Royal Oak Area Artists Featured in OCC Exhibition

Coco Bruner and Donita Simpson, of Royal Oak, are among 32 women from Michigan and around the country whose art will be on exhibit at Oakland Community College’s annual women’s juried art show.
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“From Our Perspectives: A National Women's Art Exhibition" at the Smith Theatre Gallery on the Orchard Ridge Campus in Farmington Hills opens with a reception from 7 p.m.-9 p.m. on Sept. 26. The art exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sept. 26 to Oct. 25 at the gallery.

Sponsored by OCC’s Womencenter, the program has featured about 700 women artists since its inception 25 years ago, coordinator Arlene Frank said. Works of art are available for purchase and artists receive three juried cash awards.

This year’s exhibit is juried by Lynne Avadenka, whose work is widely exhibited and in permanent collections at The New York Public Library, The Jewish Museum in New York, The Detroit Institute of Arts and other notable venues.

“The quality of a line, a visual surprise, a sense of mystery, the suggestion of a narrative, an unexpected color combination, a sure hand, a lovely composition—carefully considered—guided my choices in this year’s exhibition," Avadenka said. 

Works selected include photography, water color, acrylic and oil paintings, sculpture, porcelain, mixed media, and textiles. The goal of the women’s show is to provide a forum for women’s voices, Frank said.

“’From Our Perspectives’ provides women artists a place to express their unique diversity and creativity as they continue to weave the tapestry of life,” she said. “Within their chosen medium, women artists share their unique viewpoint on the material, personal, global, political, and cultural landscapes that surround them.”

This year’s artists also include Barbara Neri, of Pinckney, Ilana Houten, of Ann Arbor, Megan Cavanaugh, of Niagara Falls, NY, Ann Smith, of Plymouth, Mary Frances, of Springfield, IL, Marion Melody, of Riverview, Laura Makar, of Southfield, Hanna Kozlowski-Stone, of Sterling, KS, Margaret Davis, of Ann Arbor, Holly Branstner, of Toledo, OH, Monika Meler, of Stockton, CA, Jillian Sokso, of Fillmore, NY, Geralyn Vankerschaever, of Detroit, Vassiliki Daskalakis, of DeBary, FL, Tawni Shuler, of Sheridan, WY, Amelia Spinney, of DeKalb, IL, Leslie Nichols, of Bowling Green, KY, Suzanne Hesh, of Tucson, AZ, Mong-jane Wu, of Somerville, MA, Morgan Ford Willingham, of Vincennes, IN, Bonnie Wylo, of Ann Arbor, Christina Munson, of Chelsea, Kathleen McNamee, of Grosse Pointe Farms, Tricia Soderberg, of Farmington Hills, Kristen Eakin, of Commerce, Silke Seybold, of Waterford, Claudia Hershman, of Huntington Woods, Janis Walker, of Bloomfield, Kari Cholnoky, of Bloomfield Hills, and Valerie McNeece, of Farmington.