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FINE ARTS COMMITTEE
The Fine Arts Committee of The Peoples Church (TPC) is dedicated to making The Peoples Church one of the leading supporters of the arts within our community. Its work has grown out of the great traditions of the Christian church as a patron of the arts. It reflects the church's belief that the arts exist at the heart of faith and contain within them the power and capacity to lift the human spirit. This belief inspires and infuses the committee's efforts.
The committee is made up of members of the congregation who wish to beautify and enrich TPC through art. While it was originally formed to include all elements of the arts including drama and poetry, the committee currently focuses on the visual arts: prints, oil painting, water colors, photography, sculpture, textiles and other crafts, architecture and interior design. These areas, linked to with a well-established music program, form the broad spectrum of the arts celebrated in The Peoples Church.
HISTORY
The Fine Arts Committee was formed in 1967 as the Fine Arts Council with the charge of promoting a coordinated and creative use of the arts to enrich the programs of Peoples Church.
At its beginning, the committee was chaired by Dr. William Gamble, Professor of Art at Michigan State University. He served in that role for several decades. Marilyn Down and then Jan Reed succeeded Dr. Gamble as chair. The current Committee Co-chairs are Chance Liscomb and Jann Angell. Serving with them on the committee are Betty Moore, Cara Ronk, David Stowe, Jim McClurken, Mary Liechty, Sue Mills, Sue Patterson, and Sydney Litterer.
Currently, the committee's primary focus is on developing and installing four major art exhibits in the church each year. Each exhibit is usually on display for 90 days. The art is displayed in several locations throughout the church, including the Northwest Hallway adjacent to the Sanctuary, the Thomson Case in the South Hall and the Kiosk, located in the East Hall. As a point of history, the Kiosk was commissioned by the Fine Arts Council in 1982, to honor Linda Bauer Thomson. It was built by Charles Finkel and paid for with memorial funds donated in Linda’s honor.
The committee is also responsible for setting policy regarding acceptance of donated artwork and conservation of artwork in the Church's permanent collection.
In addition, the committee sponsors select music events, such as the annual MSU Holiday Brass Concert, organized in partnership with the MSU College of Music.
If you are interested in joining The Peoples Church Fine Arts Committee, you can learn more about the committee and its duties here.
RECENT ART EXHIBITS
“Where ART Thou? -Playful Reflections on Religion and Scripture” (September 8 - December 8, 2023)
“Where ART Thou?? −Playful Reflections on Religion and Scripture,” a new exhibit featuring the work of Lansing artist Chance Liscomb - versatile assemblage sculptor with a specialization in working with metal and wood - is now on display at The Peoples Church of East Lansing. The exhibit includes mostly assemblages, paintings, and small sculptures that highlight various messages from the Bible, and provide a tongue-in-cheek look at religious ceremony, scripture, and pomp and circumstance. With a range of whimsical to serious, the goal of the show is to inspire, contemplate, and strengthen faith through good Christian humor and folly
In explaining the inspiration for his exhibit Chance notes, “I love the Lord and God and the holy spirit completely. I love the truth and the way and the light. I know God had a grand sense of humor and to me, humor is a great tool to get people to laugh, let go and move on.
“My intentions are to have a humorous show about religion, and how we see passages in the Bible and how they are interpreted and understood. My goal is to inspire, contemplate, and strengthen faith through good Christian humor and folly.”
Chance was born in Richmond, Virginia and grew up in the Shenandoah Valley. His parents, both artists, influenced and inspired him as a child. In 1990, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in speech communications from George Mason University. Shortly thereafter, he joined the United States Peace Corps serving in Mali, West Africa, from 1991-1993.
After completion of his service, he returned to George Mason and earned a Master of Arts in Education. In 1996, he went abroad for three years to teach art at the America School of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain. Upon returning stateside, Chance taught high school art education while furthering his education at Virginia Commonwealth University. There he earned a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, specializing in sculpture and painting. Post-graduation, he served as an adjunct professor in art education at Lord Fairfax Community College. Chance has exhibited his sculptures and paintings throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has created many commissioned pieces and works independently with galleries, collectors, organizations, and communities throughout Michigan and Virginia.
This imaginative, fun exhibit, which is offered free of charge, will be on display through December 7. Pick up a catalog for the exhibit inside the NW entrance of the church. Hours for viewing are Monday through Friday, 10:00 am through 4:30 pm, Saturday 10:00 am through 3:00 pm and Sunday 8:00 am through 4:30 pm. Visitors may enter from the church parking lot and pick up a catalog for the exhibit inside the Northwest entrance of the church.
“Where ART Thou?? −Playful Reflections on Religion and Scripture” is offered through an ongoing arts program organized by The Peoples Church in support of the belief that the arts exist at the heart of faith and contain within them the power and capacity to lift the human spirit.
Chance Liscomb talks to WILX News 10 about his art, his current exhibit, and his religious upbringing.
“Wild Florescence”
(March 16 — September 8, 2023)
“Wild Florescence” is an exhibit by Lansing-area artist Michelle Word. The unique display features a collection of collage constructions, a technique that creates assemblages of materials and different media that are formed into multi-dimensional artwork. The term collage derives from the French term papiers collés (or découpage), used to describe techniques of pasting paper cut-outs onto various surfaces. It was first used as an artist’s technique in the early twentieth century.
In explaining her work the artist notes that, “Collage pushes the additive and subtractive aspects of the artistic process – it is additive as elements are glued onto the surface and, conversely, subtractive as they are removed to leave behind a residue, scratched into or destroyed.
“Collage provides a sense of touch, both through surface implications and the physical construction process. With the combination of collage and assemblage, painting and drawing, and additional mixed media, I am able to explore contrasts such as gestural and controlled, familiar and unknown, material and illusion, natural and artificial.”
A native of Kentucky, Michelle currently serves as the Director of Education at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. She came to the MSU Broad in 2014 after serving as outreach/programming coordinator and a faculty member in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design for nine years. There she regularly taught lecture and studio courses on the creative process, drawing, painting, and the collaged aesthetic. She holds a BA in studio art and art history from DePauw University and an MFA in painting from MSU.
Michelle took a unique approach to creating this exhibit, in that some installed pieces were completed works, while other items in the Thompson Case and Kiosk, were all created on site.
Interestingly, she did not assign names to individual pieces, rather she named them as groupings. For example, the three large pieces in the northwest hall are collectively called “With Love, from the Plantsman.” The pieces displayed in the Thomson Case are named ”Ghost Garden,” and the collection displayed in the Kiosk is called “Glass House of Floribunda.”
To learn more about Michelle’s work visit her website at: https://www.michelleword.com
“A Timeless Pallet: Moments of Transient Emotion”
(March 7, 2024 — June 6, 2024)
March’s artist, Nancy Kremsreiter, grew up in Chicago, inspired by the city’s rich tapestry of architectural wonders and museum fine art. Her formal art study began at the University of Illinois and was completed at Michigan State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking.
For more than 25 years, Nancy has successfully blended her artistic sensibilities with a professional business career in public information in Lansing, adding photography training and assignment work to her experience. Perfecting art skills has been a lifelong process and commitment for Nancy. She continues to learn and practice art across different media.
Despite holding a degree in Printmaking, the artist’s versatility knows no bounds. She explores and embraces various artistic mediums, including oil, watercolor, acrylic, alcohol ink, pastels, photography, scratchboard, and even clay and cement sculptures.
Nancy’s eclectic approach reflects an ongoing dedication to expanding artistic horizons. In her work, she seeks to convey a state of mind, or express a mood or emotion, beyond simply capturing the inherent beauty of her subjects. In recent years, as a member of Mid Michigan Art Guild, LAAC and Shiawassee Art Center, she has participated in juried and non juried shows and received numerous awards.
“Around the Corner and Around the World”
(December 8, 2022 — March 16, 2023)
This exhibit featured a collection of watercolors by Chicago-based artist Laura Karsh Eaton. The exhibit included 38 pieces from the artist’s collection.
Laura began her painting career sketching watercolor postcards while traveling, once even mixing the paint on her leg while sitting on the beach. In middle school Laura moved to England with her family. A field trip to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland influenced her to choose a career combining her love of travel and community service. She graduated from Michigan State University’s James Madison College with a B.A. in International Relations, and received an M.A. in International Relations from Boston University.
On sunny summer mornings, Laura loves painting flowers she grows in her own garden, and often draws inspiration from the architecture of the places she visits on vacation, or while walking around the community. Having spent more than 20 years in a beach community near Boston, Laura especially enjoys capturing coastal scenes. When she began painting in 2009, Laura found it improved her ability to observe and be present, noticing the beautiful scenes and moments to treasure around the corner and around the world.
Bobbi notes, "For me, painting is a joyful, fulfilling process in which a strong connection with nature is evident. I find it stimulating to work with new materials and techniques, experimenting and exploring possibilities, carefully selecting which visual elements to include and which to leave out.”
Bobbi is developing large works in two series using unconventional materials, including house paint, spackle, diazo paper, cheesecloth, comic book imagery, and pigmented inks. The Red Fox Series celebrates the cyclic return of life to the ecosystem. She is layering digital transfers of original photographs combined with a variety of natural materials, such as lichen, in an encaustic collage format. The Succulent and Sea Creature Series is being developed in soft sculpture to coordinate with two-dimensional paintings. Examples from both sculpture series are included in this exhibit. Learn more about Bobbi’s work at https://bobbikilty.com
“Your Art’s Desire” - (May 19 - August 18, 2022)
This multi-media exhibit features the work of Susan Smith, a Michigan artist with an enthusiasm for color, watercolor and experimental media. It includes 46 pieces from her collection including watercolors, acrylics, reverse acrylic painting on glass, mixed-media collage, alcohol inks on Yupo paper and ceramic tiles, mosaic glass and a phun phone.
Susan’s work is sparked by a creative process that embraces a sense of fun, robust color and beauty found in nature. She discovered her artistic talents later in life when challenged by her husband Doug to decoratively paint one of his hand-built tables. She responded, “I can’t do that, I can’t even do stick figures!” His response: “So don’t do stick figures.” Susan found that applying vibrant colors to Doug's table was exciting, even exhilarating. Along the way, Doug has become her artistic partner, hand-crafting many of the frames for her art pieces.
Inspired to learn more, she set out to build her artistic skills and subsequently spent 20 years taking art lessons and attending workshops, including a stint of study in Italy. Susan became hooked on the creative process and particularly enjoys trying new, innovative media. “I like working with a variety of media, exploring them together and experimenting," she says. "I work in oils, acrylics, alcohol inks, art resins, watercolor and collage. Currently, my favorites are alcohol inks. They are an exciting new medium in the art world. The colors are bright, happy, explosive.” Several of the alcohol ink pieces in the exhibit are coated with art resin, which not only protects the work, but adds a stunning 3-D-like dimension
“An Artist’s Prayer for Ukraine”
For the 2022 Lenten season, Peoples Church member Susan Reedy created a special art display that offered prayers of hope and peace for the beleaguered people of Ukraine. “Prayers for Ukraine” featured a collection of “pysanky,” a type of highly-decorated-egg that is unique to the Ukrainian people. For many Ukrainians, the making of pysanky is a spiritual experience, particularly during Lent. The colorful eggs on display were created by Susan over many Lenten seasons.
The eggs are made using the written-wax batik method and feature traditional folk motifs and designs that include prayerful symbols of hope, faith, and peace. The designs are “written” on the eggs with melted beeswax, which resists dye. Detail is added, layer by layer, through successive dye baths until the desired design is achieved. The wax is then melted off. Ancient legend says that as long as pysanky are made, goodness will prevail over evil.
The exhibit was offered in cooperation with the Fine Arts Committee.
A local Lansing TV station featured the exhibit in a special segment of their news broadcast. To watch the video about the exhibit, go to https://www.wilx.com/2022/04/11/local-artist-creates-traditional-ukrainian-easter-eggs/
“Brass Rubbings by Jane Linnell and Patricia Thorpe” – (April 2019 through August 2021)
This exhibit, which featured work from the permanent collection of The Peoples Church, included 13 hand-rubbings of medieval monumental brasses that are memorials for deceased persons. The rubbings were made by church members Jane Linnel and Patricia Thorpe with gold and black crayon on paper and cloth during their visits to historic churches and cathedrals throughout England. The original brasses, which date back to the 1200's through 1400's, provide a rich source for studying the history of armor, costumes, hair styles and use of lettering and language
An accompanying exhibit in the Kiosk featured a collection of facsimile Medieval Books of Hours and related publications from the library of TPC members Susan and Wes Reedy. These items depict The Little Hours of the Virgin, an abbreviated and highly illustrated version of the Daily Office, the eight daily prayers that were chanted/and or recited by medieval monastics and the clergy. Note: the extended exhibit time frame for this exhibit resulted from the closing of the Church building during the Covid quarantine.
“Water, Wildlife, Sky and Earth,” – ( August through October 2019)
This exhibit featured the work of Western Michigan photographer, Jim Carney. It included 33 pieces from his collection of waterfowl, flowers, lakescapes and skyscapes of Michigan and Florida. Featured were a wide variety of images rendered on metal, canvas, and paper. They included striking shots of owls, hummingbird, Red-Shouldered Hawk, an eagle attack and a Snowy Egret tending its nest. Colorful images of tropical flowers, butterflies and Michigan water scenes also highlighted the display.
“Painting Outside the Lines” – (May through July 2019)
This exhibit featured the work of renowned water color artist, Maxine MacLeod, and included 22 pieces from her collection of landscapes, lakescapes and flowers of the Midwest. Of her work, she says, "The challenge of watercolor is that it is so difficult to control. The beauty of watercolor is that it is so difficult to control! For me, when I pick up a brush loaded with watercolor and touch it to paper, the conversation begins between the painting and me. And, as the painting progresses new challenges, new twists and turns reveal what the painting will become. My hope is that the finished painting will, in turn, engage the viewer in a conversation." Her work can be found in the permanent collections of WMU, the University of Michigan and West Shore Community College. She was commissioned by the Holland Tulip Time Festival to design their 1989, 1990 and 2009 posters.