River's Edge gallery in Historic downtown Wyandotte intends to begin their tradition of bringing new art to every third Friday of every month starting on May 20th.
The City of Wyandotte has tagged Third Fridays as a time to highlight the shopping and other happenings in their downtown but the pandemic caused an interruption. Events have slowly started again. River's Edge is joining in by including art openings showcasing new works by featured artists. According to Jeremy Hansen, the gallery director, "We have dipped our toes in having public events again since the pandemic but slowly. We will still be cautious and encourage guests to do the same. We still will serve wine but in plastic glasses and self-serve tap and individual snacks."
The May opening will feature the work of established and well respected Greater Detroit artists, Julie Fournier and Barbara Melnick Carson.
Julie Fournier is showing newly conceived Fantasy Kreature series. These are various colored shapes with either human, animal, alien or inanimate features. It is not the AI (Artificial Intelligence) robots seen in SCI-FI but more cuddly versions. In Julie's varied and versatile career, she has depicted and danced in themes from whimsy to passion to the torment of loss. You see these themes in her “Kreatures”. Her painting ability to display emotions from love to outrage has made her paintings sought after. This series is different from anything she has ever done but shows that passion and whimsy.
"I feel what I have developed through my career is trust with my collectors. They know I am authentic." stated Julie.
Julie has also tackled jobs inside and outside a regular art career. She did a very detailed restoration of the 1913 Herschell-Spillman Carousel on display at the Henry Ford and has been sought after for her ability to apply pinstriping to vintage cars across North America.
Barbara was raised in an ethnically diverse area of southwest Detroit. The people of her neighborhood came from countries considered irrelevant to mainstream America: Ukraine, Malta, Cuba, Mexico and many others. These countries were rich in culture, and the streets around her home reflected these cultures. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and the stories of her childhood became the well she drew her art from.
"I am a narrative sculptor working to create art that starts a conversation. Primarily interested in making work that exists in all three dimensions, I weave a story to connect it to my viewer's existence.”
Carson’s passion for creating began in childhood growing up in Southwest Detroit. With limited supplies, the artist learned to make art through improvising with found objects in my neighborhood reflecting the religious and ethnic themes grown naturally from a rich diverse Detroit cultural environment.
After a career working as an occupational therapist, Barbara continued to emerge as an artist. Working with intuitive and outsider artists during my career in mental health provided a creative surge.
For this show the pieces have been released from the vault that she calls her "orphans" , Pieces that never fit into other shows. Hansen commented, "Her orphans have found a home".
Opening of “Fantasy Kreatures and Other Delusions” will open on May 20th at 6:00 pm at River's Edge Gallery second floor in downtown Wyandotte. Artists will be present with light drinks and snacks.