Artspace Teams with Lubeznik Center for New Exhibition

artspace-teams-with-lubeznik-center-for-new-exhibitionTwo Michigan City galleries are joining together to present the Inside Out art exhibit on view August 29 – October 15, 2017 at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts and Artspace Uptown Artist Lofts with receptions at First Friday events on September 1st and October 6th from 5-8:00 pm in both locations.

Exhibition Overview
The sequel to the 2016 exhibition Inside Out, shown at the Uptown Artist Lofts (UAL) in Michigan City, An Outside Twist showcases the work of several residents of the live/work artist community located in the Uptown Arts District of Michigan City. The new iteration of the exhibition allows residents to step out of the comfort zone of their residential art gallery and display their artwork in an established gallery within the community. A concurrent exhibition in the UAL galleries, located at 717 Franklin Street, will feature works that represent artistic collaborations between UAL residents and artists from the community along selections from regional guest artists.

Exhibition curator, Artspace resident Felecia Clark-Viou, says the inspiration for the Inside Out exhibition was a desire to create a stronger artist community in the city.

“I felt like we should be inviting people in. I feel like this is our chance to hold hands with the rest of the artistic community in Michigan City. I don’t want us to feel the least bit isolated,” said Clark-Viou.

The exhibition features work from over 20 artists in a wide variety of mediums from acrylic paint, photography, graphite and colored pencils, airbrush, charcoal, assemblage and mixed media. The multi-media exhibition’s curator hopes the diverse mixture of works will make the show more accessible to people that have felt intimidated by art in the past.

“When some people hear the word ‘artist’ they think of ‘fine artist’. [At Artspace] we have crafters, writers, tattoo artists, actors, painters, musicians…People don’t realize how broad the term ‘artist’ is. I hope as they come in here and start to talk to us, they have more of an idea that an artist isn’t just Renoir but also includes Hip-Hop culture and fiber painting. I want the definition of artist broadened.”

The Outside Twist
The residents of the Uptown Artist Lofts have been invited out to exhibit at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts. This “outside twist” to the Inside Out exhibition theme is giving many of the artist lofts residents an opportunity to show their work to an expanded audience outside of their home gallery. The exhibition curator hopes that this collaboration is the first of many within the Northwest Indiana arts community.

About Artspace
Artspace is a non-profit organization that uses the tools of real estate development to create affordable, appropriate places where artists can live and work. Over the last three decades, Artspace has led an accelerating national movement of artist-led community transformation. While embracing the value the arts bring to individual lives, Artspace has championed the once-radical idea that artists living on the edge of poverty and chronically underfunded arts organizations can leverage fundamental social change. Artspace is America’s leading developer of arts facilities and has served as a consultant to hundreds of communities and arts organizations nationwide.

Artspace Uptown Artist Lofts is a sustainable, mixed-use, community arts project in downtown Michigan City, Indiana. The project transformed the vacant Warren Building into an affordable live/work facility containing 44 units of housing for low-income artists and their families, resident gallery exhibition space, and approximately 5,400 sq.ft. of commercial space for creative businesses and arts organizations, all located in the nationally-designated Franklin Street Historic District of downtown Michigan City.

About Lubeznik Center for the Arts
Lubeznik Center for the Arts (LCA) is a contemporary arts center whose mission is to creatively interweave art exhibitions, the performing arts, educational programming and collaborative community outreach to enrich the arts experience within the region.