Archived Events

2019

November 11th – December 12th, 2019
Reception & Talk with the Artists:
November 14th 5-6:30
Matt Schenk, Damian Goidich, Taylor Mazer
Incoherent Thing War: A Useless Analysis

Three Michigan artists come together for a unique take on the current state of our world, from apocalyptic fears and repressed anxiety to the legacy of what humanity has wrought. The paintings, drawings and sculptures of Matthew Schenk confront the viewer with America’s insecurities about the apocalyptic Bogeyman and its visual symbols. Damian Goidich’s paintings and mixed media pieces delve into the fragmentation of our cultural norms, beliefs and identities that create an underlying cultural distress and existential turmoil. The pen and ink urban environmental drawings of Taylor Mazer contemplate a world devoid of human presence and asks us to consider what is left after humanity has disappeared.

October 2nd – Nov 2nd, 2019
Electric Dreams 3.0
Nemanja Rosic - Paintings

My paintings portray the micro-circuit: its physicality and, to me, an appealing pictorial strength. Similar to Peter Haley’s abstract experiments, James Sienna’s pattern-based paintings, or Piet Mondrian’s design-oriented work, I strive to turn these portraits into visually powerful macro-objects. In so doing, I seek to assign greater significance to a chip beyond just its functionality and use my artistic practice to marvel at the importance of science for the existence of contemporary society. On slim-profiled aluminum, similar to the factory printing process, I transfer the chosen chip design onto the acrylic glaze film exposing the sections and channels. The channels have a networked appearance, resembling the micro-wires of the chip circuitry. After these sections and channels have been colored, the work becomes a large painted image of the miniature conductors of the circuit. -Nemanja

August 26th – September 28th, 2019
Reception: September 5th, 5-6:30pm
with Artist Interview at 5:30pm
Persistence of Vision: Ferris Journeys
Al Wildey - Photography

Ferris Journeys is an extension of the series Persistence of Vision, a suite of images comprised of digital photographs created as a series of progressive images referencing the façade of motion as in film or video--by a method of merging multiple photographic layers into a solitary image. Notwithstanding the product of a single, static picture, the resulting image implies movement through physical space over extended time as generally accepted photographically. The cumulative effect--implemented via an additive process--is produced by traveling in a circular path around the primary subject in an effort to surpass casual observation by injecting a sense of examination.

Subject matter is restricted to man-made objects with the aim of connecting the artificial construct of both functional and formal pieces with the configuration of ‘camera vision’ as typically perceived within the photographic image writ large.

Al Wildey

June 10th -August 16th, 2019
J.J. L’Heuruex Faces from the Southern Ocean

Artist and naturalist J.J. L’Heureux has traveled to Antarctica seventeen times since 2000, documenting the landscape, the creatures that live there, and attempts at human habitation. She recently returned home to open several exhibitions at museums and galleries across the United States.

J.J. L’Heureux is a visual artist based in Venice, CA who makes documentary-style photographs, as well as paintings and collages. She is an environmentalist who is interested in the micro and the macro. This has led her to photograph both near and far — the community around her Venice Beach studio and the exotic Antarctic landscap

April 11^th – May 27^th, 2019
Reception: April 11th 5-7pm
Steve Barber Myths, Monsters, and Mystery

The unique style of Steve Barber’s encaustic scratchings is a gorgeous blend of rich color, texture, and form.  The exhibition Myths, Monsters, and Mystery is full of fierce and fantastical creatures inspired by Norse, Greek and Celtic mythology.  Barber brings these characters into our world to addresses timeless sociological issues such as greed, honor, trust, and many other profound conditions of the human experience.

March 4th – April 6th, 2019
Reception: March 7th 5-7pm
Shelley Newman Stephens
An Army of Women

This ongoing series of work titled An Army of Women portrays women of all ages as the strong, intelligent and courageous beings they are.  Such women are often overlooked and underestimated within our culture's political structure, business and organizational leadership, and decision-making roles.  These paintings are meant to call out the visibility and the enormous value of capable women everywhere who possess the qualities of intelligence, wisdom, skill, knowledge and experience which translate to a true and lasting female beauty.  Watch this army grow...  

January 14th – February 23rd, 2019
Reception: February 15th 5-7pm with David Pilgrim
Hateful Things and More

From Aunt Jemima advertisements to the board game Ghettopoly, American popular culture is replete with racist images. The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia features an extensive collection of racist objects that trace the history of the caricaturing and stereotyping of African Americans. The museum, located at Ferris State University, is offering "Hateful Things," a traveling exhibition of these images to further the museum's mission of stimulating the scholarly examination of historical and contemporary expressions of racism, as well as promoting racial understanding and healing.

The current exhibition will also include a small selection of photographs from two recent donations to the museum: David Levinthal’s Blackface series and Bruce Davidson’s iconic civil rights images

October 23^rd – December 15^th, 2018
Reception:October 25^th 5-7pm
Tatsuki Hakoyama
The Space Between

The Space Between is a series of oil paintings that reflect on the search for balance between oppositions, with an emphasis on the contradicting nature of traditional and contemporary lifestyles. Especially with globalization that allows for cross-cultural interactions, my goal is to search for the ideal balance of the different cultures that contribute to the ‘third-space’ as discussed by Homi Bhabha.

2018

September 4th – October 13th
Loralee Grace, Randall David Tipton, Tom Tomasek
H2O

Water is our life force. It is in us and all around us. We are born from it and we interact with it every single day of our lives. It is metaphor to the poet and inspiration to the artist. It is healing, cleansing, refreshing. Every single drop is precious. This exhibition honors water from creeks to rivers to wide blue oceans. In partnership with Artworks during their exhibition of the Smithsonian Waterways.

May 15 - July, 2018
Dorothy Milton Collection

Part of Ferris State University’s permanent collections, the Milton Collection contains 52 prints collected and donated by Dorothy Milton. Artists represented include Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Cezanne

March 12 – April 20, 2018
Opening Reception: April 5th 5-7PM
The Best of Michigan Brew Labels

Small craft brewers have become very popular and profitable. Along with creating the best brew, small brewers are not only interested in eye catching labels, they also want to provide the story of their brand, share their interests, inspiration, and showcase their unique personality. A strong theme and set of images on their labels is an important way for small breweries to stand out. Often using professional designers, design firms, or working with artists, craft brewers are not afraid to try new things for the sake of their label. This exhibition will showcase the art of the Label from hand selected regional brewers.

January 19 – Feb 28, 2018
Reception & Presentation:  January 26th 5-7PM
Indie Incubator: From Poem to 3D Print

Illustration by Emmylou Smith
KCAD Life Drawing Illustration

Featuring the art of four Ferris and Kendall colleges and disciplines, Indie Incubator: From Poem to 3D Print takes viewers on a journey from the spark of artistic inspiration to final art product.  Assistant Professor Dr. Deirdre Fagan’s Literature 231H students led this collaboration with the artistic spark.  Inspired by the current annual Ferris theme as proposed by the Office of Multi-Cultural Student Services’ Beyond event, the writing students drafted poems reflecting on four types of conflict:  internal, interpersonal, social, and existential.  These poems were then sent to Professor Patricia Constantine’s Illustration Life Drawing class at Kendall College of Art & Design.  There, students envisioned the voice of the poem and rendered two dimensional models.  The illustrations were then sent to Professor’s Mel Danes and Cari Mayle from the Digital Animation & Design program.  Their students selected the best of the illustrations and worked to model them three dimensionally. The 3D models where printed by Professor’s Mel Danes and Luke Hedman from the College of Engineering Technology.

The Ferris Art Gallery would like to thank the following programs, professors, and their students for making this exhibition concept a reality!

Dr. Deirdre Fagan, College of Arts & Sciences, English, Literature, and World Languages – Big Rapids campus
Patricia Constantine, Kendall College of Art & Design, Illustration Program – Grand Rapids campus
Mel Danes, College of Education and Human Services, School of Digital Media – Big Rapids campus
Cari Mayle, College of Education and Human Services, School of Digital Media – Grand Rapids campus
Luke Hedman, College of Engineering Technology, School of Engineering & Computing Technology – FSU Big Rapids

2017

November 30 - December 21, 2017
Reception & Presentation: November 30th  5-7PM
Ed Wong-Ligda and Bill Hosterman: The Land

Bill Hosterman investigates the relationship between the way that the natural environment is defined by the human journey, and the manner in which humans are defined by nature. Hosterman works in drawing and printmaking and has exhibited his work nationally and internationally. Hosterman holds a BFA and an MFA degrees with a concentration in printmaking and studied printmaking and art in South Africa on a Fulbright Scholarship.

Bill Hosterman, The Network, pen and watercolor, 22″ x 30″ 2016

With the reintroduction of the wolf, Yellowstone National Park has become a premiere scientific laboratory for wilderness observation and ecosystem recovery.  Scientists have come from around the world to watch the effect wild wolves have on the park.  We have discovered that an ecological effect called the “trophic cascade” has taken over Yellowstone, with the wolves initiating a more natural ecosystem balance than has been seen in over 65 years.  Based on this research, Kathleen VanDeMark visually addresses the important role the wolf plays in our ecosystem through her images and words.

Seth Marosok – 2016 MFA Kendall Graduate Award Solo Exhibit

"Angst”

“Drawing is my mechanism for alleviating the stresses and irrational anxieties that invade my day-to-day reality. I wish to show the struggle against forces beyond our control or understanding; against destruction, collapse, change, decay and death. These forces, be they natural, biological, or otherwise, threaten to damage and destroy the body. The themes of body horror and abjection are prevalent in my work. Bodies are fragmented, twisted and contorted. In some cases the figure is not apparent but lost amongst the undulations of decay and detritus. Internal body parts are exposed as the outside barriers of the body begin to break down and merge with their surroundings.”

April 6 – May 6, 2017
FSU/KCAD Faculty Exhibit
Image by Mariel Versluis

Exploring ways we can share ourselves with each other

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”
— Frida Kahlo

January 16 - March 12, 2017
“Strong is the New Pretty”
Photography by Kate T. Parker

Exploring the truth of beauty

“Beauty is not measured by a lack of imperfection, but by showing the world that imperfection simply does not exist.” — Carrie Weis

2016

November 7 – December 17, 2016
“Stratagem”
MFA Graduate Award Solo Exhibit by Dustin Rogers

 October 3-31, 2016
“Good Juju”
James Malone-Beach - Lindsey Marie Fisher - Alexander Walker - Katie Verrill

Exploring the powerful relationship between mentor and apprentice

“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” — Plato

September 1-28, 2016
“Spreading Light & Joy”
David Zinn

David Zinn will be on campus and in the Big Rapids community during Homecoming Week spreading light & joy. His work will be on display at the FSU Fine Art Gallery and available for purchase downtown at Artworks.

Exploring what happens when you spread light & joy

“spreading light & joy generously is an act of grace. Love, humor & the creativity coming from those sources are the only real strengths of humanity to me and you are magically overflowing with all...” — Clover Lodge

June 1 – August 26, 2016: “Burgess & Birds”

Soft Insect Sculptures by Molly Burgess and M. Bernard Loates’ Birds of America

Loates’ prints are the most authentic reproductions of Audubon’s work and known to be the best. The original Havell/Audubon engravings were used to create the series and inks were hand-mixed and compared to Audubon’s prints to ensure color accuracy. The paper is custom-made and is stamped with Loates’ personal watermark. The edition is limited to 1000 sets with 100 publisher proofs, signed and numbered by the artist. Prints are on sale this summer for $100.00 (unframed).

Molly Burgess studied Jewelry Design at Kendall college of Art and Design while working as a seamstress. After discovering her true passion was in fiber arts, she focused her creative skills as a seamstress. With ten years of experience, Molly retired to develop her own business, Molly Burgess Designs. She has spent the last two years using insects and arachnids as her inspiration. Sculptures are on sale in the gallery through the exhibit.

January 29 7- 9pm: Opening Reception

Indie (Independent): A form of creative endeavor that can be protected through a copyright, trademark, patent, industrial design or integrated circuit topography.

Incubator: An incubator is a company or part of a company that specializes in developing artists or writers.

Inspired by the Smithsonian Folkways non-profit record label; “Indie Incubator: All About the Vinyl” is an exhibition exploring ways in which music has transcended barriers. The impetus is the cultural diversity of music and musicians. The incubator, Ferris State University Fine Art Gallery, invited numerous artists and students at both Kendall and Ferris to independently create work all about the vinyl.