Rozsa Center to host "Senses of Land" Gallery exhibit, Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra "Violapalooza" concert Oct. 10

Rock Run Creek Forest, by Cathleen Faubert. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Center will host two events Saturday evening, Oct. 10: The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra "Violapalooza" concert at 7:30 p.m. and the reception for the art exhibit "Senses of Land" in the Rozsa Center Gallery from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Come early for the concert and enjoy the art exhibit and reception in the Rozsa Center Gallery, located in the lower level of the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts at Michigan Tech.

"Senses of Land" in Rozsa Center Gallery

Senses of Land features work by three contemporary artists who focus on landscape, ecology, and our place in nature and community. Artists will feature work that explores our sensory and personal connections to diverse landscapes and how we find our ways among the places where we live.

"Senses of Land" features the artworks of Allen Morris (photography), Sage Dawson (map making), Cathleen Faubert (scent and memory) and the poetry of David Ebenbach.

Visitors can experience "scent and memory" related to Cathleen Faubert's photo of Rock Run Creek by testing the scent she provides in the blue bottle. (Her hand-crafted scent is priced at $80 an ounce and includes Wild Ginger, Limestone, Spicebush Berries, Creek Water, Bloodroot, Dwarf Iris, Rattlesnake Plantain, Elderflower, Mushroom and Blackberry.) (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

The reception is come-and-go, but curator Lisa Johnson, Michigan Tech assistant professor in Visual and Performing Arts, will give a gallery talk at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome.

The exhibit, free and open to the public, continues through Nov. 13, 2015.

Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra:  "Violapalooza"

What is a Violapalooza?  Lollapalooza with violas? Picture a host of young Kurt Cobains with violins. Playing classical music. And, instead of Nirvana, the concert will feature the stars of the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and special guest artists -- along with the emerging, talented violists of the Keweenaw region --all on stage together at the Rozsa!

What is a Viola you ask? According to Wikipedia: "The viola is a bowed string instrument that is slightly larger than a violin, with a lower and deeper sound." The KSO’s Violapalooza this Saturday will feature many, many violas! Want to learn more? Come to the 4th Keweenaw Honors String Festival at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, and find out!

Guest artists include violist Pamela McConnell of the Bergonzi String Quartet and guest conductor Daniel O'Bryant. Local string musicians and the Keweenaw Youth Symphony Orchestra join together with McConnell and the KSO in a "Violapalooza" celebration of the viola.

Tickets for the 4th Keweenaw Honors String Festival concert are on sale now -- $19 for adults, $6 for youth, and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available by phone at (906) 487-2073, online at Rozsa.mtu.edu, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex, or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance. Please note the Rozsa Box Office only opens two hours prior to performances.

(Insert photo courtesy Rozsa Center)

Great Lakes Showcase celebrates local and regional artists -- opening Feb. 26

Quincy Dredge in Winter, by Peter Jablokow. (Photos courtesy Rozsa Center)

HOUGHTON -- The Michigan Tech Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts are pleased to present the 2015 Great Lakes Showcase (GLS), an annual month-long, juried exhibition of fine arts and crafts.

Opening on Thursday, Feb. 26, and continuing through March 31 in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, the Great Lakes Showcase is a celebration art that brings together both local artists and others from the around the upper Midwest region. The Showcase features paintings, photography, drawings, collage, ceramics, textiles, and works in wood by local and regional artists, juried by a group of professional artists. The show will feature 92 artworks in a range of media, including woven textiles, ceramic, paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media, wood-turning, bronze sculpture, and installation pieces.

Winter Sun, by John Hubbard.

Free and open to the public, the exhibit is located in the Rozsa Art Gallery, in the lower level of the Rozsa Center. Visitor parking is available at meters adjacent to the Rozsa Center. (NOTE: The gallery is closed on weekends.)

The opening will feature the announcement of awards for outstanding work in several categories. This year the reception will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. In addition to beautiful artwork and a chance to meet the artists, the reception will feature appetizers and a cash bar, as well as live music provided by local folk band "What the Folk," performing from 5:30 p.m.- 6:15 p.m.

Dyed rubbed vase, by Marc Himes.

Artworks are available for purchase; visitors are encouraged to support their favorite artist by making a Great Lakes Showcase artwork part of their home or office. Most of the pieces are for sale and can be purchased in person at the show or at the Central Ticketing Operations office in the Student Development Complex. 100 percent of proceeds go to the artists. A Ticket Office representative will be in the gallery on Opening Night to assist with sales, and purchases can be made through March 31. Artworks purchased will be available for pick up after March 31 at the conclusion of the exhibition.

According to show coordinator Sarah Fayen Scarlett, "This year, we received almost 190 entries from 65 artists -- a 15 percent increase over 2014. Artists hail from throughout the UP as well as downstate and neighboring regions. Visitors will see returning artists as well as newcomers."

 A Study in Romance, by Greg Green.

The judge for the awards this year is Beth A. Zinsli. Dr. Zinsli is Curator and Director of the Galleries at the Wriston Art Center at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. The Best in Show carries a cash prize of $1000, supported by the MTU President’s Office. The Dean of the College of Sciences and Arts and the University Provost support the first place prizes in the 3D and 2D categories. 2nd place prizes and Honorable Mentions are also awarded. During the course of the show, visitors can vote for the Community Choice Award. The winner will be announced on the GLS website at the close of the show on March 31.

For more details, please contact Sarah Fayen-Scarlett, 906-487-2420, sfscarle@mtu.edu.

Celebrate regional artists with Great Lakes Showcase, opening Feb. 28 at Rozsa Gallery

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Center is pleased to announce the opening of the 2014 Great Lakes Showcase: An Annual Juried Exhibition of Fine Arts and Crafts, TOMORROW, Friday, Feb. 28. The exhibit is sponsored by Michigan Tech’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts. A community mainstay for over 35 years, the Showcase celebrates the vibrant artists who work in or visit the Upper Peninsula and surrounding region.

Artist: Benjamin Argall, "Wolf Warrior" (Photos courtesy Rozsa Center)

Says Great Lakes Showcase (GLS) Co-coordinator Sarah Fayen Scarlett, "Every year when we unpack the works and arrange the gallery, my excitement is renewed for the art being made in our region. The range of materials and viewpoints, as well as the thoughtful creativity, are cause for recognition and celebration. Thanks to all the artists for participating!"

The public is invited to a reception for the artists from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28. The 2014 GLS Awards Judge, Ginny Baer, will provide comments to the public and discuss the 2014 award winners at 6 p.m. Artwork is available for purchase, in person at the opening or anytime during the duration of the exhibit. Visit http://vpa-live.mtu.edu/gls/ on line, or call Michigan Tech Ticketing Operations at (906) 487-2073.

In addition, new to the 2014 showcase will be a gallery discussion led by Kathleen Carlton Johnson, PhD, titled "What Art Can Do For You and Why" at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 6.

"We are thrilled to include a public talk this year given by a long-time Great Lakes Showcase committee member and former art teacher in Lake Linden," Scarlett notes. "Kathy is a passionate advocate for art and art education."

2014 GLS artist entries were up 25 percent from last year, and the show will feature more than 90 artworks from 57 artists. Media range from hand-made baskets to woodturning, delicate works on paper to bold mixed-media collage -- and include of course the full range: paintings on canvas, watercolor, mixed media, glass and ceramic, mixed media installation, prints, cast metal sculpture, photography, fiber art, and artists' books.

Artist: Marc Himes, Birds Eye Maple Vase

"The work in this year's show highlights a particular sensitivity to materials," Scarlett explains. "From creative photographic printing media to collages made with cut up credit cards, many works in the 2D category challenge our expectations and perceptions. In the 3D category, traditional sculptural and craft techniques show off wood, ceramics, brass, glass, and natural woven fiber to great effect in surprising ways."

This year's judge for awards, Ginnie Baer, is assistant professor of art at the University of Wisconsin--Barron County in Rice Lake. As in previous years, the awards are as follows:
BEST IN SHOW, $1000 (sponsored by the MTU President)
FIRST PLACE 2D, $500 (sponsored by the MTU Provost)
FIRST PLACE 3D, $500 (sponsored by the MTU Dean of College of Sciences and Arts)
SECOND PLACE 2D, $200
SECOND PLACE 3D, $200
3 HONORABLE MENTIONS, $50 each
COMMUNITY CHOICE AWARD:  The community Choice award will be announced on the 2014 Great Lakes website, http://www.mtu.edu/vpa/art/showcase/ at the end of the show -- come cast your vote!

The show will run through March 28, 2014, and is free and open to the public. Regular Gallery hours are Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Rozsa Gallery presents "Landscape: A Memorial Artifact," by Leopoldo Cuspinera Madrigal, opening Jan. 17

Detail from poster announcing the new exhibit in the Rozsa Gallery at Michigan Tech. (Photo courtesy Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts)

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Gallery welcomes artist Leopoldo Cuspinera Madrigal, in an exhibition of beautiful paintings on paper that evoke dreamlike landscapes and shadowed, industrial vistas. Titled "Landscape: A Memorial Artifact," Madrigal’s show opens with a reception in the Rozsa Gallery from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. TONIGHT, Friday, Jan. 17.

The exhibition will run through Saturday, Feb. 16, 2014, and is free and open to the public.

According to Madrigal, "Landscape is communicated to humans personally, through every sense. Its speech goes beyond time and space, but also tells about the past, present, and future through marks, footprints, or injuries. Landscape is related to humans in multiple ways: It has been the tangible basis for our activities and the intangible basis for our lives. Human lives find a certain logic and meaning from memory. Landscape is an inexhaustible source of memory, reminding us that the present is the result of the past and that the future depends largely on the marks, footprints, or injuries we leave today embodied on this immense memorial artifact -- the landscape."

Rozsa gallery hours are M-F, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. For more details, please visit the Rozsa Center Web site.

Rozsa Gallery hosts Five Contemporary Finnish-American Artists exhibit to help celebrate FinnFest

HOUGHTON -- Five Contemporary Finnish-American Artists is the current exhibition at the Rosza Gallery located in the Rozsa Performing Arts Center at Michigan Tech. The five Finnish-American artists from Maine to Minnesota have brought or sent their work to help celebrate FinnFest. The exhibit, which opened this week, is free and open to the public through June 23.

Chris Koivisto's "transformations of forests and sounds" installation is part of the exhibit Five Contemporary Finnish-American Artists, now displayed in the Rozsa Gallery and continuing through June 23. (Photo courtesy Copper Country Community Arts Center)

Chris Koivisto, a ceramic and bronze sculptor from near Ely, Minnesota, has installed bronze cast wild animal heads on specially constructed walls depicting the forest, as well as traditional pottery inspired by the north woods, lakes and rivers. He calls this work "transformations of forests and sounds."

Marlene Ekola Gerberick lives and makes her art in Bath, Maine. Her installation of paintings titled "Six Pouches and One Feather" features quiet still life renderings of single objects. She is also a poet and will have her latest book, Of Ghosts Deep in Memory, published by the Siirtolaisus Instituuti of Turku. Finland.

John Lundeen lives near Munising, in a beautiful house attached to the side of a cliff over Lake Superior. His paintings reflect a fascination with the workings of nature and symbols of communication. They are inspired by the strong horizon, the storms, clouds, and images he sees every day, providing a base for him to depart into a world of vision and metaphor.

Marlene Wisuri's studio is also on Lake Superior, near Duluth, Minnesota. She is best known for her photography, but this work is an homage to her parents. Paper constructions are made from the saved documents -- checks, financial statements, etc. -- which she discovered after her mother died. She uses geometric patterns referencing the art of quilting for the formal design elements of the pieces.

Three paintings by Kayleen Ylitalo Horsma are part of a body of work sharing her Finnish ethnicity and culture, made possible by a grant from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis, which provides funding for exceptional artists to create new work.

This exhibition is in conjunction with FinnFest USA 2013 and is on display through June 23. It is free and open to the public during the Rozsa Center's regular business hours. The public is invited to a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 22. The Rozsa Gallery is located on the lower level of the Rozsa Center.

Rozsa Gallery to host exhibit of paintings by Miguel Levy

"Free Gaza!" painting by Miguel Levy. (Photo courtesy Rozsa Center)

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts presents "The People Respond: Paintings By Miguel Levy" in the Rozsa Gallery, opening this Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, with a reception for the artist at 6 p.m. Come explore Levy’s expressive, powerful paintings depicting people in times of crisis. Witness resistance and human courage through the eyes of this self-taught painter and Michigan Tech professor. The exhibit will run for four weeks, until Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, and is free and open to the public.

Miguel Levy is a Professor of Physics and Materials Science working in photonics at Michigan Tech. He is also a self-taught artist. He was born in Lima, Peru, and lived in New York City for more than 20 years before moving to Houghton in March 2000.

According to Levy, "History is not made up of the actions of presidents, generals and prime ministers. History is made by ordinary people in their millions and hundreds of millions standing up against injustice and for a better life….It is this courage that the exhibit aims to recapture."

Rozsa Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday - Friday. Rozsa Gallery events are sponsored in part by the James and Margaret Black Endowment.

Rozsa Center to host art exhibit honoring veterans

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Center will be hosting an art exhibit titled "Always Lost: A Meditation on War."

The exhibit is a tribute to the men and women who serve in the Armed Forces and a sober remembrance of those who have been lost. It features writings and photographs of veterans as well as Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs taken by journalists from the Dallas Morning News who were embedded with the troops.

The Rozsa Center staff will be hosting an opening reception for the exhibit at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, in the Rozsa Center Gallery and would like to invite all veterans and active duty service men and women to attend.

The hope is simply to have an opportunity to say thank you to all those in our community who are serving or have served our country.