ST. JOSEPH, MICH. THURS., MARCH 11, 2021 - Krasl Art Center (KAC) welcomes two new exhibitions to southwest Michigan this spring. Between April 3 - June 6, 2021, visitors are invited to experience Boom Bloom, featuring Nikki Renee Anderson and Renee Robbins in KAC’s main gallery, and The Undetectable Presence: a Selection of Sculpture by Mike Slaski in the artlab. Both exhibitions are free and open to the public Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday 11 AM - 5 PM, with virtual and in-person programming planned on Facebook and Zoom. Krasl Art Center thanks 2021 exhibition sponsors 98.3 The Coast, TCF Bank, Kruggel Lawton CPA’s, the John DeVries Insurance Agency & Silver Beach Pizza for their support of these exhibitions.
Krasl Art Center’s main galleries will welcome Boom Bloom, featuring sculptures by Nikki Renee Anderson (Chicago) and paintings by Renee Robbins (Chicago) that explode, reconfigure, and blossom on April 3. Biomorphic compositions multiply, shift, and drip inside a candy colored otherworld. Themes of growth connect the works in rhythmic blooms at either the beginning or the end of natural cycles. Hybrid forms simultaneously evoke so many different things such as cells, botanicals, or the human body. While drawing from the familiar, invention and a whimsical sense of play characterize the work. The ornamentation and saturated colors present ideas to lure, entice, and attract. The artworks consider standards of beauty, impermanence, and notions of femininity through a push pull tension. Layers of attraction and repulsion manifest on the micro and macro scale in tandem like a daydream.
Contrasting the bursting and colorful exhibition in KAC’s main gallery, Mike Slaski’s artworks lean toward the dry and analytical with an occasional touch of wit in the artlab. For this installation, Slaski (Cassopolis, MI) fills the space with structural systems based on geometry and built in wood.
Krasl Art Center will offer different virtual and in-person programs for these exhibitions. Live at Lunchtime Focus Talks occur every Thursday at Noon on Facebook Live and offer insights from artists about the work on view at KAC and within our community. Some of the topics for these exhibitions include Coffee with the Curator (April 8), Nikki Renee Anderson (April 15), Earth Day Celebration (April 22), and Renee Robbins (April 29).
Learn about the artist's inspiration, process, and the connections between the two Boom Bloom creators during a Hybrid Artist Talk on Saturday, May 8 at 1 PM. Guests will have the opportunity to register in advance for a discussion with Anderson and Robbins in KAC’s galleries - or stream the lecture from home via Zoom.
The community is also invited to register for KAC’s Third Thursday virtual series in April and May. Celebrate National Garden Month on April 15 at 7 PM with experts as we ‘dig deeper’ on the topic of gardening. Then on May 20 at 7 PM, join KAC Deputy Director and Curator, Tami Miller, on Zoom for a live tour from artlab artist Mike Slaski’s studio. Learn more about the artist and his process, see additional work, and ask questions during this virtual evening event. Register for either event at krasl.org/art/programregistration.
On the Second Saturday of April and May from 11 AM - 12:30 PM, join KAC for Boom Bloom - themed virtual Family Days. Information on these free, virtual events and how to register can be found at krasl.org/education/free-and-fun. Join KAC on April 10 for Painted Abstract Sculptures inspired by Nikki Renee Anderson, and on May 8 for Water Bears and Watercolors, Art inspired by Science (and Renee Robbins).
Information and registration information for all of KAC’s programs can be found at krasl.org.
In addition to free virtual and hybrid programs, Krasl Art Center is offering six (6) in-person art camps during spring break inspired by Boom Bloom artists Renee Robbins and Nikki Renee Anderson. Camps cost $45 per student ($35 for KAC members) are available for students ages 5 - 7, and 8 - 12. All camps are in-person and require registration before April 1. Register and access required forms at krasl.org/education/youth/camps. Camps include:
SB1: Clay Flower Pots and Spring Creatures
5 - 7 YRS
TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 9 AM - 12 PM
Spring is finally here! Create a flower pot and spring animals out of clay with Sherrie Styx! *Fired clay projects can be picked up April 23 - 26, 11 AM - 5 PM.
SB2: Flower Power Paintings
8 - 12 YRS
TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 1 - 4 PM
Flowers don’t have to be tiny, delicate, and pretty. They can also be big, bold, and powerful! Keith Stevens will teach campers to use scale, bold colors, and dynamic shapes to highlight the energy and excitement of flowers and other common plants.
SB3: Fantasy Solar Systems
5 - 7 YRS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 9 AM - 12 PM
Draw, paint, and collage an entire solar system from your imagination with artist Dani Davis! Working on large black paper, campers will populate the void with planets, moons, comets, black holes, and intergalactic inventions.
SB4: Space Junk Sculptures
8 - 12 YRS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1 - 4 PM
Use recycled materials to create robots, spaceships, rovers, and satellites that will orbit the Krasl skies with instructor Keith Stevens! Finished sculptures will be spray painted silver and hung in KAC windows for the remainder of Spring Break week.
SB5: Cellular Mandalas
5-7 YRS
THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 9 AM-12 PM
A mandala is a geometric form that begins with one central point and expands to infinite! See how gallery artist Renee Robbins has used this form in her art to represent micro and macro growth, and then make your own paintings using the same idea with instructor Sherrie Styx.
SB6: Biomorphic Clay Bodies (IN-PERSON)
8-12 YRS
THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1-4 PM
TUITION: $45/35 MEMBERS
Clay is the perfect medium to create biomorphic forms that resemble or suggest living organisms! View the sculptures of Nikki Renee Anderson and make your own sculptures that appear to be in the process of growing, breathing, or changing shape before your eyes with artist Dani Davis.
