Category: Art

New Faculty Member Lisa Johnson

 

Lisa Johnson
Lisa Johnson

Lisa Johnson, MFA
Lisa Johnson joins the Department of Visual and Performing Arts from the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory.

Johnson received an MFA and an MA with a focus in sculpture from the University of Iowa.

Johnson has been involved in projects like Place-Map-Place, Trench(era), The Eva Luna Project and Kotcich. She also has experience with digital, audio and video production; performance development; woodworking; figure modeling; plaster casting and mold making; and papermaking.

Read more at Tech Today.

Water’s Edge Exhibit During Earth Day

With the sun shining and the mounds of snow disappearing, it is starting to feel like spring–just in time for Earth Day. Today is Earth Day and Michigan Tech is celebrating with activities all week long, including a Lake Superior Celebration and a rainforest reptile show.

The Lake Superior Celebration, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center, will feature hands-on activities, a new PBS video on the Great lakes Stewardship Initiative, school-community projects, local foods, “Wildflowers of the UP” by Bob Wild and the “Water’s Edge Art Exhibit.”

A new PBS video will be aired at the celebration. It features local participants in the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative. The event is free and open to the public and all are welcome. The Lake Superior Celebration is sponsored by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative and Michigan Tech’s Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education.

Read more at Tech Today, by Erika Vichcales.

John Luther Adams at Michigan Tech

John Luther Adams and Libby MeyerA delicate balance
Pulitzer Prize winner visits Tech

Scientists, researchers and artists work daily at Michigan Technological University but do not often come together. In an effort to bridge the gap between two disciplines, faculty and staff gathered for a panel discussion Tuesday featuring composer John Luther Adams, who was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for music Monday.

“In a lot of his writing he talks about what art and science have to say to one another and I thought, since we are a school that has both, it would be an interesting topic for conversation,” said Libby Meyer, instructor of visual and performing arts at Tech.

That dialogue was facilitated by a panel including representatives from science and humanities disciplines, with John Vucetich, associate professor in the school of forest resources and environmental science; Amy Schrank, research assistant professor in the school of forest resources and environmental sciences; Chris Plummer, associate professor in visual and performing arts; M. Bartley Seigel, associate professor of creative writing and diverse literatures; and Evan McDonald, executive director of the Keweenaw Land Trust.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Meagan Stilp.

In the News

National Public Radio (NPR), Associated Press and Canadian Press wire services and other national and international media outlets reported that Alaska composer John Luther Adams was an artist in residency at Michigan Tech when he was notified that he had won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

From Tech Today.

Alaskan Composer Wins Pulitzer For ‘Become Ocean’

By telephone Monday afternoon, I located John Luther Adams, 61, in Houghton, Mich. (in the state’s Upper Peninsula), where he is in residence at Michigan Tech. He said he was napping between classes when he got “a most welcome wakeup call” informing him he’d won the award.

Read more at Deceptive Cadence from NPR Classical, by Tom Huizenga.

Details on the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winners in journalism and arts, and reaction

MUSIC: John Luther Adams’ “Become Ocean” (Taiga Press/Theodore Front Musical Literature)

John Luther Adams knew he’d been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his composition “Become Ocean,” but he had no expectations of winning. He was so busy with classes as part of a residency at Michigan Tech University that he even forgot the day they’d be handed out.

“I was actually taking a quick power nap between classes and got a phone call. It was a quite a wake-up call,” Adams said with a chuckle. “It was pretty great.”

Though based temporarily in Michigan, Adams’ thoughts are never far from Alaska.

Read more at The Canadian Press News Service.

Alumni on Concerts and Artists

Alan ParsonsThe Golden Age of Concerts

Another bonus of living here is all the talent that comes through town: famous lecturers, comedians, acting troupes, and especially musicians have graced the stages at Tech. Through extensive research in the Keweenawan and elsewhere, I’ve discovered a golden age of rock, folk, and jazz concerts at Tech.

Read more at TechAlum Newsletter, by Dennis Walikainen (Dennis ’92 ’09).

More on Homecoming ’83 and More

Thanks for the article on artist, Tony Orrico’s visit to Michigan Tech and Finlandia. I went to high school with the two professors (Anne Beffel, MTU and Carrie Flaspohler, Finlandia) who collaborated on this project.

Read more at TechAlum Newsletter, by Lynda (Gertz) Kuisell ’85.

Great Lakes Showcase 2014 Awards

Awards 2014

BEST IN SHOW
MTU President’s Award
“Tori Gate with Great Eastern Sun” by Sue Stephens

FIRST PLACE 2D
MTU Provost’s Award
“Threads” by Renée L. Michaud

FIRST PLACE 3D
MTU Dean’s Award
“Five Minute Egg” by Russell Prather

COMMUNITY CHOICE AWARD
WINNER
“Pondering” by Ray Lahikainen
RUNNER UP
“Land of Opportunity, Grand Rapids” by Jessica Vitale

SECOND PLACE 2D
“Coastline” by Julie Benda

SECOND PLACE 3D
“GMO Deer Swan Box” by Lindsey Heiden

HONORABLE MENTION
“The Gap” by Donald Kilpela
“Coon Valley” by Michele Tuccini
“Dance of the Incubus #8” by Greg Green

Great Lakes Showcase 2014: Vote for Community Choice Award

Great Lakes ShowcaseThis is the last week to see the show, purchase artwork, and cast your vote for the Community Choice Award. Please visit!

Ashley Kirklen from TV6 highlighted the Great Lakes Showcase in a live segment.

Watch the YouTube video “Ashley at Rozsa Center.”

The Great Lakes Showcase enters last week

“There’s a community choice award, so anyone who’s been into the exhibition can vote on their favorite piece. I will count all the votes at the end of the show and we’ll announce the community choice award on our website” says showcase coordinator, Sarah Scarlett.

Read more at Upper Michigans Source, by Ashley Kirklen.

Sarah Scarlett Interview
Ashley Kirklen Interviews Sarah Scarlett

World Water Day 2014

WWD 2014World Water Day is observed on March 22. This year, Michigan Tech is hosting a week of events, March 20, 26-27, 2014. This year’s theme is “Water and Energy.”

Events include a film, lecture, poster session, panel discussion, and art exhibit, featuring the topic of gas from shale hydrofraccing.

March 20- April 23, 2014
Water’s Edge Art Exhibit
Great Lakes Research Center (1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors)
Featured Artists:
Amy Arntson, Joyce Koskenmaki, Bonnie Peterson

Learn more at the Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society.

World Water Day Sponsors:

Center for Water and Society (CWS), Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative (LSSI), Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (KUUF), Keweenaw Land Trust (KLT), Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI), Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC, Visual and Performing Arts (MTU), Finlandia University. Partial funding provided by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) through a grant from the Johnson Family Foundation for a Let’s Talk About Water event.

World Water Day Activities Focus on Fracking

World Water Day was started by the United Nations to raise awareness about the problems surrounding water on our planet. The world is more than 70 percent covered in water, yet less than 1 percent is available for people to use.

Read more at Tech Today, by Erika Vichcales.

Art Exhibit at GLRC Focuses on Water

The Water’s Edge Art Exhibition celebrates artists Amy Arntson, Joyce Koskenmaki and Bonnie Peterson now through April 23. The artists use paintings, prints and textiles.

Koskenmaki and Peterson will attend a “meet the artists” event on Wednesday, March 26, at the Great Lakes Research Center from 7:30 to 8 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Center for Water and Society, Great Lakes Research Center, Finlandia University Gallery and the Sustainable Finlandia Committee, and Visual and Performing Arts at Michigan Tech.

Read more at Tech Today.

“World Water Day Exhibition: Water’s Edge” at Great Lakes Research Center celebrates three artists

The Water’s Edge Art Exhibition celebrates artists Amy Arntson, Joyce Koskenmaki and Bonnie Peterson. The artists use paintings, prints and textiles.

Koskenmaki and Peterson will attend a “meet the artists” event from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, at the Great Lakes Research Center. The public is invited to attend.

Water’s Edge is the brainchild or Dr. Noel Urban, Michigan Tech professor of civil and environmental engineering. Urban wanted to juxtapose art with the campus-wide celebrations of World Water Day, including lectures, poster sessions and other events, because art can help bring important ecological issues to light. Anne Beffel, Michigan Tech professor and Visual and Performing Arts Department chair, and Carrie Flaspohler, Finlandia University Gallery curator and director, teamed up with Urban and curated the exhibition. Beffel and Flaspohler agree that these are three amazing artists, each with her own way of paying attention to and translating the cultural and ecological qualities of this element.

Read more at Keweenaw Now.

Renowned Ceramist Sadashi Inuzuka Coming to Tech

Sadashi Inuzuka’s transcendent ceramic art is celebrated for exploring the overlap between the natural world, science and society. Over the past 20 years, Inuzuka has exhibited his work to national and international audiences.

After having been deemed legally blind, Inuzuka was discouraged from pursuing a career in the arts, but he used his visual impairment as a motivation to reach out to other disabled individuals and to help develop their own artistic identities.

Inuzuka has been awarded a University of Michigan Thurnau Professorship, the highest award for undergraduate teaching. Inuzuka is considered a pioneer in the design and implementation of community engagement courses. He has created courses that enable students to see first-hand the role art can play in social change.

At Michigan Tech, he will help students move beyond their perceived creative limitations in an open, brown bag luncheon discussion. He will share images of his diverse artwork to help lead the discussion. The event is free, and all are welcome, Monday, March 17, from 12 to 1:30 p.m., Walker 202.

Inuzuka will also meet with Michigan Tech students in courses such as Creative Ceramics, Art Appreciation and Creative Drawing.

He will discuss his current artistic endeavors, especially “Whaletown” Project, at a lecture free and open to the public on Tuesday, March 18, from 7 to 8 p.m. on at the U. J. Noblet Forestry Building G002.

Support for the visit comes from the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Telling his story through clay

Chronicling his journey as an artist, renowned ceramist Sadashi Inuzuka took students and others at Michigan Technological University from the first time he touched clay as a student in Vancouver until now during an open discussion Monday.

“The first time I touched clay, something went through my body and I said, ‘this is it.'” Inuzuka said. “I didn’t know anything about art but I knew I wanted to make something.”

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Meagan Stilp.

Great Lakes Showcase 2014 Artworks for Sale

Artworks for SaleThe Visual and Performing Arts Department at Michigan Technological University welcomes you to the 2014 Great Lakes Showcase, an annual juried exhibition of fine art and craft. A community mainstay for over 35 years, the Showcase celebrates the vibrant artists who work and visit the Upper Peninsula and surrounding region. Thank you for helping to celebrate creativity in our community and beyond.

To purchase artworks online, visit the site:

Great Lakes Showcase—A Fine Arts and Crafts Exhibition: Artworks for Sale

Thank you for supporting Great Lakes Showcase artists! Once you purchase an artwork, it must remain on view for the duration of the exhibition. In addition, it must be picked up on April 1 between 8am and 8pm. Staff will be on hand that day to help you retrieve the artwork and sign it out. If you have questions please contact Sarah Fayen Scarlett at sfscarle@mtu.edu or (906) 487-2067.