Ferndale gallery celebrates women painters
March is Women’s History Month, and Ferndale’s Lawrence Street Gallery celebrates with new exhibit “Women’s Work,” a collaboration with the Birmingham Society of Women Painters.
The gallery is connected to Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, and with many members belonging to both groups, the show seemed like a natural alliance.
“We decided that since women do anything and everything these days, an exhibit focusing on our paintings as our ‘work’ would be fun and something that all of us could participate in,” says Cindy Parsons, cochairwoman of the show and the gallery’s web designer.
“The Birmingham Society of Women Painters is a well-respected group of artists whose exhibits gain notice and appreciation in many venues in the Detroit area,” she says.
The show opens Friday, March 5, and while all of the works are paintings, Parsons says it’s “quite an eclectic assortment of subjects, media, sizes and colors.”
People interpreted the show’s theme both literally, capturing ladies’ careers, and figuratively, through celebrations of the art that a woman can create — from vivid landscapes to strong, abstract works.
Amid the pandemic, entry and jurying have gone online for the gallery, but awards will be given after the art is hung so juror Nancy Mitchnick can see the artwork “under the proper lighting” and “see texture, brush strokes and other important nuances
for possible awards.”
Mitchnick, who began with Detroit’s Cass Corridor Group, was formerly a fulltime faculty member at the California Institute of Arts and an award-winning studio lecturer at Harvard University.
In addition to jurying the show, Mitchnick, who is exhibiting her own show “Dual Vision” at Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit, has one of her paintings in “Women’s Work.”
“Nancy Mitchnick is very passionate about painting,” Parsons says. “She seemed drawn to pieces with bold use of color and paint, but she also has a sense of humor and accepted some pieces because they were humorous.”
Parsons says Mitchnick’s selection process put a focus on “letting the painting be about the paint, including Fran Wolok’s two pieces, ‘Lake Erie before the Storm’ and “A Moment of Sunlight” and Leslie Masters’ paintings “Tobermory” and “Lagoon.” Laura Earle’s five-piece painting — which shares a name with the exhibit — depicts working women’s outerwear.
“Additionally, Lawrence Street Gallery consists of 25 member artists who exhibit new artwork each month, and with Nancy Mitchnick’s painting, that provides people with a great opportunity to see art from 64 area artists,” Parsons says.
Women’s Work is on exhibit March 4-26 at Lawrence Street Gallery, 22620 Woodward Ave., Ferndale. Gallery hours are noon-5 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, 2-7 p.m. Friday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Visit lawrencestreetgallery.com.