway.
She actually left Troy High School early (snagging her degree via correspondence courses) to join a national musical tour - and it was goodbye, Michigan, and all about the big stage and the Great White Way from that point on.
After a few false starts in the form of auditioning for The Mickey Mouse Club and as a contestant on the Ed McMahon-helmed American Idol talent show precursor Star Search, Foster found herself in her first Broadway role, as the lead role of Sandy in the musical Grease in 1996. She quickly followed with a trio of other well-known Broadway plays - The Scarlet Pimpernel, Annie, and Les Miserables, in which she alternated between lead and support spots.
In her first “big” Broadway role - which she took over from former lead Erin Dilly in Thoroughly Modern Millie - the New York Post called her “cutely agreeable”; Newsday compared her to a young Carol Burnett; and Time Magazine said that she had “Broadway brass” and the lungs to go with it. Small wonder, then, that Foster would win the 2002 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical - but that was only the beginning.

PUPPETS TO PRINCESSES

Art Gretchen Eichenberger Dancing to Documents : An American Heritage
By Gretchen Eichberger
What do you know about your heritage? Many Americans begin their answer with their place of family origin, recalling some handed-down lore, wondering at what they don’t know and perhaps even recall some local history—their own as far as they know. They will leave it at that. When you cast your vote in this upcoming election, will you reflect on your American heritage? Does your vote keep up with the legacy that your ancestors intended, or has it changed? How does dance relate to these questions? Can it? I submit to you that attending American Document a dance–drama inspired by the legendary choreographer and dancer, Martha Graham, might give you pause to re-evaluate the value and meaning of our American heritage and citizenship.

Art Robert Downes David Grath captures the Spirit of the Land
By Robert Downes
Painter David Grath has a funny story about his earliest days in
Leelanau County.
“I came up to Leland in 1957 and was wandering around Fishtown Harbor
with no place to stay,” he recalls. “Then I found this big
hollowed-out log on the beach just south of the harbor and I crawled
in with my sleeping bag and spent the night there.

Art Rick Coates Devo This: The Art of Mark Mothersbaugh
By Rick Coates
While Mark Mothersbaugh might not be a household name, his work
certainly is. From his work as the lead singer of Devo (“Whip It,
“Through Being Cool,” “Jocko Homo,”) to producing the jingles from
hundreds of commercials (Hawaiian Punch, Hershey’s, Coca-Cola,
McDonald’s, Nike, and Toyota) and several movie and TV soundtracks and
theme songs (Rugrats, PeeWee’s Playhouse), Mothersbaugh is near the
front of every Rolodex in Hollywood.

Art Kristi Kates Mike Curths: Art’s InsideOut Man Warehouse District gallery renovated & ready
By Kristi Kates
It’s been five years in April since Mike Curths “hung a shingle,” as
he simply puts it, and began what is now one of Traverse City’s
must-see, most eclectic art galleries.

Art Kristi Kates Welcome to SOBO: Northern Michigan’s hip new destination
By Kristi Kates
Barrios, quarters, districts, arrondissements, neighborhoods. No
matter what you call them or what geographic location you’re in,
chances are if you’re reading this, you’re part of a neighborhood in
your own community.