Art galleries host opening receptions in Ann Arbor all the time. What sets the new show at the former CultureVerse gallery apart is that it isn’t just about the art. “Artists and Their Teachers: The Power of Mentorship in the Transfer of Ideas” focuses on how emerging artists learn directly from the educators who shaped them.
“My background is in education. My work with the One Love Symposium, and the reason why I went over to A2 Jazz Fest, is because I could work on the educational programing. I have a PhD in education evaluation and research. I taught classroom for 20 years, and then I was in administration—I believe in education,” Anna Gersh, a longtime local educator and co-organizer of the A2 Jazz Fest, who came up with the show, explains. “And the issue of this show is: we have come into a period of time where we have devalued and undermined expertise. … This is how science works. People develop expertise. The people around them learn about it and they stand on the shoulders of each other to make things better.”
Gersh’s project is in the CultureVerse gallery, which is no longer in operation. But the space is still owned by the same person, who agreed to host the idea for the final month of the year.
“This is an amazing show,” Nancy Margolis, the executive director of Embrace Our Differences—Michigan, said of the art. “I love Paris’ things – they’re so imaginative.”
Paris Green—an apparel artist and alumnus of Ypsilanti High School, whose clothing designs dominate the front window facing the Le Dog and Rocket Fizz across Main Street—began his arts career at Ypsilanti Community Schools. He makes everything by hand and likes to make a point of making sure his apparel is practical as well as endlessly creative. It’s almost, in Green’s words, “a tapestry” as much as it is clothing. You can have an outfit made entirely of ski masks sewed together—or you can have a fit made entirely out of Detroit Lions apparel, allowing you to embrace the whole spirit of Detroit football literally from head to toe—literally.
“I like to have one of one things—something someone custom made by hand, or whatever techniques they use—being an individual piece means something that’s crafted from a different material. That’s why I went with a tapestry, because I feel like you don’t really used as clothes as often, it’s more of a blanket material. I like runway things that you wouldn’t see on an everyday basis. I feel like having a unique outfit is what sparks my interest,” Green said.
At the opening reception on December 5, the hum of dozens upon dozens of people mixed with smooth tunes played all evening. The space felt bustling and full of artsy exuberance, interesting debate, diverse backgrounds and promising up-and-coming talent. All of Main Street was packed with people in fact, making Gersh’s soiree feel like the party within the party for the cool kids, while hundreds of others darted from one shop to another for Main Street Christmas shopping.
“I call it my Kochi Divider. I took a lot of inspiration from sushi restaurants, which are made out of rice paper—which has amazing light transparency. And when I was working with the material, I really wanted to find a way to reinvent a new process, so I started with just the basic 36 by 36 sheet, and used a table saw to cut it to a sixteenth of an inch thickness… I was also was inspired by a friend’s idea of weaving, which I thought was impossible, but I was able to make it real,” Lourdes Davish,a Lawrence Tech student, said.
On the merits of this, her first official gallery showing, Davish said “it’s definitely empowering. I’ve always wanted the ability to showcase anything at a gallery. This feels like a childhood dream come true for me, and for students, it’s a perfect way for us to build our network.”
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This show is a big deal for art students. It gives them a chance to gain experience and make the connections necessary to get your foot in the door of the fine art world.
“With this piece, I really wanted to meld the industry and art side together. I did this through inorganic material, as well as the process of heating metal in order to meld it into an organic shape. I feel like it celebrates the innovations humans have made, because this is a recycled material that we’ve been able to reuse in a sustainable way,” student Ashgen Boyer said, adding that he liked bringing his machine shop background to this piece. He added that the show itself felt “so gratifying. I’ve been in school for three years now and this is the first big step I’ve made, and I’m not even done with school yet, and so it makes me so excited for the future.”
Students have come from all over Michigan—from Lawrence Tech University, the University of Michigan, Ypsilanti Community Schools, and Community High School. There is also art from Ground Cover News, and several independent artists.
Delanie Shorten, a Lawrence Tech junior, said she used a lathe to turn recycled plastic into a cylinder-shaped lamp with smooth walnut at the top and bottom.
“We started with a brief of this material, and our professor said to experiment with it… It turned very smoothly, almost like wood but smoother… and from there I noticed that the color was translucent, so I was like ‘let’s cut a hole in it and see what happens’ and the light was calming. The material changed the feeling of the room without any crazy form or anything. I wanted to go with a more simple form to emphasize the material itself, so I went for a simple cylinder.”
Some of the art is for sale and some of it isn’t. Prices range from $50 to $11,500.
The show is at 309 South Main Street. The art will be free to view from 4-7p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays between now and January 5.
“I like to play with shape and have bold colors. The pieces on the wall are part of my swiggle series, which sort of happened by chance. I had designed a lot of it for furniture I made, and I wanted to exhibit with it, but I didn’t have anything as background, so I started playing around of it, and making shapes,” Erika Cross, one of the teachers in the show said. “This is the first time I’ve shown my work alongside student work, and it’s a really interesting concept. I’m just really excited for the students to have their pieces, that are from our current semester, already in exhibition. That is a really great opportunity for them, and a great chance to talk about their work—how to get their elevator pitch together and talk to all of the guests… I’ve never heard of an exhibition that called for work like this.”
Anyone who can’t make those hours can arrange for the gallery to be specially opened by appointment. To do so, contact anna@a2jazzfest.com.
Kay Wade, the education director at Embracing our Differences of Michigan, said she had never been to a show like this before “I think it’s an excellent model. I’m a retired teacher. And I think that if young people can see what they can do, envision up, it just opens on their whole future.”
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!
