Otherwise Gallery opened its new exhibit, "Waking the Slumber: Otherwise Originals," last weekend for a reception and an awards presentation.
"We had a really good showing; we had over 75 people here and the place was packed," said Alison Alfredson, program director for the gallery, 1207 Turner St. in Old Town Lansing.
The new exhibit runs through Jan. 30 and displays 18 original works from 17 artists in Michigan. The all-media exhibit includes paintings, sculptures, mixed media and photography. Every piece is for sale.
"The theme for this exhibit was, 'Waking the Slumber,' which is about trying to get over the doldrums of January after all the holidays, so I knew people would send in really interesting works rather than fruit baskets and that sort of thing," Alfredson said.
"People could send in one to three images and then Irving Taran and I went through 77 submissions and narrowed it down to 18."
During the artists reception Sunday, awards were presented to the top three pieces as judged by Alfredson and Taran, an MSU art and art history professor.
Each prize had been donated by the sponsors Grand Art Supply, O'Leary Paint and the gallery itself.
Eunji Koo's acrylic and oil canvas piece "Landscape" won first place, H. Brooke Dagnan's type C print photography "At the Feve" took second and R. Harrington's wooden sculpture "The Only Living, Twice Struck, Valiant One" finished third.
"We sold one piece and five T-shirts the first day, which is great because we're nonprofit and so anything we can do to bring in some funds is wonderful," Alfredson said.
"We've been open for 10 years and with some of our previous exhibits we raised $495, just to view artwork, and that's great. We can't always guarantee that we're going to sell something, even though we have some really reasonably priced pieces.
"We try our darndest, but it only helps cover the program printing and keeping the doors open. The rest is mostly paid through grant money."
Travis Pickard, a Lansing Community College sophomore, was the only artist to sell his acrylic on canvas piece, "defensa de una posicion vulernable," on opening day.
"Selling it was very rewarding, and I also made some sales at Trillium (Gallery) yesterday, too, so that feels good. But I don't want to get used to it, because anything can happen."
Pickard currently has another exhibit at the Trillium Gallery, 207 E. Grand River Ave., until Feb. 26 and was recently accepted to the School of Art of Chicago.
The Otherwise Gallery is a nonprofit gallery run by artists and dedicated to work that represents progressive styles, social commentary, and experimentation. Otherwise provides exhibition opportunities for visual artists, musicians, poets, and performance artists.
For more information on the gallery and future exhibits visit www.otherwisegallery.org or call (517)371-4600.
