Join us for a screening of “Blue and White Porcelain,” an episode from the documentary series Wonder of China. Learn more about the history of the iconic blue-on-white ceramic style that has been admired, collected, and copied for centuries. Follow artists Lu Lyujun, Ye Jianxin, and Liao Zhidan as they demonstrate their own approaches to…
George A. Bayard III, Executive Director of the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives (GRAAMA), shares the museum’s origin story, a selection of unique local stories he’s encountered, and his vision for the futures of both GRAAMA and West Michigan itself. Bayard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from the University of…
Founded by Dale Chihuly and a few art school friends in 1971, the Pilchuck Glass School has long been pushing the limits of a medium that can last for centuries or shatter in an instant. Through the story of this small and highly influential school in the Pacific Northwest, Pilchuck: A Dance with Fire identifies…
In 1961, construction was completed on two remarkable structures in Kalamazoo, both designed by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. One was the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, based on a design by architect Mies van der Rohe and expanded in 1994 to become the structure we occupy today. The other was the Upjohn Company’s…
Join us in observing Memorial Day with a screening of the 1994 film Maya Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision.This Academy Award-winning documentary tells the story of architect-sculptor Maya Lin, whose design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was selected from over a thousand submissions when she was a 21-year-old student at Yale University. The film explores…
Originally published in 1893 and 1901, Simon Pokagon’s birch bark stories were printed on thinly peeled and elegantly bound birch bark. In Dr. Blaire Morseau’s 2023 book, As Sacred to Us: Simon Pokagon’s Birch Bark Stories in Their Contexts, these rare booklets are reprinted with new essays that set the stories in cultural, linguistic, historical,…
Join us for an artist’s talk and live demonstration with Jeffrey Bohl, whose sculpture Ellie is featured in the 2024 West Michigan Area Show! Bohl has been creating bronze sculptures for over 16 years, exhibiting along the way in numerous regional competitions and in several individual shows. He pours most of his bronzes in his own…
During this ArtBreak, meet local artists Vicki Nelson and Michael Pfleghaar, whose paintings are featured in the 2024 West Michigan Area Show! Vicki Nelson’s painting The Howards was selected for this year’s Art League Award. As an artist, Nelson is interested in how humans interact with their environments. In her work, she seeks to examine…
