Susan Moran

NCRC, Building 18 Lobby, Rotunda Gallery
September 27, 2024 to December 14, 2024
Public reception Friday September 27, 5-7 pm

Susan Moran’s work is inspired by the natural world and our place in it.  She collects and arranges images, builds and subtracts, and uses processes that suit the concepts and gives the pieces a reason for existing as textiles.  Simultaneously she strives to make the medium influence the outcome in such a way that cloth and image meld together. Moran uses silkscreen, shibori, and stitching to embed images from her daily walks into the fabric. It's important that the work builds slowly, involving meditative processes that connect her to the cloth and the source of the design.

Susan has an MFA in Textiles from the University of Michigan. Her work incorporates shibori, silkscreen, and stitching to create work inspired by the natural world and common human experiences. She was a faculty member of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit from 1986-2023 and has also taught at Wayne State University. Commissions include textiles for the University of Michigan Medical School and the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, United Technologies Automotive, and the Michigan Horticultural Society. She has received grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts and National Surface Design Association. Her work has been profiled in Fiberarts Magazine. She exhibits, lectures and conducts workshops widely in Michigan and the US. Her recent Artist Residency at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore/ Glen Arbor Art Center has influenced some of the work in this exhibition.

Steven Glazer

NCRC, Building 18 Lobby, Connections Gallery
September 27, 2024 to December 14, 2024
Public Reception Friday September 27, 5-7 pm

Steve Glazer earned his BFA in art with a concentration in ceramics from Eastern Michigan University, a master’s degree in art from Central Michigan University, and MFA in fine arts and ceramics from Indiana State University. Since 2004, Glazer has been lead faculty and head of ceramics at Henry Ford College, and former faculty of Concord College (WV) and North Dakota State University. His artwork has been exhibited throughout the country.

Throughout his adult life the art of Steve Glazer has been done as a response to his environment. From a series of shadow box type pieces containing life like ceramic fish while teaching at a Catholic woman’s college, to building 8’ tall ceramic “skyscrapers” that barely fit into the display spaces while teaching in North Dakota, where no skyscrapers exist, and then creating installations commenting on living in Appalachia while teaching in southern West Virginia. After returning home to Detroit, Glazer began his griot series, the “Motor City Griot Society” masks, the faces of the superheroes that w

Jim Pallas

The sculpture is located within the Buildings 100-400 courtyard
This exhibit is on permanent display.

NCRC is the recipient of a generous donation of art. Jim Pallas, a Detroit-based artist known for inventive, kinetic, thought-provoking and oftentimes humorous work, created the sculpture Tattered Moon. This piece is thematically reminiscent of the David Barr granite and marble sculpture series on the grounds west of Huron Parkway, which illustrate the birth of an idea. As described by Jim Pallas, “Tattered Moon is a metaphor for the process of bringing a dream to life. Sometimes a dream can become tattered.  As it is, it is brought to reality. Even when tattered, a dream is a beautiful thing.”

An Exercise in Art is based on “Liberation,” a sculpture by David Barr. The work consists of separate objects or groups of objects scattered throughout the NCRC landscape. To you left you will find an map that will guide you through the tour that includes a brief narrative describing each sculpture along with photos.

MHealthy has devised a way for people to appreciate “An Exercise in Art” while at the same time becoming more physically fit by putting together some simple MHealthy Strength/Stretching Exercises PDF that you can do at each sculpture to increase your fitness level.

The strengthening exercises may be done with or without weights. Before beginning any exercise program, consult with your doctor.

We hope you enjoy this “Exercise in Art.” If you have questions about the exercises, please contact MHealthy at [email protected] or 734-647-7888.

Download the Art as Exercise worksheet

The NCRC offers employees and visitors a rich environment. The juxtaposition of man-made art set against natural landscape inspires both mind and body.

Sculptures: Liberation

“The forms of this sculpture and their relationships to each other express the search, the research, the persistence, the power and the evolution of the scientific process,” says internationally renowned sculptor David Barr.The NCRC is home to “Liberation,” a sculpture by David Barr. The work consists of nine separate objects or groups of objects near the main entrance to the primary building and scattered throughout the landscape. The large, gray pieces are carved out of the same block of Prairie Green granite from Canada. The egg is white marble from Vermont.

“The creative process expressed in this sculpture is the teasing out of solutions. Quite often in research, the scientist targets one thing – and in doing so, discovers another.”

Perhaps the most recognizable pieces from this body of work are those that stand just outside NCRC Building 18.

The inscription on the base of the egg is from the 13th century Sufi poet and mystic Rumi. It reads: “The nature of reality is this:  It is hidden, it is hidden, and it is hidden.”

The Men-an-tol, or “hole in stone,” originated about 7,000 years ago, before Stonehenge, and was used as a sacred astronomical alignment and as a healing space. Infants were consecrated by being passed through the stone, the sick crawled through it and the betrothed held hands through the hole.

The engravings on the three upright stones refer to the production and calibration of quinine. The first engraving is the cinchona plant used to make quinine – the first effective treatment for malaria. The second engraving is the chemical structure of quinine. The third engraving takes the shape of a tablet.

The sculptor has hidden forged objects inside many of the individual sculptural pieces. The objects represent hidden keys that are unlocked by researchers who are looking for answers to society’s most pressing problems.

Landscape

Deer, ducks, geese and a multitude of other wildlife enhance the peaceful atmosphere at the NCRC.

The 11-acre native landscape designed by Pollock Design Associates uses plants that have been growing in southeastern Michigan since before European settlers arrived in the 1700’s. Native plants are adapted to local climate and conditions, and they have many benefits including:Millers Creek flows throughout this parcel of land before traveling to the Huron River. A cattail wetland graces property. And a contemplative sculpture installation further embellishes the already beautiful prairie.

• Reduction of storm water runoff
• Reduction of hydro-carbon emissions from lawn mowing equipment
• Reduction of annual maintenance costs by 50%
• Elimination of irrigation
• Reduction of fertilizer and broadleaf herbicide applications
• Increase in plant and wildlife diversity

Seed was installed using a no-till drill with straw mulch for erosion control.

David Barr, the award winning artist and creator of the ”Liberation” sculpture series located on the grounds of NCRC in Ann Arbor, died on Friday, August 28th following a brief illness.

As an artist and teacher, Barr was inspirational. His work is timeless and thought-provoking. Examples of his work can be seen at the Michigan Legacy Art Park at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville, Michigan and at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit.
He was commissioned by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in 2002 to create “Liberation” on the grounds of what is now U-M North Campus Research Complex. This series acknowledges the birth of an idea. You can follow the guided tour “An Exercise in Art” featuring this series. The tour shares an in-depth explanation behind this work of art.
“Liberation” consists of nine separate objects or groups of objects near the main entrance to Building 18 and scattered throughout the landscape on the west side of Huron Parkway. The large, gray pieces are carved out of the same block of Prairie Green granite from Canada. The egg is white marble from Vermont. Adding symbolic depth to the series, Barr hid forged objects inside many of the individual sculptural pieces. The objects represent hidden keys that are unlocked by researchers who are looking for answers to society’s most pressing problems.

NCRC has a great history of partnerships with local artists.  Below is the archive of previous exhibitions the NCRC has hosted.

Homecoming

Bill Jackson 
Exhibition Dates: April 16, 2024 to September 05, 2024

Please join us for an artist reception in the Building 18 Lobby: Thursday, May 16 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM UM Staff Hour, 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Public

Bill Jackson often quipped that he and his camera “auditioned the world, looking for just the right blend of the everyday and the unexpected, sparse indications of what might be, without the certainty of what is.”

A 1960’s graduate of Monteith College at Wayne State, Bill saw himself not as a storyteller nor a documentarian, but as a photographer seeking images with the power and creativity of late 20th century painting and music making.

This exhibition is entitled HOMECOMING because it has been almost 6 years since Bill was scheduled to have an exhibition at NCRC Gallery.  However, his untimely passing in 2018 prevented the exhibition.  In honor of the artist, his wife Meighen Jackson has assembled this body of work for this exhibition.

As Bill noted,” My photography is sparse. Some images are dramatic encounters. Others invite exploration and contemplation. But they say no more than necessary. I got there by going everywhere else first.”

Bill Jackson’s work is represented nationally by Walter Wickiser Gallery in Manhattan and regionally by M Contemporary in Ferndale, MI.   It is included in many permanent collections including Wayne State University in Detroit.

Additional images may be found online at billjacksonart.com

War Relics

Enna Diddio
Exhibition Dates: April 16, 2024 to September 05, 2024

Please join us for an artist reception in the Building 18 Lobby: Thursday, May 16 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM UM Staff Hour, 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Public

Enna Diddio was born and raised in Detroit.  She is a multimedia artist with a newfound attachment to printmaking. A recent Wayne State Fine Arts graduate, with a major in Drawing, Diddio’s work is versatile and inquisitive. She is a strong proponent of City of Detroit, with a strong sense of community, craftsmanship, and creativity. They have created as space between traditionally taught skills and the contemporary methods to apply them and I desire to function within that space.

The works in the exhibition “War Relics” speak directly to the printmaking qualities and imagery of Western war iconography and memorabilia. In recent years the artist has gravitated towards signage, print, poster, stamp, reproduction and automation and highlighting the roll advertisement and design play in war. Some pieces include pin up nose bird art, signage, ration packaging and wartime tattoo flash.

720’ 10”

Peter B. Dunn
Exhibition Dates: January 25, 2024 to April 12, 2024
Artist Reception - 25 January 2024 • 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM UM Staff Hour

Please join us for a reception in the Building 18 Lobby to celebrate Peter B. Dunn - 720' 10'' & the Stamps School of Art and Design Staff Exhibitions.

Peter Dunn has historically been an object maker as a designer and sculptor. Whether designing furniture or developing the ideas for sculpture, the process has always been the same. Ideas begin as scribbled images that are then stretched and refined with CAD software.  Dunn desires to build the object within the software to really see how its parts and details work within an empty, yet 3-dimensional space. Furniture, sculpture, and objects are then built with the parts that have been planned and dimensions specified within the software.

This body of work is rooted in the shutdown of shops and studios during the pandemic and the inability to receive materials for large sculpture and furniture fabrication. With an innate desire to continue exploring the ideas he had, Dunn resolved to work in a 2-Dimensional format. using the scribble, sketch, to software to construct and invent, 3-dimensional still life within infinite space. From there, he translated the digital images back into graphite drawings, reiterating the lines over and over while allowing for altercations and moments of excitement over the presence of the line or a shadow.

At its core, much of the work studies the manipulation of simple geometry.  Dunn looks at the form from different forced perspectives – exploding, augmenting, slicing, repeating, and lighting.  This body of work is a study of perception, sympathy, hierarchy, and reality. The “We Are Virus” series is an adaptation from an initial design where it continued to evolve and adapt through manipulation of parts and scale.

Peter Dunn is not interested in the psychology of discourse centered around play and learning, but he does believe and embrace that we take incomplete information and allow ourselves to interpret details that fill spaces (law of Prägnanz).

Peter Dunn received his BFA from Wayne State University and MFA from University of Michigan.  He currently serves on faculty at College for Creative Studies.

Stamps School of Art and Design Staff Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: January 25, 2024 to April 12, 2024
Artist Reception - 25 January 2024 • 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM UM Staff Hour

Please join us for a reception in the Building 18 Lobby to celebrate Peter B. Dunn - 720' 10'' & the Stamps School of Art and Design Staff Exhibitions.

Artists

Kelly Agius
Catherine Coveyou
Elizabeth Dizik
Veronica Falandino
Stephanie Gary
Rita K. Lee
Carly Lowe
Kit Parks
Matthew Pritchard
Joel Rakowski
Joe Rohrer
Katie Shulman
Veronica Tabor
Geetha Thatikonda
Mike Vitale
Sandra Wiley

Penny Stamps School of Art and Design is “an internationally recognized leader in interdisciplinary art and design education, grounded in research, practice, creative excellence and community engagement – whose mission is to prepare the next generation of globally competent creative professionals who are capable of responsibly engaging and collaborating with professionals in a wide variety of fields and cultural contexts to address the challenges of the present times”.  Along with a world class faculty, Stamps Staff are also professional artists.   This exhibition provides a glimpse into the creative lives of those who support this important department, its faculty and students.

(De) Construction

Nour Ballout
Exhibition Dates: November 03, 2023 to January 15, 2024
Opening Reception
November 3rd, 2023 • 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM UM Staff Hour North Campus Research Complex | 2800 Plymouth Rd | Ann Arbor, MI | 48109

Please join us for a reception to celebrate and mingle with the artists | Enjoy complimentary refreshments & hors d'oeuvres

Nour Ballout (b. 1993, Beirut) is a Detroit & Chicago based interdisciplinary artist and curator. They received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University and an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Nour Ballout’s practice grapples with the ways looking can manifest as both resistance and violence while negotiating the tensions among visibility, documentation and surveillance. Through photography, archive and space making, their work interrogates the ways the naturalization of structures of power manifest within bodies, built environments, and communities.

Nour currently serves on the Detroit Institute of Arts contemporary arts advisory group. They are the recipient of many awards, fellowships and grants that include the 2023 Modern Ancient Brown Fellowship, the ICI EXPO Curatorial Research Fellowship, the 2022 Michigan Arts and Cultural Council Grant, the 2021 Transforming Power Fund Grant, the 2019 Knight Arts Challenge Award, Kresge Arts in Detroit Gilda Award and many more. Nour has exhibited their work nationally and participated in several artist residencies including the Ghana Think Tank in Detroit, Flux Factory in New York and plans to participate in the Kala Arts Institute Residency in 2023.

Holding Places

Satchel Lee
Exhibition Dates: November 03, 2023 to January 15, 2024
Opening Reception
November 3rd, 2023 • 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM UM Staff Hour North Campus Research Complex | 2800 Plymouth Rd | Ann Arbor, MI | 48109

Please join us for a reception to celebrate and mingle with the artists | Enjoy complimentary refreshments & hors d'oeuvres

Born and raised in New York City, Satchel Lee is a multi-media artist whose work can best be described as portraiture. Through collaborations with her immediate community, and also using herself as a subject, Lee draws inspiration from the quotidian, creating offbeat images that aim to preserve this moment in time, (re) examine memories (especially those clouded by confusion) all the while asking questions around identity and existence.

Lee holds a BFA from the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Photography at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

In Lee’s photographic exploration, she investigates the profound connection between places and structures and the echoes of trauma that inhabit them. “Holding Places” is an exhibition that immerses viewers into a visual narrative, inviting them to witness the power of space as holders and conduits for personal memory.

By reconstructing these places by hand in model scale and rendering them not as they were, but how she experienced them, she is able to navigate intimate details and hidden narratives that exist within them. The process of crafting these miniatures becomes a meditative contemplation, giving Lee time to sit and reflect on these past events.

Through Lee’s lens, they capture the visual manifestations of the ghosts of the past. The photographs offer glimpses into spaces where anguish, conflict and distress have left their imprints, sometimes visible, sometimes buried beneath layers of time (and self preservation). 

Americana

Matthew Zivich
Exhibition Dates: June 15, 2023 to August 11, 2023

Matthew Zivich is a professor of art at Saginaw Valley State University. He attended the University of Michigan's art department for a B.S. in Design degree and Indiana University for his M.F.A. degree in painting and sculpture in 1964. While at Indiana, Matthew was a pupil of the late artist, William Bailey, a former assistant to Josef Albers at Yale.

Matthew Zivich has been an active artist in drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture since high school and was first awarded the one-time Leonard Bocour prize for printmaking in graduate school at Indiana. His artworks have been shown in numerous competitive art exhibitions mostly in Michigan with yearly shows in Midland, Flint, Bloomfield Hills/Birmingham, Detroit, and Ann Arbor art centers, galleries, and museums.

The exhibition “Americana” is a powerful exploration of how the past is remembered and reinterpreted. Zivich’s artwork provides a thought-provoking confrontation of American military history, a genre that may not be seen as popular today. Through his artwork, the artist brings to light the importance of recognizing the impact of history on our present lives and the world around us.  “Americana” uses the traditional genre of historical paintings and reinterprets it to create a contemporary narrative.

Chronicle

Julianne Orlyk Walsh
Exhibition Dates: June 15, 2023 to August 11, 2023

Julianne Orlyk Walsh has a Master’s degree in architecture from The University of Michigan. She worked as an intern architect at Acock Associates Architects in Columbus, Ohio before returning home to Ann Arbor to join the Medical School as a Facilities Planner. She is currently a student of Daria Paik at the Ann Arbor Art Center, and also takes instruction at the Ann Arbor Potter’s Guild.

The history and evolution of pot making has always captivated Walsh. From the tools and techniques used centuries ago to the fundamental process and output of today, much has remained the same. Yet, her exhibition Chronicle reflects the very evolution of her artistic process, from her childhood to her beginnings as an adult artist. Her pieces are a testament to the journey of her artistry, from its beginnings to its current state.

Something Holy

Christina Joya
Exhibition Dates: June 15, 2023 to August 11, 2023

Mexican-born and Michigan-based ceramics artist, Cristina Joya, has been honing her skills in pottery since 2019. Originally an award winner Graphic Designer, Cristina blended her design skills with her passion for ceramics and self-discovery. Inspired by studies and teachings of renowned physicians, therapists, and spiritual leaders, she draws her creative power from realizing the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection. Her work has been exhibited at local galleries such as the Janice Charach, Pontiac Creative Art Center, Oakland Community College, and The Community House at Birmingham, where she was recognized with the Bronze award.

Joya’s ceramics artwork comes from the impulse to explore how humans can feel a close connection to an object and the meaning that can be given to it, even if it doesn’t have a specific function.  She is interested in the unspeakable and unconscious mechanism that makes us feel attracted to or repelled by an object.  For Joya, ceramics represent the alchemy of transforming something raw and dull into a beautiful piece of art which is a metaphor for how we transform our shortcomings into fuel for our self-discovery journey.

“Something Holy” is a collection inspired by vessels as an analogy to the human being, which is also a container for thoughts and emotions. The artwork, coupled with loops as ornaments and halo-like details, represents the self-realization, happiness, peace, and completeness we aspire to. The creative process seeks to give the pieces a sacred or ceremonial quality that resembles our personal journey as something holy in a broader and holistic view of human life.

Clarity Blues

Laura Makar
Exhibition Dates: March 24, 2023 to May 26, 2023

Opening Reception
March 24, 2023 • 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM UM Staff Hour

Please join us for a reception to celebrate Laura Makar - Clarity Blues and Tom Pyrzewski - Coviseral.
Mingle with the artists | Enjoy complimentary refreshments & hors d'oeuvres

Artist Statement

Each drawing requires patience.

The beauty lies within the tedious process of meticulously piercing the paper. Metaphoric and intricate shapes appear, articulating microscopic and macroscopic configurations within the delicate surface, using violent, yet precise tools.

The hand-tool manipulation of paper, applied through repetitive techniques, document fractal / abstract natural patterns observed during alpha state and shifting metaphysical realities.

The result is a gentle expression of poetic compositions achieved through the redundant, rigorous, and meditative process. The flow and movement determine the experience and an interpretation. A strong emotion, yet explainable.

Laura Makar was born in Buffalo, NY and grew up in Toledo, OH. She earned her BFA, Bowling Green State University, OH, in 2009 and her MFA at Wayne State University (WSU) in 2014. She was awarded the 2013 Thomas C. Rumble Graduate Fellowship, WSU, received an award for her artwork at the 2015 MFAC Exhibition, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, and received an exhibition award for her artwork in Terrain: 2018 Biennial All Media Exhibition, Detroit Artists Market. Laura has shown her work locally and nationally.   Her works have been featured in solo exhibitions at Whitdel Arts, Detroit, MI; ROY G BIV Gallery, Columbus, OH; and Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH. Since 2015, Laura has served as the Gallery Manager at the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery and Art Department Gallery, WSU and currently teaches at Oakland University, Auburn Hills, MI.

Coviseral

Tom Pyrzewski
Exhibition Dates: March 24, 2023 to May 26, 2023

Opening Reception
March 24, 2023 • 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM UM Staff Hour

Please join us for a reception to celebrate Laura Makar - Clarity Blues and Tom Pyrzewski - Coviseral.
Mingle with the artists | Enjoy complimentary refreshments & hors d'oeuvres

Artist Statement
Discarded objects with curves and diagonals are collected – natural dead-fall and human-made. Bend, cut and assemble - the armature is constructed. Muscle is applied, similar to a body. Cloth that has been soaked in paint is placed onto the structure, providing durability, skin, and color.

Resonance from the objects influence application and determine the overall composition, often described as visceral. The sculpture is organic in form but contains mostly industrial materials within. This attribute implies an interconnection between humanity and nature, aiming to reverse memes associated with function.

The form isn’t specific in content, yet tangible enough to provoke a response from the viewer, whose experiential reaction plays an integral role in completing the sculpture. Along with the viewer’s interpretation, connotations embedded in the materials are combined with the working process and a collaborative formulation is conceived.

Tom Pyrzewski was born in Detroit, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the College for Creative Studies (CCS) and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University (WSU), Detroit.  Since 2010, he has served as the Director of Galleries and Special Programming at WSU.

Tom has juried, curated, and installed over 200 exhibitions with works by local, national, and international artists at WSU’s Art Department Gallery and Elaine L. Jacob Gallery.  He has also curated site-specific installations with programming at external venues, including at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the McGregor Memorial Conference Center, WSU.  Tom has developed and currently teaches a gallery management course at WSU and has established and coordinates MOBILE ARTS - a summer community art workshop program for youth in partnership with the City of Detroit.

He is the co-founder of art and hip-hop collective SUPERIORBELLY (1999-2010; 2017-present), an unconventional interactive experience through net art, music, and writing.  Members include Jason Nosaj Furlow, New Kingdom, NYC; Eulas Pizarro, PACE (Editions), NYC; Beverly Fresh (Zack Ostrowski), DePaul University, Chicago; and Tom Pyrzewski, Wayne State University, Detroit. <www.superiorbelly.org(link is external)>

Tom’s artwork has been juried and curated into numerous exhibition venues including: N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Marshall M Fredericks Sculpture Museum, and CCS Center Galleries - receiving a Best of Show Award for his sculpture in Review: CCS Alumni Selections by Syd Mead.  His large-scale outdoor sculptures are featured at Lincoln Street Art Park, Detroit and permanently installed on the campus of St. Clair County Community College, Port Huron, MI, through a commission, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Translating Frequencies

Samah Kthar
Exhibition Dates: November 17, 2022 to January 14, 2023

Artist Reception: November 17, 6PM-8PM

Artist Talk: January 14, 12PM

Samah Kthar is an artist fueled by harnessing the present moment of experience, into something tangible to share. She believes the way to explain an experience, and connect with others is through art. Although having no formal experience in art education, Kthar has obtained three degrees: B.S. in Biological Sciences, B.S in Health Sciences, and Masters in Occupational Therapy. Blending the role as an Artist and an Occupational Therapist in turn, allows her to help others utilize art to promote self-healing. Art has given Kthar a newfound purpose and a deeper appreciation for life. It is foundational to keep learning and to be open to all possibilities for the work to evolve.

Kthar believes it is critical to learn the history of the artists who influenced society and paved the way for the future generations. Kthar’s process represents her journey of emerging knowledge, transmitting of energy, and the continuous path to spirituality. Each work is unplanned from start to end, allowing her to focus, and only rely on the skill of intuition. Each painting can be dependent on mood, setting, time of day,  weather, etc. Kthar’s inspiration comes from the unknown, of what is yet to transpire. Yet, with good faith, it is something that awaits to enter at divine timing.

Kthar’s current work is influenced by the shift taking place in the world, sacred/sonic geometry, and to unite together with compassion as the ultimate goal for unity.

Vantage of Perception

John Rizzo
Exhibition Dates: November 17, 2022 to January 14, 2023

Artist Reception
November 17, 6PM-8PM
Artist Talk
January 14, 12PM

John Rizzo was born and raised in Chicago.  In 1997, John moved to Detroit to attend school, received an MFA from Wayne State University, fell in love with the city and has called it home ever since.   John is currently employed as the Wood Shop Manager at the College for Creative Studies; in addition, he teaches two courses in the Foundations Program.  Detroit students enrolled in John's courses learn 3-Dimensional Concepts as well as 3-Dimensional Techniques, both of which aim at training early stage artists in basic 3-dimensional design and fabrication.

John is a visual artist, sculptor, furniture maker and glass artist, amongst his many other creative endeavors.  John has been included in exhibitions nationwide and continues his artistic practices in varied avenues.  John is the founder of 4th Wall Concepts, a design, fabrication, and consultancy company with a focus on working with clients to bring their visions to life.  

Rizzo’s sculptures are beautifully crafted and highly innovative.  They are sophisticated yet they capture a clever sense of whimsy and play, while simultaneously reflecting a unique contemporary art vernacular.

http://www.johnrizzoart.com/

Rhythmic Patterns

Stephanie Sarris
Exhibition Dates: October 15, 2021 to December 10, 2021

Stephanie Sarris earned M.F.A. Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills--Drawing and Painting and B.F.A. & B.A.E. University of Michigan.  Her artist training includes studies at Eastern Michigan University, Florence, Italy, University of Michigan, Dearborn and Wayne State University, Detroit.

Sarris has exhibited her work extensively throughout the Detroit Metropolitan area, and is included in the permanent collections of Neiman Marcus, Somerset Collection/Troy, Michigan; Tysons II/ McClean, Virginia; Dallas, Texas;Fort Worth, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada, Ameritech, Detroit, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan, Lansing, Galleria Offices, Southfield, Steelcase Corporation, Grand Rapids, CompuWare, Farmington Hills and Detroit, and Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak. 

Her paintings are acrylic and mixed media on paper and canvas. The theme of the work is genre based environments/objects that she has have experienced. The spaces and objects reflect images that have affected her emotionally, incorporating balance of structure vs. gesture. The selection of the grid structure is used as a digest to view ideas drawn from a spectrum of personal/cultural sources. The compositions reflect interior spaces that contain various objects and/or spatial viewpoints. The placement of images, colors and brushstrokes connection to rhythm/movement is essential. The element of rhythm is passionate and spiritual through every mark and stroke. Intense hues of color are used to create an all over pattern that is both gesture and calligraphic. The touch is expressive through its vigorous application.

There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in

Sandra Osip
Exhibition Dates: October 15, 2021 to December 10, 2021

Sandra Osip was born in Detroit, Michigan and earned Bachelor of Science from Wayne State University, and Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has received two Michigan Council of Arts awards and a public art commission titled “Progression” for the Detroit People Mover “Art in the Stations”project, in the Fort/Cass Station.

Osip’s artwork has been included in exhibitions at the Hill Gallery in Birmingham, Michigan, Wasserman Project, Detroit, Michigan and Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; and it can be found in many permanent art collections including the Detroit Institute of Art, Robert and Karen Duncan, Ray-O-Vac, Cranbrook Art Museum, and 1st National Bank of Chicago.

Sandra moved to New York 1990. She received a McDonald residency in Peterboro, New Hampshire in 1992, and was the recipient of the prestigious New York Foundation of Arts award. Her work has been featured in Tiffany Windows, on 5th. Avenue and 57th. Street. In 2019, she relocated back to Detroit and currently holds a studio at Russell Industrial Center.

Forest and Shores of Northern Michigan – A summer at the University of Michigan Biological Station

Cathy VanVoorhis
Exhibition Dates: January 08, 2020 to May 03, 2020
Artist Reception: NCRC, Building 18 on Friday, February 7, 5PM - 7PM

Cathy VanVoorhis was one of two artists in residence hosted by University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) during the summer 2019.  The UMBS provides students and faculty the opportunity to study environmental science in the field, alongside some of the world’s most respected experts.  Including cultural experts, through a residency program, in the mix provided a perfect bridge between the arts and sciences. 

The work created during this residency will be featured in her exhibition titled  “Forest and Shores of Northern Michigan – A summer at the University of Michigan Biological Station”,  January 8 to May 3   This exhibition celebrates the NCRC Art program commitment to highlighting the intersection between the arts and science, and our belief that scientists and artists have the shared a common ability to look at the world and solve problems in very similar way;  both pursue research through close observation and thoughtful analysis and translate their observation into actionable shared knowledge. The end product may be different, but both scientists and artists seek, sort and react to the data using similar methodologies.

Cathy VanVoorhis’ beautiful landscape paintings reflect the healing power of nature. Cathy travels to lakes, rivers and streams to witness the ecology and beauty of natural coastlines of Michigan, where she often immerses herself in nature to create her large-scale oil paintings.  Along with nature, she finds inspiration in the writing of naturalists such as Rachel Carson, and the understanding of the intricate web of all life.

VanVoorhis’ work has been featured in group exhibitions at The Muskegon Museum of Art, The Saginaw Art Museum, The Dennos Art Museum in Traverse City, and The Alden B. Dow Museum of Art and Science in Midland. Her recent solo exhibits include: Rogel Cancer Center, Gifts of Art Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI ; The Center Gallery, Glen Arbor, MI; and Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, MI.

Mark Tuschman

Exhibition Dates: January 08, 2020 to May 03, 2020
Artist Reception: NCRC, Building 18 on Friday, February 7, 5PM - 7PM

"Photography is a universal language and it is my hope that my images will move viewers to respond not only with empathy, but also with action. It is my intention to photograph people with compassion and dignity in the hope of communicating our interrelatedness." — Mark Tuschman

Mark Tuschman has worked as an international freelance photographer for more than 34 years.  He dedicates himself to raising awareness on international issues regarding women and children, and is committed to issues of global health.  Tuschman received photographer of the year from the Global Health Council in 2009-10. 

In 2019, Tuschman launched a project exploring themes of courage and resilience in the faces of immigrants to the United States. As part of this project, Mark has photographed over 100 immigrants and families to help create bridges of understanding in American society. Through video and photography, Mark hopes to highlight the contributions that immigrants make on American society and how each of their stories help enrich the larger American story.  His work focuses on communities being discriminated against by our current administration and includes people of all skills, from those doing manual labor to those highly skilled in medicine, law, and hi-tech.

Advice to Polonius

Al Hebert
Exhibition Dates: September 13, 2019 to December 13, 2019

Al Hebert has been a prominent figure in the Detroit art scene since he received his MFA at Wayne State University in 1967.  In the Exhibition “Advice to Polonius” Hebert references Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius, a man of experience, who gives some life advice to his son Laertes.  Polonius states “neither a borrower nor a lender be”, and advise him to borrow objects extensively from many sources, and then lend them to sculptural assemblage.

This is exactly what Hebert does in the creation of the works in this exhibit, incorporating Objet trouvé  from France, Czech Republic, California and Michigan.  These found objects often possess a historical quality, arising either from age, or facture acquired through passage in the world. Irregular materials, often composed upon a structure of geometry, or sacred geometry, bring a semblance of order; while the materials themselves contribute to meaning through a subject matter reference.

Greetings from...

Alli McPhail
Exhibition Dates: September 13, 2019 to December 13, 2019

Born and raised in northern Michigan, Alli grew up surrounded by the beauty of nature.  From a young age, she picked up watercolor painting, emulating her mother while they would travel around Michigan and back to where her dad grew up in British Columbia, Canada.  Self-taught from a young age, she would take her watercolors outside and attempt to paint what she saw -- weather it was mountains, lakes, rivers, or the woods.

Years later, Alli attended the University of Michigan and completed a degree in architecture.  Although she appreciates the built environment, she is continually drawn to landscapes and the awe that nature inspires.

“Greetings From ...” is an exhibition that showcases some of Alli’s most recent works and favorite places to visit.  McPhail attempts to invoke the idea that these paintings act like giant postcards that she would send a loved one or dear friend while on a journey so that they, too, could enjoy the scenery as much as she did.

Bold & Beautiful

Gilda Snowden
Exhibition Dates: May 10, 2019 to August 24, 2019
Artist Reception, Friday, May 10, 5-7 pm, NCRC, Building 18

Gilda Snowden (1954 – 2014) was a Detroit artist who received a bachelor of fine arts, master of art and master of fine arts in painting from Wayne State University. She was Interim Chair and Professor of Fine Arts at the College for Creative Studies, Detroit and also Gallery Director of the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Snowden’s works have been exhibited throughout the United States, as well as in Mexico, Canada and West Africa. Her works are featured in a number of publications, as well as private and corporate collections, including Post/Newsweek, the Neiman-Marcus Corporation, Ameritech, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and The Detroit Institute of Arts.

Snowden was an influential artist, educator, and mentor to many generations of young artists. She worked primarily as an abstract expressionist painter, heavily inspired by artists of Detroit’s Cass Corridor Movement, a counter culture art movement centered around Wayne State University in the 1960s through 1980s. The city of Detroit sparked much of her work. The Bright Stars at Night series is a celebration of the city lights of her downtown Detroit neighborhood, and the Flora Urbana series features abstracted floral forms, in encaustic, inspired by the gardens that have sprouted up in the city on plots where buildings once stood.

Clarion Calls

Lester Johnson
Exhibition Dates: May 10, 2019 to August 24, 2019
Artist Reception, Friday, May 10, 5-7 pm, NCRC, Building 18

Lester Johnson, renowned Detroit artist, earned his bachelor of fine arts and master of fine arts degrees from the University of Michigan.  He has exhibited his work in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and galleries and museums around the world. A Garland of Praise Songs for Rosa Parks finds its permanent home at the Wayne State University Law School’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights in Detroit. In 2011, Johnson was invited to sign the famed historic Scarab Club beam, an honor extended to artists who have made significant and lasting contributions to the arts, and includes Marcel Duchamp, Diego Rivera, Norman Rockwell and Charles McGee.

Lester Johnson’s paintings, sculptures and mixed media works are influenced by both his African and Native American heritage, and powerfully blends the past and present of these rich cultures.

Johnson’s work “largely plays homage to the artistry of contemporary jazz musicians...most notably the late Miles Davis. Reflecting the sound of sophisticated jazz, Johnson's work shifts between different tones and designs, using the bold semantics of color to mimic the sound of instruments interacting, locking and unlocking in an exchange of ideas”. - Phyllis Johnson

Ecological Fiction

Karen Anne Klein
Exhibition Dates: January 25, 2019 to May 03, 2019

Karen Anne Klein uses images of natures to tell stories.  The birds, flowers and insects she chooses for her compositions have symbolic meanings and mythological associations.   There is always more there than meets the eye.   Drawing directly from life, from specimens found in natural history museums, Klein creates beautifully realistic works that incorporate a touch of whimsy and wonder.

This exhibition will feature Cabinets of Curiosities/Wunder-Kammer: During the Renaissance, private collections were assembled in rooms with the idea that a person could know everything that was important. Natural history, math, science, poetry - everything was displayed simultaneously. The visual impact was thrilling even when it made no real sense.

In recent times artists are revisiting the idea of these rooms in very different ways.  Klein started with a group of drawings that were to emulate a cabinet.  Then they became a real cabinet.  That cabinet was placed in a room in her house.  One cabinet inspired the construction of several more cabinets.  When the rooms were filled with cabinets and the desire to create more continued, Karen Klein became excited to design new, smaller works.

This private project has now filled two rooms of her home and are continually being revised. 

The artist does not consider anything to be permanent.  Already several of the drawings presently on the walls have replaced others that did not work well enough with the rest of the objects and images.  The great challenge is to have the rooms act as one work of art built out of multiple small components.

Karen Anne Klein holds a master’s degree from Wayne State University, Detroit and an undergraduate degree from University of Michigan.  Her work can be found in collections across the country, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, University of Michigan Art Museum, Carnegie Mellon University and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.    She has exhibited her drawings and paintings at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History and the Chicago Botanic Gardens.

www.kaklein.com

Hidden Ubiquity: Celebrating the tiny majority

Barrett Klein
Exhibition Dates: January 25, 2019 to May 03, 2019

We are a wondrous, accomplished, creative species of primate… that also happens to be shortsighted, dangerously self-absorbed, and destructive on a global scale. The only planet we know to harbor life is changing rapidly, largely by our industrious actions. Never before has the need to explore, embrace, and conserve life’s diversity been as important as it is now.

This show represents hints of what we cannot see, or often choose not to see, and is a plea to celebrate the tiny majority that drives our ecosystems and has influenced human culture since our cultures’ incipient stages. There are more than one million described species of insects and they are vanishing at a rate that some liken to an armageddon. The evolutionary legacies, the ecological functions, the esthetics, the cultural history, and the potential to influence humans should be enough to make us cherish and protect our tiny irreplaceable neighbors.

Barrett Klein is an associate professor of entomology and animal behavior, investigating sleep in societies of insects at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.  He studied entomology at Cornell University and the University of Arizona, and Ecology, Evolution & Behavior at the University of Texas at Austin, although this academic sequence was split by years of producing natural history exhibits for museums.  Klein worked at Chase Studio Inc. (MO), then at the American Museum of Natural History (NY), roaming its half-lit halls by night and creating insects, giant viruses, and working in both education and exhibition by day.

https://www.uwlax.edu/profile/bklein/

http://www.pupating.org/

Journeys in Health Care

Office of Patient Experience
Exhibition Dates: January 25, 2019 to May 03, 2019

Art Reception: 5-6:30 p.m.
Storytelling Event: 6:30-8 p.m.

Candyland

Dennis Michael Jones
Exhibition Dates: September 20, 2018 to December 21, 2018

Reception for Three Art Exhibitions
Thursday, September 20th
5:00PM - 7:00PM
NCRC, Building 18 Lobby
Open to the public.

Dennis Jones, a visual artist, educator, and licensed practicing architect, has exhibited his work locally, nationally and internationally over the last twenty-six years. Selected exhibition venues include The OK Harris Gallery, New York; The Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI; Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester Hills, MI; Grand Rapids, ArtPrize; Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Detroit, MI; The College for Creative Studies Center Galleries, Detroit, MI; Concordia College Gallery, Ann Arbor Art Center and The Gallery Project, Ann Arbor, MI. Jones recently curated an exhibition titled, SIX, at The Janice Charach Gallery; a five thousand square foot space, located in West Bloomfield, Michigan.   

Dennis Jones received his MFA, in painting, from Wayne State University and his BA, in Architecture, from the University of Detroit. His repertoire includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, installation, photography and books.  The exhibition titled “Candyland”, consists of a series of dynamic, vivid and colorful abstract paintings that blend formal abstraction with the lively urban energy of graffiti art.  The conceptual meanings of these works address the constant bombardment of visual imagery, in our daily lives, that are like “intoxicating candy” which “tempts, teases, distracts, fill us up and pacifies”.  The titles reflect the playfulness and the seriousness of the consequence of this contemporary phenomena.