Family Fun Day and new artists’ reception at Michigan Legacy Art Park
THOMPSONVILLE, MICH – Family Fun Day at Michigan Legacy Art Park will take place on Saturday, October 23, 2010 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Art Park is located at Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa, Thompsonville, Mich. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy art projects for adults and children, a reception for the Art Park’s newest artists, guided tours, a performance by “Luunappi” and more. Admission is $3.00 per person or $10 per household.
Three new sculptures were installed in the Art Park this summer: Superior by Brian Ferriby, A.M. by Kaz McCue and The Water brought the Trees by Pamela Ayres. Help us welcome these new artists by attending Family Fun Day. They, along with artists Dewey Blocksma, Patricia Innis and Michael McGillis, will be on hand to talk about their artwork.
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Interactive bingo – a fun self-guided tour of the Art Park
Painting, sketching and creative writing stations
Environmental art project
Art Park sculpture coloring pages for the youngest children
11: 15 a.m.
March to the Fort – a guided tour from the amphitheatre to Stockade Labyrinth
12:30 p.m.
Eat your picnic lunch, enjoy a hot chocolate reception with Art Park artists and enjoy the songs, stories and poems of LUUNAPPI – Patrick Niemisto and Norm Wheeler.
1:45 p.m.
March to the Fort– a guided tour from the amphitheatre to Stockade Labyrinth
Girl and Boy Scouts can earn a Michigan Legacy Art Park patch at Family Fun Day by completing the scout patch activity booklet.
In the event of rain, Family Fun Day will be held indoors at Crystal Mountain. Call the Art Park office for further information: 231-378-4963.
Michigan Legacy Art Park is a 501(c)3 non-profit located on a 30-acre preserve leased by Crystal Mountain for $1 per year. Michigan Legacy Art Park features over 40 outdoor sculptures that celebrate Michigan’s culture and history along 1.6 miles of wooded hiking trails.
About Pamela Ayres
Pamela Ayres is a previous artist-in-residence at Interlochen Arts Academy. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Sculpture and her Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture, Installation and Performance Art from Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus in Brookville, New York. Ayres has served as Gallery Director at Central Michigan University, Director of University Galleries, Exhibitions, and Collections at Bradley University and Curatorial Director at the University of Bridgeport.
Her newest work The Water brought the Trees is a site-specific environmental sculpture designed for Michigan Legacy Art Park. The symbol of a boat giving passage to trees with the aid of the water and the air currents is an amiable and romantic myth in the artist’s mind. This body of work is a reinterpretation of water and air shaping land.
About Brian Ferriby
Brian Ferriby is currently on faculty at the Art Institute of Michigan and Sculptor/Designer at Inde Studio and Gallery, Novi, MI. Previously he was an adjunct faculty member at Oakland Community College. He earned a MFA in Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Master of Architecture from University of Michigan.
Superior addresses the issue of Great Lakes Water Conservation. The materials used in the creation of the sculpture, oxidized steel, are native to the region, and have no significant adverse environmental impact.
About Kaz McCue
Kaz McCue received a BFA in photography from Parson’s School of Design in New York City and a MFA in mixed media from Long Island University. He has taught at C.W. Post, Nassau Community College, University of Bridgeport and Indiana State University. He was also the Director of Visual Arts Division at Interlochen Center for the Arts from 2006-2010.
His sculpture A.M. contrasts the structural elements of its construction against the natural elements of its surroundings. The “5” design on the brocks is a nod to the industrial-type abstractions of Charles Demuth.
About LUUNAPPI (Finnish for a finger snap to the ear!)
Patrick Niemisto and Norm Wheeler present songs, stories, poems, and fun. Gathering together years of performing experience, one as a singer/songwriter (with New Third Coast and Eino Sunshine), and the other as a storyteller/poet (with the Beach Bards), Patrick Niemisto and Norm Wheeler create a tag-team grab bag of family & children's entertainment. From Woodie Guthrie and Bill Staines to J. W. Riley and Dr. Seuss, Patrick and Norm layer classical and original material to show you a magical world of sneetches and goblins, skunks and hoboes, shipwrecked sailors, grown-ups in the sauna, and kids with dirty rooms. With laughs and pathos these two affable entertainers promise to delight audiences of all ages.
