SUMMER MUSIC SERIES

LIVE MUSIC MOST SATURDAYS, 4-6 PM

Join us in the gallery for live music performed by local guitarist John Otto and pianist Kelwin Bakker on alternating weekends. 

John Otto June 25

Kelwin Bakker July 2

John Otto July 9

Kelwin Bakker July 16

John Otto July 23

Kelwin Bakker July 30

VISITING ARTIST DEBRA REID JENKINS

Artist Meet & Greet June 25, 4-6 pm

Join us for a meet & greet with Debra Reid Jenkins. As a painter, Debra's goal is to capture with paint specific moments in time on canvas. Ideally that canvas will behave more like a doorway than simply an object on the wall. Her original training was in portraiture with a strong emphasis on traditional skills and techniques sometimes referred to as academic training. The portrait work led to a career in illustration which she did for several years. During this time she was also learning to paint en Plein air taking her easel and painting out on location in all kinds of weather. Her background in figurative work shaped her approach to the landscape, which has always been a kind of portrait of place and time. Having learned what makes a person's face uniquely theirs, she uses those same observational skills in the landscape.

WINE TASTING WITH a Visiting Expert

Saturday, June 25, 4-6 pm | $15 Per Guest

Join us for a wine tasting and special wine education.

QUINTANGO ALBUM RELEASE TOUR

Performances July 1, 4 & 5 pm 

Experience QuinTango: Hear the heartbeat of classical Argentinian tango channeled by a quintet of top-notch female chamber musicians and their crackerjack bandoneon player. This is tango like you’ve never imagined it: classical chops, jazz harmonies, and intimate arrangements written for the group by outstanding composers in Buenos Aires. ‘Chamber tango’ is the result of this musical alchemy, a middle ground that draws in lovers of both classical and non-classical music to experience the fullness of life—the stories, the culture, and the exhilaration of tango. 

Over its 20-year history, QuinTango’s command performances have ranged from the White House to memorable concerts in 23 states, at venues ranging from Stanford University and Lincoln Center Plaza, to the Kennedy Center and Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston. They’ve performed at international festivals in Costa Rica and the Amalfi Coast—and toured in France, Italy, Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, and Uruguay.

VISITING ARTIST CHRIS COX

ARTIST MEET & GREET JULY 2, 4-6 PM

Join us for a meet & greet with glass artist Chris Cox. Chris was in Venice, Italy in 2005 and visited the island of Murano and saw glass blowing up close. When he returned, he took a weekend course in glass blowing. As he researched glass he discovered glass fusing and built a studio to start experimenting. “I love the ability to cut the glass, fuse and then form or cast it into almost any shape and finally manipulating it through cold work processes into the final piece of art or jewelry. I have always been fascinated with linear forms and design and you will see that in almost all of my art and jewelry.” When Chris is not in his studio you can find him in the wine section of our gallery. He has gone through Levels 1, 2, and 3 of Wine Spirit Education Trust courses and the Court of Master Sommeliers entry-level course. He continues his wine study through reading, courses, and wine travel.

VISITING ARTIST NINA WEISS

ARTIST MEET & GREET JULY 9, 4-6 PM

Join us for a meet & greet and demonstration with Nina Weiss a nationally renowned artist who has been painting and drawing the landscape for over 40 years.  She holds a BFA from the Tyler School of Art and graduate study at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Further study includes pre-college instruction at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Art Students’ League of New York.  Her work is held in private and corporate collections throughout the United States including United Airlines, Aetna Insurance, McDonald's, Eli Lilly, Avon, and United States Customs. 

WINE TASTING WITH STUART ALLEN

Saturday, July 9, 4-6 pm | $15 Per Guest

Join us for a wine tasting and education with expert Stuart Allen of Imperial Beverage.

VISITING ARTIST GAIL MANCUSO

ARTIST MEET & GREET JULY 23, 4-6 PM

Through her lens, award-winning artist Gail Mancuso captures the ubiquitous but often overlooked silhouettes and reflections of the urban landscape and the nuance, beauty, and strength of the female form. With a discerning eye for color, balance, and composition, she utilizes materials uncommon to traditional photography, including paint, torn papers, glass, and fabric, along with digital imaging to subtly blur the boundary between photography and painterly impressions.

VISITING ARTIST EVE OZER

ARTIST MEET & GREET JULY 23, 4-6 PM

Eve Ozer entered this world in a rebellious state of mind. She was born in 1951 in Wiesbaden, Germany. When she was four, her mother married an American soldier and they immigrated to the United States when she was nine. Scraps of paper and pencils were her first tools. Through independent study and workshops, Eve found her niche in collage, mixed media, and painting. After years in the corporate world, Eve now devotes her days to her studio in the Chicago area.

VISITING INTERIOR DESIGNER

MEET & GREET WITH SUSAN BRUMSTRUM JULY 23, 4-6 PM

About Studio Brunstrum: Wholistic, iNVITING, SOLUTION-SEEKING, CULTIVATED, and UNEXPECTED. Studio Brunstrum is a Chicago-based interior design firm that creates residential home environments throughout the United States that are individually tailored to each client. We believe that your home is where your life happens. We consider beauty and aesthetics, but we also focus on the human experience, and how a home feels and functions. Studio Brunstrum parlays its expertise in interior design and architecture to personify wholistic home environments where our clients can learn, work, support others, create, love, and live.

VISITING ARTIST JILL STEFANI WAGNER

ARTIST MEET & GREET AUGUST 6, 4-6 PM

Join us for a meet & greet with avid Plein-air painter Jill Stefani Wagner PSA-MP IAPS/MC. Inspired by the American landscape and that of her beloved Italy Wagner finds her great joy painting on location, taking in the atmosphere, temperature, sounds, and smells, as well as the view. She participates in national Plein-air festivals, traveling throughout the country to capture the uniqueness of each venue. Wagner's artwork has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions, throughout the country, and is included in many corporate and private collections.

VISITING ARTIST KIMBERLY BECK

ARTIST MEET & GREET AUGUST 20, 4-6 PM

Join us for a meet & greet with Kimberly Beck. Kimberly Beck is a fine artist who specializes in painting birds. After graduating from The University of Michigan with a degree in English Literature, she studied drawing and illustration at The California College of Arts and Crafts. As an illustrator, she created bird-themed products for The Nature Company and other print companies that sold her work nationally. Her avian-themed paintings have been juried into the prestigious international “Birds in Art” exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum of Art, Wausau, Wisconsin, selected for the museum’s National Tours, and are part of the Museum’s permanent collection.

WINE TASTING WITH JAMIE HAENER

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 4-6 PM | $15 PER GUEST

Join us for a wine tasting and education with expert Jamie Haener of Eagle Eye.

VISITING ARTIST MIKE KELLY 

ARTIST MEET & GREET SEPTEMBER 3, 4-6 PM

Join us for a meet & greet with Mike Kelly. For Mike, painting is about resistance and persistence. Each piece goes through a series of changes and refinements that may take days or months and evolves from a combination of direct observation, photo reference, memory, and most of all invention. His color studies often lead to a series of the same subject, each variation evoking a different emotional response from the viewer. He comes by this process naturally and judiciously, which he learned throughout a long and successful career in graphic design and product packaging design. 

VISITING ARTIST CARLA SUTTON

ARTIST MEET & GREET SEPTEMBER 17, 4-6 PM

Join us for a meet & greet with Carla Sutton. Sutton’s interest has been and continues to be landscapes. She was born and raised in West Michigan and splits her time between Saugatuck and Northport, Michigan. When she interprets a scene, nuances are revealed that bring us back again and again to relive the moment. Shapes, color, and light all help to create a mood. She presents both the everyday and the iconic in such a manner that the viewer experienced the images in a new way. Her goal is that the paintings will remind the viewer of our deep connection to the landscape, nature, and the sense that we can still find serenity in our increasingly fast-paced world. From the scenic coast of California to the Michigan shores with its Lake Michigan vistas, there's plenty of awe-inspiring material for Sutton’s stunning paintings.

VISITING ARTIST JAMES GRIFFIN

Artist Meet & Greet October 8, 4-6 pm

Join us for a meet & greet with James Griffin. At the easel, Griffin works with an exuberance bordering on madness. He stands and claims the canvas with great sweeps of his brush, throwing his body into the effort as the spirit moves him.  A small stereo in the back pumps out Beethoven, Brahms, and Afro-pop, as Griffin dances and paints, and the distinction between the two becomes unclear. Working primarily with oils, he employs what he calls the “Messy Brush Technique,” which enables him to paint quickly and spontaneously, without time for uncertainty or second-guessing. By mixing colors with his brush as he paints instead of pausing to mix and switching brushes, Griffin cannot completely control how the colors will mix or even when a hidden red or blue from his bristles may come forth, but he can adapt and create. 

VISITING ARTIST HELEN GOTLIB

ARTIST MEET & GREET OCTOBER 29, 4-6 PM

Join us for a meet & greet with printmaker Helen Gotlib. A lifetime interest in art led Helen to study at the University of Michigan's School of Art & Design where she divided her time between printmaking and scientific illustration. This led her to develop a process-oriented drawing style characterized by extreme detail.  Most recently, Gotlib is immersed in an extensive exploration of botanicals. By following the life cycle of flora, but focusing particularly on dried, dead flowers she has managed to create images of unexpected beauty and power.  

VISITING ARTIST DYLAN STRZYNSKI

ARTIST MEET & GREET OCTOBER 29, 4-6 PM

Join us for a meet & greet and demonstration with artist Dylan Strzynski. Strzynski is a Michigan artist whose mixed media work combines drawing, painting, and influence from his background in printmaking. He is inspired by the woody marine landscape of the north where he grew up and the area surrounding his home in rural western Washtenaw County. Focusing on landscape and vernacular architecture, his work addresses concerns about the environment and poverty by telling stories characterized by mystery and subtle humor.   

VISITING ARTIST REIN VANDERHILL

ARTIST MEET & GREET JUNE 11, 2022

Join us for a meet & greet with artist Rein Vanderhill. Rein paints greatly enlarged compositions of small natural forms, mostly fruits, and flowers. They then become monumental and dramatic demanding close examination. They refuse to be ignored because he uses high contrasts and intense colors focusing on the unusual shapes of the shadows on the leaves. The paintings of these natural forms and of the shoreland scenes of Lake Michigan will sometimes carry titles of dance forms or musical notations mirroring the implied motion and rhythm of the piece. Even though Vanderhill's work can look photographic from a distance upon closer inspection reveal a liquid motion and dancing paint strokes.   

VISITING ARTIST BRIAN SAUERLAND

Artist Meet & Greet May 28, 2022

Join us for a meet & greet and demonstration with Brian Sauerland. The array of colors and values that the human eye can perceive is amazing. The inspiration and hopes that mankind will take more time to notice and appreciate the beauty of things in everyday life are in each of Sauerland's works. Whether it is a piece of fruit in a basket or a sunset casting a long shadow of a tree across the snow, there is beauty everywhere, and Sauerland enjoys the art of capturing it in his snapshots of life.

VISITING ARTIST MIKE KOLASINSKI

Artist Meet & Greet May 28, 2022

Join us for a meet & greet and demonstration with nationally recognized pastelist and acclaimed award-winning artist Mike Barret Kolasinski. His work can be found in numerous private and public collections. Kolasinski was selected as a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, achieving the Master Circle status with the International Association of Pastel Societies and attaining the Master Circle Member status of the Paint America Association.  Mike co-founded the Chicago Pastel Painters, serving as a Board Member and accomplished Master Member. Having studied Illustration and Design at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, he is largely self-taught in his current career of producing fine art paintings.