Global art exhibit connects area communities
From staff reports. Photo of Louisa Loveridge Gallas courtesy of the author-poet.
This story was originally published Oct. 11, 2023, and is updated/edited slightly from the printed version.
Eleven artists, including area residents, are presenting their work outdoors in neighborhoods, art centers and businesses plus “surprising locations” around Manistee, Ludington, Onekama, Kaleva and Frankfort as part of “Terrain Biennial 23”, a global exhibition happening now through Nov. 15.
A public reception to honor the artists will be held Oct. 15 at Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts in Manistee beginning at 2 p.m. Freshwater Reporter’s Poet-in-Residence Louisa Loveridge Gallas will read selections from her poetry collections during the event.
Local art curators Theresa Gimpel, of the Elizabeth Lane Oliver Center for the Arts, and Eden Ünlüata-Foley, of West Shore Community College, are co-curating Terrain Biennial 23’s Northwestern Michigan displays.
Gimpel said there will be an opportunity to attend Sunday’s event virtually for those living outside the area.
“Because a number of the artists and the Terrain Foundation staff are stationed in Chicago, we are including a remote component,” she explained. “Anyone who wants to ‘zoom’ in will need a code to do that.“
More than 200 art projects will be popping up on front lawns (and porches, windows and rooftops) around the Great Lakes region, the U.S. and the world for anyone to discover.
“Think sculptures, paintings, projections, flags, yarn art … you name it!” organizers stated in their press release.
“Mycelium Connections” is this year’s exhibition theme. The lead curators of Terrain Biennial stated: “Mycelium is a thriving underground network of fungal threads, vital to many natural ecosystems. Despite its enormous geographical span, it remains invisible to most, subversively springing up from the most unexpected cracks and shadows. We ask ourselves, who and what has been overlooked, and why?”
Using mycelium as a metaphor for modern communication technologies, co-curators Ünlüata-Foley and Gimpel focused on connecting rural and urban art communities. Without such technologies, they said they would have been unable to bring their communities together with relative ease.
“Both Theresa and I have one foot in rural and one foot in urban life. On a daily basis we witness how both these cultural ecosystems are deeply connected,” Eden Ünlüata-Foley said.
Terrain Biennial is organized by the Terrain Exhibitions Foundation based in Oak Park, Illinois.
Terrain was founded on the front porch of late artist Sabina Ott. Since 2011, Terrain has produced six editions of the Biennial and continues to bring art at a grassroots level to more neighborhoods across the world with every installment.
Since the exhibition takes place in private as well as public spaces, those visiting the installations are asked to be respectful of the property and privacy of hosts. All art will be visible from the street and descriptive texts can be found at each of the sites.
For more information and to visit exhibitions in other areas when traveling, go to: https://terrainexhibitions.org. For an invitation to attend virtually, email Theresa Gimpel at: theresagimpel@gmail.com. Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts is located at 101 Maple St. Visit the arts center online at: www.ramsdelltheatre.org.
Terrain Biennial Exhibit Locations
Ludington:
– Ken Cooper at 818 E. Foster St.
– Rachel Brock at 305 Filer St.
– Hale Ekinci at 110 S. Washington St.
– Claire Ashley at:
Site #1: Ludington Area Center for the Arts (LACA), 107 S Harrison St.
Site #2: 921 W. Gunnison, Chicago, IL
Site #3: 1042 IL Route 89, Magnolia, IL
– Allison Svoboda at 417 N. Washington St.
Manistee:
– Colette Wright Adams at Old Kirke Museum, 300 Walnut St.
– Aimé Merizon at Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts 101 Maple St.
Onekama:
– William Hattendorf at 8083 Johnson St.
– Sherry Antonini at Patina Designs, 4850 Main St.
Kaleva:
– Lynn Williams at 7425 Chief Rd.
Frankfort:
– Nat Rosales at Elizabeth Lane Oliver Center for the Arts (OAC) 132 Coast Guard Rd.
