Tag Archives: Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

KIA opens virtual exhibit Young Artists of Kalamazoo County

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Kalamazoo Institute of Arts has unveiled an online presentation of the annual Young Artists of Kalamazoo County exhibition. (Supplied)

By Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts has unveiled an online presentation of the annual Young Artists of Kalamazoo County exhibition.

“A virtual exhibition was our solution to Michigan’s shelter in place directive by Governor Whitmer,” said Michelle Stempien, KIA Director of Museum Education, adding that opening weekend for the annual exhibition would typically draw thousands of visitors.

“We are approaching 40 years for this exhibition, and of course this is the first time we have shared it online. But we weren’t going to miss the opportunity to offer something so positive to the community — and to honor the hundreds of young artists showing work on the walls,” she said.

She added that education curators turned into videographers early this week, after installing the hundreds of artworks in two of the museum’s first floor galleries. Art teachers from more than 50 public and private elementary and middle schools chose and submitted artwork by their K-8th grade students.

“We hope everyone is inspired by the color and expressiveness of these young artists to bring more art into their own lives,” Stempien said, adding her thanks for the exhibition’s lead sponsor The Tyler-Little Family Foundation, and co-sponsor PLAZACORP.

“We always love seeing the student artwork come in each year; it puts a smile on the faces of everyone who is involved in producing this exhibition,” Stempien said, adding “and we look forward to welcoming the community back to the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts very soon.”

Visit here for more information on the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

The KIA is planning to present a virtual exhibition for upcoming spring exhibitions as needed. This will likely include the juried West Michigan Area Show (April 10) and High School Area Show (April 24).

Renée Stout: ‘Tales of the Conjure Woman’ opens at KIA July 23

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Photograph of Renée Stout by Mary Noble Ours
Photograph of Renée Stout by Mary Noble Ours

The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) opens a new exhibition on July 23: Renée Stout: Tales of the Conjure Woman. The artist will visit the KIA for a reception and exhibition preview Thursday, July 21, 5:30-7:30. The event is open to the public and included with $5 admission.

 

“Tales of the Conjure Woman offers a peek into a world ruled by superstition and ancestral wisdom,” said Karla Niehus, Associate Curator of Exhibitions. “Stout’s work explores African cultural and spiritual traditions with humor and affection, through her alter-ego Fatima Mayfield — a New Orleans herbalist and fortuneteller. Visitors will step into the illusion of another time and place to enjoy ‘artifacts’ of conjuring and hoodoo practices.

 

Stout explores an underground system of African-derived folk beliefs, transmitted from slavery to the present, which have morphed and adapted to cultural conditions including plantation life, Christianity and the modern urban existence. Through found objects, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, glassblowing, installation and compelling storytelling, Stout creates a lair where Fatima helps people get where they want to be, using charms, amulets, powders, oils, goofer dust*, candles and roots. One client may be looking for love while another seeks good luck with the lottery, but there is always trouble to be managed.

 

renee stout ginseng extract 2005 acrylic oil stick and mixed media on wood 24x24 inches
Renée Stout ‘Ginseng Extract’, 2005 acrylic, oil stick, and mixed media on wood, 24×24 inches

Stout has said, “The thing that continues to influence my interest in the history of root-working and conjure is that it hasn’t been as fully researched and documented in the way other belief systems in the world have been … It’s my way of honoring the ancestors.”

 

“Renée Stout has been exploring this conjuring cosmology through her art since the 1980s,” said Niehus. “Through her art, we are provided a lens through which we can view some of the rich traditions and cultural practices of African America.”

 

*Goofer dust is a compound used by Southern root doctors and conjures to work Enemy Tricks. A proprietary mix of graveyard dirt, sulphur powder, rattlesnake skin and powdered herbs, goofer dust is alleged to jinx an enemy in family, money, job and health matters.

 

strange oracle 2005 wood paint found african head and mixed media 28 x 9 x 11 inches
Renée Stout ‘Strange Oracle,’ 2005 wood, paint, found African head, and mixed media, 28 x 9 x 11 inches

About the artist

Renée Stout grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 1980. Originally trained as a painter, she moved to Washington, D.C. in 1985 where she began to explore the spiritual roots of her African-American heritage through her work. Her exhibition history includes solo shows at Hemphill Fine Arts in Washington, D.C.; The Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, LA; David Beitzel Gallery in New York, NY and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

 

Stout has been included in group exhibitions at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; The Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore; the High Museum of Art in Atlanta; and Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.; among several others. She has been the recipient of awards from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Bader Fund, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and the High Museum’s Driskell Prize. Most recently, Renée Stout received the 2012 Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize.

 

 

‘Common Ground’ African American Art Exhibition through March 20 at Muskegon Museum of Art

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Crossroads, 2010
Karsten Creightney, ‘Crossroads’ 2010. Collage, water, acrylic, oil and wax on wood panel. Flint Institute of Arts

By Victoria Mullen

Treat yourself to a visual feast! Common Ground, an amazing exhibition of African American art, is a collaborative effort between the Flint Institute of Arts, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Muskegon Museum of Art. The exhibition showcases the best of each museum’s renowned collections of African American works dating from the 19th century to the present–60 paintings, sculpture, and works on paper that chronicle a cultural history of nearly 200 years.

Five thematic areas—Examining Identities, New Self-Awareness, Towards Abstraction, Gaining Access and Political and Social Expressions—give a broad overview of African American art history from the talent and determination of the earliest artists to internationally acclaimed work by leading contemporary artists.

Charles Henry Alston, Untitled (Couple), 1945-50, oil on canvas, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Charles Henry Alston, ‘Untitled (Couple)’ 1945-50. Oil on canvas. Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

Artists represented include Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Jacob Lawrence. Works by Michigan artists are included as well, among them Richard Hunt, Senghor Reid, Hughie Lee-Smith and Charles McGee.

The Muskegon Museum of Art is located at 296 W. Webster Ave., in downtown Muskegon. Hours are Sunday 12-5pm, Tuesday through Saturday 11am-5pm, Thursday 11am-8pm, closed Mondays.

General admission: $8 adult, $5 adult student with I.D, free for ages 17 and under and for MMA members. Free admission Thursdays, from 4pm to 8pm only, compliments of Meijer. More visitor information may be found here.