Friday, March 29, 2024

Local artists to sell work at E.L. Art Expo

January 20, 2011
Surrounded by her paintings, East Lansing resident Juanita Baldwin works on a small peice for the East Lansing Art Expo. The show, presented by the Public Art Gallery in collaboration with the City of East Lansing, features many community artists and opens January 22. Matt Hallowell/The State News
Surrounded by her paintings, East Lansing resident Juanita Baldwin works on a small peice for the East Lansing Art Expo. The show, presented by the Public Art Gallery in collaboration with the City of East Lansing, features many community artists and opens January 22. Matt Hallowell/The State News —
Photo by Matt Hallowell | and Matt Hallowell The State News

Photography, paintings, jewelry and other art pieces created by local artists will be available to the Greater Lansing community in an expo Saturday and Sunday.

The East Lansing Public Art Gallery is hosting the Art Expo in collaboration with East Lansing in the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road, and will feature booths offering original art for sale created by Lansing-area residents. The event is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Attendance is free, and people who go to the show also will get a chance to win pieces donated by the artists in a raffle, said Yvette Robinson, gallery director of the East Lansing Public Art Gallery.

Robinson said the Art Expo hopefully would show community members the importance of local art in the area.

“Art is something that has been affected by the cuts in the communities all across the state,” Robinson said. “This is a way to show … that art does play an intricate role in all the communities in and around town.”

The expo also is exciting for the artists involved because they get to see what other people are working on, said Grand Ledge, Mich., resident Tony Hendrick, who will have a booth featuring his murals and paintings in the show.

“The best thing about (expos) is connecting with other artists and the public who doesn’t typically see your work,” Hendrick said. “I really like this kind of thing.”

Okemos resident Juanita Baldwin, a painter and photographer, said less pressure is involved when preparing for an event such as the Art Expo than with other exhibitions or competitions. She said she doesn’t sell her work in expos like the Art Expo often, but enjoys the chance to meet people interested in her art face-to-face.

“It’s nice to show our own work and nice to talk to people that go to see the exhibit,” Baldwin said. “I really like to explain (my art) to somebody and give a little information about my work.”

Robinson said she hoped students would be interested in coming to the show because it would be good experience for those who might work with art in the future. She said it would give them an opportunity to speak with artists who have experience in the field.

“They could get a sense of what it’s like, and they can imagine themselves doing the same thing,” she said.

Stevie Thompson, a criminal justice junior, said she thinks it’s important to support local artists, even though she does not have a lot of experience with art herself. She said she has some handmade jewelry pieces, and appreciates the uniqueness of original, local art.

“You can introduce new styles to people,” Thompson said. “If someone thinks it’s cool, they’ll ask you where you got it — you’re promoting the people that made it.”

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Local artists to sell work at E.L. Art Expo” on social media.