Morning visit to the Muskegon Museum of Art

The 2015 Post Card Salon Exhibition is on display now at the Muskegon Museum of Art. Image Copyright Kate Simons.

My daughter and I made the hour long trip up to Muskegon this morning to visit the Muskegon Museum of Art. This is the first year I have participated in their annual Post Card Salon, and I was interested to see what kind of art was on display. I overheard that there were over 800 post cards on display. The post cards go up for sale this coming Thursday, March 12 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Artists split the profits with MMA to help raise funds for the Museum. I liked this exhibit for a couple of reasons. It is an open, non-juried event that allows artists of all ages to participate. I am a big supporter of events that are inclusive. There is a positive energy and enthusiasm that you feel in the space. I saw such a huge variety of work, but the consistent size of each piece of 6 by 4 inches made for a great expanse of mini-tiles that fit together to create a larger body of work. I was particularly fascinated in some of the sweet little oil paintings of woodland animals as well as some pieces that were heavy in texture with textiles.

Image Copyright Kate Simons.

In addition to this exhibit I was excited to take in ‘The Art of the Brick’. This is a really enchanting exhibit by LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya which also featured some amazing photography by Dean West. My daughter and I are both in love with LEGOs, and I am not surprised by how inspired she was by this exhibit. She has been busily building LEGO sculptures since we got home.

Nathan Sawaya and Dean West collaborated to create this series, ‘In Pieces’. Image Copyright Kate Simons

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was as much of a photography exhibit as a sculptural exhibit. Though the photographs were color, I could not help but to be moved by the overall melancholy feel of them. They were haunting and beautiful. They ached of loneliness yet they had this heightened surrealistic overtone due to the incorporation of everyday items made out of LEGOs.