The new “Masked” show at the Gutman Gallery is only going to last until November 2, but you do not need to feel FOMO if you can’t fit a visit into your schedule. The show is so short because it is in fact a preview for the Guild of Artists and Artisans second annual fundraiser on November 9.
“It’s masquerade themed, so we’re encouraging everyone to wear masks. So, this is kind of a pop up show to encourage everyone in the community to come out,” gallery and program director Elizabeth Youngs explained during the opening reception for the temporary show on October 25. “If they want to purchase an artist-made mask to come to the fundraiser, this is a great opportunity to do that; [and] also before Halloween for a costume party.”
The masks currently mounted to the walls of the Gutman, which is run by the Guild, will be up for auction starting at 7 p.m. half a block from the gallery, at Cahoots Café. The funds raised will go to the long term financial solvency of the guild running the gallery, and all of their programs. The Guild uses the Gutman gallery and other events to produce art programs for kids who are enthusiastic about painting, sculpture and crafts; as well as adults with promising talent and who want to make it as a professional fine artist, but need help developing the techniques, art world connections, critical and social media exposure, and resume necessary to get their work noticed locally and even internationally.
“It started rather accidentally. I was visiting Mexico for a week and stayed for a year. I had a small suitcase, but I felt like it was so magical, and I needed a break after Covid – I was a schoolteacher, and I hadn’t been back to my home country for 15 years, so I was just living out of what I brought,” Andrea Lozano, who made the work “Spring Eternal,” said. “And I had only brought one pair of earrings, so I thought ‘What can I do with my watercolor paper?’ so I taught myself how to make watercolor jewelry, and people started to order from me, and it became a little business, which helped me to meet a lot of people down there. Now that I am back in Ann Arbor, I have been selling the watercolor jewelry at the artisan market, and it gave me the idea to try and incorporate it into a mask, which I call Spring Eternal; because where I was living in Mexico is called the Town of Eternal Spring.”
The show has 24 artists participating, who have produced 49 unique pieces for attendees to bring home. They go from theatrical masks, to darkly sober pieces, to exuberantly colorful ones. You will even be able to make your own mask at the fundraiser, on the second Saturday of November, or you can sit while one of the artists who made a mask sketches you.
The artists are:
- Celina Contreras Berenfeld
- Hosanna Broner
- Liam Cares
- Barbara Melnik Carson
- Cheryl Boc-Chidester
- Susan Clinthorne
- Pamela Day
- Corinne Elizabeth
- Jean-Marc Fontaine
- Denali Gere
- Joan Painter-Jones
- Andrea Lozano
- Rita Malone
- Emily Mann
- Irene Mokra
- Mari Pruks
- Nataliya Pryzant
- Anne Rogers
- Thomas Rosenbaum
- Gayle Sanchirico
- Mikki Sharp
- Lynlee Sky
- Laura Irene Wayne
- Wasentha Young
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On Nov. 9, the usual gallery-going rhythm of chatter before and after the auction will be accompanied by the music of the jazz group Take Note and vinyl DJ Batts. Post-auction celebration will be provided through the music of Ann Arbor-based band Ain’t Dead Yet.
Food on Nov. 9 will be as varied as the masks. Palio will provide food, along with the Monahan’s Seafood Market, Oasis Grill, Busch’s, Knight’s Catering, and the Kensington Hotel. The Ann Arbor Distilling Company will be unveiling a unique cocktail. A charcuterie spread will be provided from York Food & Drink. Deserts will come from Nothing Bundt Cakes and Katherine’s Catering too.
The gallery fund raiser is for adults only. Tickets reserved by Halloween go for $75 each. Tickets bought in November will go for $85 per head. You can get them on the Gutman’s website or EventBrite.
The art on display at the Gutman right now is for sale. Not for sale however are the masks made by kids in attendance, who were given the chance to make masks too, at the Aborfest on October 11 and 12 according to the Gutman, and get the fun experience of getting into an art show at a young age.
“I used blues, and beads, and gems,” one of the children participating, Yara Tamaddoni said. When her father Hossein asked her how much fun she had making it, “big or small?” she said: “Big.”
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!
