August 26 - November 4th, 2022

Artist Talks and Reception: August 26, 6:30 pm

The UP Focus is an ongoing exhibition series that highlights professional artists who are from, living in, or heavily influenced by the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

While Linda King Ferguson trained as a textile surface designer, she maintains a practice as a painter with studios in Au Train, MI, and Nashville, TN. She earned a MA from Rhode Island School of Design, an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and studied at Penland School of Crafts and Academia Di Belle Arti in Perugia, Italy. Ferguson’s recent solo exhibitions include Channel to Channel and Lipscomb University. Ferguson was awarded residencies at the Ragdale Foundation and Morris Graves Foundation.

Lindsey Heiden is an artist and educator residing in Dollar Bay, MI. She earned a BFA from Western Illinois University in 2007 and an MFA from University of Arkansas in 2018. Currently, Heiden teaches at Finlandia University and Michigan Technological University. She has shown work nationally and internationally and has been a resident artist at various studios, including the Archie Bray Foundation, in Helena, MT. When she is not in the studio, she is in the garden or the woods.

January 21 - November 15, 2022

Three groups of new acquisitions from the permanent collection are on display here for the first time: Lundmark and the Lake, Kinngait: Artists’ Reflections in Print, and Selections in Contemporary Illustration. The paintings, prints, and illustrations on view were acquired from 2020-2022 and highlight the community's ongoing dedication to building a permanent collection for NMU, Marquette, and the wider Upper Peninsula region. Special thanks go to Rachel Crary, Jeffrey Wagner, Diane Kordich, Russell Magnaghi, and various artists for their gifts.

Kinngait: Artists’ Reflections in Print Features more than twenty prints depicting animals, people, and rituals that create a sense of place by Kinngait artists, including Saimaiyu Akesuk, Germaine Arnaktauyok, Kenojuak Ashevak, Sagiatuk Kakulu, Meelia Kelly, Ohotaq Mikkigak, Nikotai Mills, Kananginak Pootoogook, Malaija Pootoogook, Napachie Pootoogook, Pitaloosie Saila, and Ningeokuluk Teevee.

Lundmark and the Lake Features several oil paintings that have never been shown together in the UP. Leon Lundmark, a nationally recognized marine painter, frequently visited the UP during the summer, often painting Lake Superior and Lake Michigan during his stays. He gifted paintings to locals who became friends and appreciated his moody and sensitively lit depictions of familiar waters.

Selections in Contemporary Illustration This exhibition presents a range of styles and functions of illustration, showcasing how artists use different media and subject matter to utilize art as a form of communication. Artworks by Norm Breyfogle, John Hendrix, David Johnson, Anita Kunz, Scott Roberts, Burton Silverman, and Tyler Stout.