Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2015 - (Page 14)

Enriching the Arts and Humanities in West Michigan Events spotlight diverse art, scholastics by Matthew Makowski Grand Valley has a rich history of providing events and programs for the community centered on the arts. This passion for the arts began with a desire by President Emeritus Arend D. Lubbers to transform Grand Valley into a liberal arts epicenter. Jean Enright, former executive assistant to the president and the first Fall Arts Celebration coordinator, said in 2003 then-President Mark Murray saw an opportunity to build on Lubbers' passion and collectively promote the arts at Grand Valley. "He noticed we had so many arts and cultural events, and we agreed that we should combine them under one heading and let the community know that Grand Valley is the place to celebrate the arts in the fall,'" Enright said. With that epiphany, Fall Arts Celebration was born. "Fall Arts Celebration was always planned as a gift back to the communities that support Grand Valley," said Teri Losey, current Fall Arts Celebration chair and executive associate to the president. "It has become more prominent and distinguished over the years, and the coordinators are always working on ways to make it bigger and better." Since its inception, Fall Arts Celebration has featured some of the foremost writers, poets, musicians, dancers, artists and scholars. This tradition continues this year with six free events that are open to the public. "Dusk to Dusk: Unsettled, Unraveled, Unreal" Art Gallery Exhibition For the first time in the history of Fall Arts Celebration, the featured artwork for this exhibition is so large that it cannot be solely housed at Grand Valley. 14 Summer '15 Henry Matthews, director of Galleries and Collections, said once his team secured the traveling exhibition, they were faced with a couple of options due to the large size of the 32-piece art collection. One option was to leave the excess artwork in storage, an alternative was to find a community partner with whom to share the exhibition. Opting for the latter, half of "Dusk to Dusk: Unsettled, Unraveled, Unreal" will be shown at Grand Valley, while the remaining pieces will be showcased at the De Pree Art Center and Gallery at Hope College in Holland. The exhibit, consisting of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography and video art, comes to West Michigan from the private collection of art enthusiasts in the Netherlands who wish to remain anonymous. Matthews added that this exhibition of contemporary art will provide a unique opportunity. "This is very high-end, international art and this is an opportunity for visitors to see artwork that might not normally come to West Michigan. We are very lucky to spotlight an exhibit of art at this level," Matthews said. "Dusk to Dusk" was organized by the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University, curated by Richard Rinehart, director of the Samek Art Gallery, with works generously loaned from the Ekard Collection. The exhibition is toured by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions, Pasadena, California. Grand Valley is the place to celebrate the arts in the fall -Jean Enright DANCE Kun-Yang Lin/ Dancers

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2015

Campus News
Athletics
Donor Impact
Fall Arts Celebration
Evolving as a professional
Finding fellowships
Mastering a subject
Research
Focal Point
Q&A John Berry
Off the Path
Museum School
Alumni

Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2015