2001 - 2004
Artists Under Sail

I was a participating artist and exhibit coordinator for a traveling exhibition based upon a 2001 sailing circumnavigation of Lake Superior. My accomplishments include: developing the brochure and publicity material, writing all contracts, and securing all exhibition locations. Exhibition sites included:

Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay Ontario (May - Sept. 2004)
William Bonifas Fine Arts Center, Escanaba, MI (Jan. - Feb. 2004)
Manistee Institute of Art, Manistee, MI (Dec. 2003)
Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI (Oct. - Nov. 2003)
Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, MI (July - Aug. 2003)
Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, MI (May - June 2003)
City of Marquette Art and Culture Center, Marquette, MI (Mar. - April 2003)
Finlandia University, Hancock, MI (Jan. - Feb. 2003)
South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, MI (Sept. - Oct. 2002)
Little Cities Gallery, Kalamazoo, MI (June - July 2002)

2002 Press Release
Reflections of Superior — Artists under Sail

The Reflections of Superior — Artists under Sail exhibition contains of 40 artworks including
oil paintings, etchings, photography, book art, digital illustrations, video, and woodblock prints — all resulting from a sailing circumnavigation of Lake Superior during the summer of 2001.

Eight visual artists circumnavigated Lake Superior in the traditional wooden sailboat, Alwihta, built and captained by Fritz Seegers, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The artists' voyage required several years of preparation, and was a longtime dream of the captain. Seegers had 25 years of experience sailing and exploring in the Great Lakes region, as well as in the Caribbean and Alaska, before launching the Alwihta onto the largest and most challenging of the five Great Lakes. Seegers invited fellow artists to join him as crewmembers, providing the impetus for the Reflections of Superior — Artists under Sail exhibition.

The crew of artists traveled in week- to month- long stages from June 1 through September 30. Each crewmember had the opportunity to study nature at a non-rushed pace. They all observed, recorded, and responded to Lake Superior's rich mosaic of geographic, historic, and mythic features. While each artist specialized in different mediums, the exhibition was a cohesive array of personal interpretations based on a common subject and voyage experience.

Participants are all mid-career artists with regional reputations. Pictured at the first exhibition site from left to right are: photographer Scott Spink, glass artist Jamie Rife, painter Brent Spink, printmaker Ladislav Hanka, printmaker Mary Brodbeck, illustrator and captain Fritz Seegers, model maker and photographer Fritz Hartly, and paper collage artist Cynthia Cote´. Not pictured is videographer Mark Spink.

The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo granted support for the development and promotion of the Artists under Sail traveling exhibit.