Beacon by John DeHoog and Brian Nelson
John DeHoog and Brian Nelson: Beacon Project
2016 Artists in Residence
Instructors at Easter Michigan University, John and Brian are both intimately involved with art-making in the natural environment.
During the course of their residency at the Art Park, they will develop an installation in the art studio at the Parsons Center, involve Eastern Michigan University students, and engage the public through open studio time at the Parsons Center and during their installation at the Art Park.
The final installation will include 4 – 5 student pieces surrounding their larger artwork along the accessible trail at the Art Park based on the idea of “Sculp-itecture”. While the actual form, dimensions, and details will be developed during the residency, the work will have architectural qualities (openings, shelter, ingress/egress) and sculptural qualities (compositionally dynamic, purpose and proficiency with materials, and conceptual aspects that challenge the viewer). The piece will pay respect simultaneously to our state’s history of experimental modern architecture and the resourcefulness of life up North.
Kaz McCue: Camoflage Village: Persistence, Change, Sameness and Time
2014 Artist in Residence and Community Art Project
Kaz McCue was the artist-in-residence at Michigan Legacy Art Park in 2014. He created a new public work of art over the course of six Saturdays – July 12 through August 16, 2014. The project was a collaboration with the community – creating “hands-on” experience in a cumulative process of building an outdoor installation.
Each session provided people of all ages the opportunity to see inside the creative process of a professional artist-in-residence and to learn about how ideas and inspirations can manifest into tangible form.
The installation developed through modular stages, growing and changing based on the input and work of the participants. Progress of the project was documented through a blog, which was updated weekly during the course of the project: http://legacykaz.blogspot.com/
This project is generously underwritten by Linda and David Roeser.
About the project: “Camoflage Village: Persistence, Change, Sameness and Time”
The installation will take the form of a “shanty village” which will be camouflaged into the natural environment of the park terrain. The “shanties,” defined as small, crudely built structures, will take on a variety of shapes and forms. Inspired by structures like bird houses, ice shanties, wood sheds, barns and a variety of other structures readily seen throughout northern Michigan, these structures will serve as symbols of personal identity as that individual self-identity relates to place. The structures will be small in scale (approximately 2’Lx5’Hx2’W although proportions will vary between structures) and the surfaces will be covered with image transfers plus drawn and painted marks. The imagery on the structures will reflect the immediate environment of the installation site, procuding a type of camoflage for the structures.
