By Matthew Makowski, Grand Valley State University
Virginia Jenkins is a professor and former chair of the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Grand Valley State University. Landscape forms and images have been the primary focus of her work for more than two decades, and her areas of specialty are in painting, drawing and mixed media. This exhibition is drawn from a recent series created in response to the landscape of the Northwest coast of the United States.
What: ‘Landscapes, Color & Light: Paintings by Virginia Jenkins’
When: Exhibition on display through March 2
Where: Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall (first floor), Allendale Campus
Karsten Creightney, ‘Crossroads’ 2010. Collage, water, acrylic, oil and wax on wood panel. Flint Institute of Arts
By Victoria Mullen
Treat yourself to a visual feast! Common Ground, an amazing exhibition of African American art, is a collaborative effort between the Flint Institute of Arts, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Muskegon Museum of Art. The exhibition showcases the best of each museum’s renowned collections of African American works dating from the 19th century to the present–60 paintings, sculpture, and works on paper that chronicle a cultural history of nearly 200 years.
Five thematic areas—Examining Identities, New Self-Awareness, Towards Abstraction, Gaining Access and Political and Social Expressions—give a broad overview of African American art history from the talent and determination of the earliest artists to internationally acclaimed work by leading contemporary artists.
Charles Henry Alston, ‘Untitled (Couple)’ 1945-50. Oil on canvas. Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Artists represented include Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Jacob Lawrence. Works by Michigan artists are included as well, among them Richard Hunt, Senghor Reid, Hughie Lee-Smith and Charles McGee.
The Muskegon Museum of Art is located at 296 W. Webster Ave., in downtown Muskegon. Hours are Sunday 12-5pm, Tuesday through Saturday 11am-5pm, Thursday 11am-8pm, closed Mondays.
General admission: $8 adult, $5 adult student with I.D, free for ages 17 and under and for MMA members. Free admission Thursdays, from 4pm to 8pm only, compliments of Meijer. More visitor information may be found here.
