By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
A former WKTV Journal contributor was one of two artists to win the 2021 Ray and Nancy Loeschner Art Competition hosted by the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
Painter and photographer Lynn Strough shared her travels with WKTV Journal readers from 2016-2017. Strough took home the top prize for photography. Muskegon-based artist Lee Ann Frame won for two-dimensional art.
“Nature and art are food for the soul, hence my spending so much time feasting at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, where I find an abundance of both,” Strough said in an artist statement. “It inspires my creativity and refreshes my mind and spirit, soaking in all the beauty of the plants, animals, and sculptures. My current medium is photography, and each time I visit, which is almost weekly, throughout all the seasons, I find new visuals to capture. Some are from far away, like vistas from above the Richard & Helen DeVos Japanese Garden, while others, my favorites, are from up close, discovering and sharing things that most people don’t even notice, like a single drew drop on a whorl of green leaves, or a raindrop continuing a world of its own dangling from a twig, of a milkweed plant in conversation with a distant sculpture.”
Strough has a bachelor’s degree in art from Grand Valley State University. Her work has been exhibited in regional exhibitions and has won several awards, including top prizes at West Michigan Regional Competition and Celebration of the Arts. For her book design, she was included in the top 50 children’s books of the year in Smithsonian magazine. Her work is in collections in more than 60 cities and five countries.
For a little over a year, she shared her travels through out Europe in Travellynn Travels, reprinted by permission in the WKTV Jounral, visiting such places a Pompeii, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy, and France,
Frame, who has a master of fine arts in printmaking from Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University and a bachelor of fine arts in painting from Grand Valley State University, has taught printmaking and ceramics at Muskegon Community College for many years. Her work has been included in many regional and national juried competitions. She has exhibited in group exhibitions such as Boston Printmakers Members Exhibition. Society of Graphic Artists and Southwest Michigan Printmakers.
“Intaglio is an age-old process that I find to be an engaging and creative process,” Frame said in her artist statement. “I use two copper plates, altering the surface with aquatint and an etched line. For this print, I was engaged with the view of the stone sculpture and bridge from across the waters as they emerge from the surrounding deciduous greens and the steady rocks that sat at the edge of the water creating dynamic textures and composition.
The Ray and Nancy Loeschner Art Competition is an annual event that welcomes artists from around the globe to respond to Meijer Gardens in their work. The wining entries receive a $5,000 purchase award in addition to becoming a part of the Meijer Gardens permanent collection. The competition is open to all artists 18 years old and older who are working in a two-dimensional format.
Since 2002, the Loeschner Art Competition has sought artwork inspired by Meijer Gardens, with the objective of collecting high-quality work that celebrates the beauty and inspiration Meijer Garens provides. To view the winners, click here.
