Category: Talks and Lectures

Woodland Studies is a series of black and white photographs by Grand Rapids photographer Rodney Martin. The region’s woodland, rivers and natural areas are well documented by all manner of visual artist. In this case, Rodney Martin has elected to make images in black and white – a creative departure worth exploring.

As part of the GAAC’s PaperWork exhibition, we’re in conversation with two people for whom the old art of papier mache is foundational to their work – Dorienne Sherrod and Sharon Morris of the Big Heads Corp. The Big Heads are the world’s largest collection of papier mache sculptures: animals, cartoon characters and famous people, and they’re a beloved component of the 98-year-old Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit. Watch the conversation here.

Leelanau County artist Mary Beth Acosta works in collage, under the creative nom de guerre “The Feral Housewife.” Using simple, familiar tools and a range of recycled, vintage papers, Mary Beth creates collages about mid-century housewives, big-finned cars, and “labor-saving” appliances that were promoted as drudgery-busting machines that would revolutionize the modern home. Watch this conversation – part of the GAAC’s exhibition PaperWork – here.

Pictured: Kneel No More, collage, Mary Beth Acosta

The genre known as “artist’s books” is not easily defined. People have been making beautiful, artful books for centuries. But “artist’s books” defy convention, and occupy a niche all their own. They come in many shapes and sizes, and the interior “pages” aren’t always paper with text; or contained between two covers. As part of the GAAC’s PaperWork exhibition, we’re in conversation with Wisconsin artist-educator Geo Rutherford. Geo creates prints, artist’s books and more, and focuses on invasiveness, impermanence and the unseen in relation to the Great Lakes. Watch the conversation here.

Pictured: Death Of The Great Lakes, artist’s book, Geo Rutherford

Ohio artist Michelle Stitzlein, 53, is a creative force whose sculptures elevate familiar objects to a new level of art. As part of the GAAC’s exhibition Everyday Objects, we talk with Michelle about using scavenged and collected objects – garden hoses, bottle caps, and piano keys – to name just a few of the multitude of 3D things that come together in compositions of great beauty and thought. [NOTE: At the end of this recorded conversation, it was incorrectly stated the Everyday Objects exhibition runs through August 19. The correct end date for the exhibition is October 28.]