ArtPrize and the MIWCA

To date, we are aware of four (4!!) of our members that will be participating in the upcoming ArtPrize competition. Touted as the “World’s Largest Art Prize” and a “radically open” art event, ArtPrize draws artists and viewers from around the world for nearly two weeks of art, special events and all out competition.

The blog will be spotlighting these participating artists on the Members News page.  There you will find information about their submissions, locations and other pertinent news.  Check it out!  Our first artist is Margaret Parker….

Congratulations are in order

Congratulations go out to the MI Chapter President and Midwest Region Vice-President, Brenda Oelbaum,  who took First Place and an Honorable Mention in Women in Photography International’s Decade of Images 2000-2010 Competition! (<-click to visit site)

Brenda’s 1st place award winning image “Osama’s Bin Degraded”

Honorable Mention

“Starving Artist with Diet Books”

June Meeting for Michigan Chapter

Mark your calendars for June 17, 2010 at 7 p.m. for the next WCA Michigan chapter meeting.  We will be convening in Grand Rapids for an evening of business, art and gathering.  Please bring art to discuss if you so choose and a snack or beverage to share.  Patricia Constantine is graciously opening her studio at 1111 Godfrey (click on the address to see a map and to get directions) for us to meet and get caught up on all the latest chapter news.

Hanging in the ‘Balance’

Surprises abound in this year’s annual Women’s Caucus for Art Michigan’s exhibition in the Gallery in the Dudterstadt Center.

Eco Artist Sophie Grillet’s Fish Trash whose title plays with the child like words to describe what fish do “Splish Splash”, casts ghostly shadows on her Balance partner Delilah Smith’s oil on canvas painting entitled Sea, Wind, Sky, Land.

Much like the Balance game itself here in the gallery, we see how one artist’s work can have a strong effect on another’s both physically and metaphorically.

Grillet includes with her installation a short essay on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  Just as in real life Grillet’s mobile completely constructed of plastic garbage and expertly constructed or choreographed to create shadows that resemble jelly fish and other sea creatures, takes on an eerie symbolism suggestive of the end of sea life due to our disregard for our environment.  Will our carelessness be the end to these sea creatures?  Will they become merely ghosts, extinct?

Even the work of other artists that were not directly paired with each other seems to resonate together like the work of Barbara Carson and Kathleen Letts.  Each of these artists were paired with others and yet their work seems to talk to each other both in the colors and imagery.  This is due in great part to the brilliant eye of Christy Kelly Bentgen Exhibition Chair and Curator of this fascinating exhibition derived from a exercise of putting artists that did not know each other, together in a play to see what effect one’s work would have on the work of another.

This is a must see exhibition for everyone…especially if you enjoy putting the pieces together and following the clues.

This show will be travelling throughout Michigan over the next few months…ending its run the beginning of Dec. in Holland Michigan at the Holland Area Arts Council.

Traveling dates:

River’s Edge Gallery, Wyandotte, MI  Sept 3-26

The Reflection Gallery Finlandia University, Hancock, MI Oct 4-31

Holland Area Arts Council, Holland MI, Nov. 11- Dec 1

Balance approaches!

Michigan Artists Collaborate to find “Balance”
The Women’s Caucus for Art-Michigan has brought together artists from across the state
to participate in Balance: An Artists’ Collaborative Game. Thirty-six women artists have been
paired with each other to create three original works each, based on the theme of “Balance”.
Through “Call and Response” exchanges, the process of collaboration has been recorded
through images and insights, and will culminate in an exhibit that will travel to four galleries
throughout the state of Michigan between May 7 and December 1, 2010.
This ambitious project began in January when participating artists were matched to
create eighteen collaborative “teams”. The teams combined older, established artists with
younger, emerging ones, painters with mixed-media sculptors, West Michigan artists with Detroit
artists. The result has been both exciting and challenging as participants have stretched their
imaginations and repertories to respond to their partners’ images. Meanwhile, new artist
networks have blossomed as a thought-provoking, stimulating body of work has emerged.
The theme of “balance” sparked a myriad of interpretations touching on subjects as
varied as domestic life, the environment, politics and religion. Works evoke both humor and
melancholy, and range from abstract to representational, and from painting to installations
Viewers around the state will have several opportunities to see the work in a variety of
settings. The premier venue for this exhibit will be The Gallery in the Duderstadt Center,
University of Michigan. The show runs May 7-31. All are invited to the Opening Reception, May
7, at the Gallery, from 6-8pm.
From there the exhibit travels to River’s Edge Gallery in Wyandotte, Michigan,
September 3-26, Closing Reception, September 25, 6-10pm. The River’s Edge site will also
include a Gallery Talk featuring Participating Artists, on Saturday, September 11 at 2:00pm.
Next, works continue on to Finlandia Reflection Gallery at Finlandia University, Hancock,
Michigan ,October 4-31, Opening Reception, October 7, 12-1pm.
Finally, the exhibit will be hosted by The Holland Area Arts Council, November 11-
December 1, Opening Reception, November 11, 6-7:30pm
Please join the celebration as WCA-MI kicks off this extraordinary exhibit tour at the
Gallery in the Duderstadt Center, May 7, 2010!

Art Exhibit: Balance: An Artists’ Collaborative Game, Organized by Women’sCaucus for Art-MichiganExhibition dates: May 7-31, 2010Exhibition site: The Gallery in the Duderstadt Center (previously the Media Union)2281Bonisteel Blvd, North Campus, University of Michigan.Hours: Monday through Friday, 12 to 6Opening Reception: May 7, 6-8pmContact Information: Christy Kelly-Bentgen HYPERLINK”mailto:christykel@hotmail.com” Phone: (734)424-0206Michigan Artists Collaborate to find “Balance”The Women’s Caucus for Art-Michigan has brought together artists from across the stateto participate in Balance: An Artists’ Collaborative Game. Thirty-six women artists have beenpaired with each other to create three original works each, based on the theme of “Balance”.Through “Call and Response” exchanges, the process of collaboration has been recordedthrough images and insights, and will culminate in an exhibit that will travel to four galleriesthroughout the state of Michigan between May 7 and December 1, 2010.This ambitious project began in January when participating artists were matched tocreate eighteen collaborative “teams”. The teams combined older, established artists withyounger, emerging ones, painters with mixed-media sculptors, West Michigan artists with Detroitartists. The result has been both exciting and challenging as participants have stretched theirimaginations and repertories to respond to their partners’ images. Meanwhile, new artistnetworks have blossomed as a thought-provoking, stimulating body of work has emerged.The theme of “balance” sparked a myriad of interpretations touching on subjects asvaried as domestic life, the environment, politics and religion. Works evoke both humor andmelancholy, and range from abstract to representational, and from painting to installationsViewers around the state will have several opportunities to see the work in a variety ofsettings. The premier venue for this exhibit will be The Gallery in the Duderstadt Center,University of Michigan. The show runs May 7-31. All are invited to the Opening Reception, May7, at the Gallery, from 6-8pm.From there the exhibit travels to River’s Edge Gallery in Wyandotte, Michigan,September 3-26, Closing Reception, September 25, 6-10pm. The River’s Edge site will alsoinclude a Gallery Talk featuring Participating Artists, on Saturday, September 11 at 2:00pm.Next, works continue on to Finlandia Reflection Gallery at Finlandia University, Hancock,Michigan ,October 4-31, Opening Reception, October 7, 12-1pm.Finally, the exhibit will be hosted by The Holland Area Arts Council, November 11-December 1, Opening Reception, November 11, 6-7:30pmPlease join the celebration as WCA-MI kicks off this extraordinary exhibit tour at theGallery in the Duderstadt Center, May 7, 2010!