Inspired: The Corky Tuttle Glass Legacy
Muskegon Museum of Art
Through April 18
Adults $5, Children 17 and under Free
muskegonartmuseum.org, (231) 720-2570

Many people have seen the effects that Tiffany-style glass has had not only on the appearance of stained glass on chapel windows, but also the snazzy glass lampshades hanging over pool tables in smoky pubs. And, the art of famed glass maker Chihuly revealed the artful possibilities of glass as towering reeds; swaying gently, or as vibrant, jellyfish-like ceiling adornments. It was a woman called Corky who had promotional ambition and an insatiable drive to highlight glass art in the Michigan area.

C. Corcoran "Corky" Tuttle was an avid proponent of the American Studio Glass Movement. Corky and her husband Bob became deeply involved in the Muskegon Museum of Art in the 1980s. She opened a gallery in downtown Muskegon and "became very passionate about contemporary Studio Glass," said Judith Hayner, Director at the Muskegon Museum of Art.

Collectors themselves, the Tuttles generously donated glass art pieces to the museum over the years, and in the process, made a huge impact on the museum's direction.

"[Corky] brought us along in terms of our own understanding of the Studio Glass Movement," said Hayner.

The Muskegon Museum of Art had a history of collecting and featuring glass, which began in 1925 with the acquisition of a Tiffany piece, and Tuttle fueled the interest in glass during the 1980s. She built connections with notable names in the glass world, like Benjamin Moore, Stephen Powell, Marvin Lipofsky and Sonja Blomdahl, while they were just launching their art careers. Through her networking and ambition, Tuttle spearheaded efforts to acquire a permanent glass collection and offered her first donation in 1980, a Lino Tagliapietra and Douglas Navarra platter.

The exhibit is aptly titled, Inspired: The Corky Tuttle Glass Legacy, for a variety of reasons. The Studio Glass artworks on display have been predominately drawn from the museum's permanent collection of 125 pieces, significantly built up by the Tuttles' enthusiasm and contributions. Also included are "works directly inspired by the two (who have both passed on) and works that have been added since their involvement," said Hayner.

"[The exhibit] varies wildly in style ... very small works and large scale works that might sit on the floor or sit on a pedestal," Hayner said. "One of the works is by Steven Powell. [It is] very large for a piece of studio glass."

Other works on display — added to the museum's collection between 2002 and 2009 — feature Benjamin Moore, Debora Moore, Stephen Rolfe Powell, Rick Beck, Nancy Callan, Sonja Blomdahl, and Dante Marioni.

Since Corky's involvement, the Muskegon Museum of Art has been active in the glass art community.

"April is Michigan glass month and [we] usually are the only museum that participates in this," Hayner said. "What I think is remarkable about Corky Tuttle is her ability to share that passion in such a way that really altered our directions as a museum."

PHOTOS: [Top] Ann Wolff, Ensemble. [Right] Stephen Rolfe Powell, Lurid Gasp Johnson.

Other Art Events
By Maggie Reed

Mirror, Mirror: Art inspired by fairy tales
Muskegon Art Museum
Feb. 18-May 2
muskegonartmuseum.org, (231) 720-2570

29 West Michigan artists were asked to represent a story or theme from a popular folk or fairy tale in works of original art. The project resulted in a very well-rounded and whimsical gallery show that people of all ages will enjoy. Throughout March, the Cinema Sunday series will bring an added layer to the show by screening very different versions of classic fairy tales, like Švankmajer's Něco z Alenky (Alice in Wonderland) on Mar. 21, at 2 p.m.

Art Hop
Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo
March 5, 5-9 p.m.
kalamazooarts.com, (269) 342-5059

Each month, the Kalamazoo Arts Council hosts an Art Hop, but only seasonally do they host an expanded one. Contrary to popular belief, where art is concerned, there is nothing wrong with too much of a good thing. Maps and descriptions of participating galleries and businesses will be available online or at the Arts Council and the variety is great, so if you are in to art from pottery to impressionism, you can pick your poison. The best thing? It's free.

Live Coverage
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids
March 13, 6:30-11 p.m.
$65 for UICA members, $75 for general public
uica.org, (616) 454-7000

This charity event will feature several area artists actually creating one-of-a-kind pieces before your eyes. You can see the process from start to finish. Those pieces will be auctioned off in both live and silent auctions the same evening. There will be incredible catered food, a cash bar, and a DJ spinning cutting edge tunes for your dancing pleasure.

Calder Jewelry
Grand Rapids Art Museum
Through April 18
artmuseumgr.org, (616) 831-1000

Grand Rapids boasts a bright, red mascot. A giant, 42-ton mascot generally referred to as, "The Calder."

La Grande Vitesse, a sculpture by Alexander Calder, has been an icon of the city since 1967, when it was erected on what is now called Calder Plaza. The artist is known for inventing the suspended "mobile" (a name given to the moving art pieces by none other than Marcel Duchamp) and for creating monstrous and modern, abstract sculptures.

Juxtaposed with his voluminous sculptures is a vast collection of comparatively diminutive works of jewelry. Calder's striking, wearable art takes on many forms, from necklaces and hair combs to bracelets and tiaras.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum, founded in 1910, celebrates a centennial year and the "historic association" with Alexander Calder through the exhibition of 100 jewelry pieces.

According to Cindy Buckner, research curator at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Calder used "the same motifs of his drawings and sculptures...snakes, spirals and circles."

Buckner described that "the work has a lot of humor to it...lots of animals, bugs and fish. When you're wearing that type of jewelry it has an element of whimsy."

While the jewelry is primarily constructed with metal, he often used other elements like wood, beach glass and ceramic shards to create unique and striking pieces.

Calder's influences are clear. Created from the 1930s through the 1960s, each work of jewelry conjures up surrealist or primitive art associations. One such necklace is an obvious reference to brass neck rings worn by women of certain African tribes. Calder's version is less like a series of restrictive coils and more like a modern and gutsy contraption.

Other pieces are elegant, featuring winding spirals and metallic loops. A large necklace, which rests flat across the chest, bares loops that sweep into formidable points, dramatically jutting from the shoulders. On a smaller scale, a broach comprised of flattened tines, curving upwards in a traditional leaf shape, is more modest.

In his lifetime, Calder designed and crafted more than 1,800 works of jewelry. The collection features hundreds of items he created as gifts for his wife, Louisa. While Calder exhibited pieces in galleries sometimes alongside his more traditional art works, he also intentionally used materials that ensured affordability, making the wearable art accessible to more than just the lucky benefactors of his gifts, including the famed Georgia O'Keeffe and Peggy Guggenheim. Many of the gifts to Louisa will be present at the exhibit, including the piece given to Guggenheim.

The exhibition has been shown around the globe, including the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. Calder's work made a particularly big splash at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where "the fabulous show was very well received," said Buckner. The final stop in Grand Rapids not only rounds out the tour with a bit of historic nostalgia, but, Buckner divulged, features a "silver, spiral-shaped bracelet recently purchased" by the GRAM, which "was not part of the show" prior to the Grand Rapids exhibition.

Jewelry fanatics, sculpture lovers and even those obsessed with the mystifying fashion accessories of pop princess, Lady GaGa will be equally intrigued by Calder's outrageous, wearable art.

Micro/Macro: Fresh Views of Saugatuck & Douglas
Saugatuck Center for the Arts
400 Culver St., Saugatuck
sc4a.org, (269) 857-2399

View the beautiful environment of Saugatuck/Douglas through the lens of two local photographers, John Fleming and Bill Werme. The exhibition is a juxtaposition of aerial views and close-ups of the Saugatuck landscape. The free exhibition will run until March 1.

Woodcuts in Modern China, 1937-2008
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
314 South Park St., Kalamazoo
kiarts.org, (269) 349-7775

The KIA will feature an exhibition on the beginning and development of Chinese woodblock prints. The event will have on display more than 65 Chinese woodblock prints, including some contemporary prints as well. The exhibition is scheduled to run through April 18.

African Art Super Saturday
Muskegon Museum of the Arts
296 W. Webster Avenue, Muskegon
muskegonartmuseum.org, (231) 720-2570

Celebrate Black history month and explore the heritage of African and African-American art. African Art Super Saturday will take place on Feb. 13 from 10 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Take guided tours, look at artwork with museum docent Joyce Jack-Hughes, view the film African Masks, and create your own African mask. Adult admission $5, children 17 and under, students, and members receive free admission.

West Shore Graphic Arts Society Program
Musekgon Museum of the Arts
296 W. Webster Avenue, Muskegon
muskegonartmuseum.org, (231) 720-2570

Tired of the same formulaic superhero comics? Web developer and cartoonist, and the man who provides REVUE's monthly comic strip, Matthew Reidsma, will come to the MMA on Thursday, Feb. 25, to showcase his work and give the audience the experience of new trends in modern comic books. The event begins at 6 p.m., and Reidsma's talk will start at 6:30 p.m. Free admission.

The Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons
Through Feb. 21
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo
kiarts.org, (269) 349-7775

Recall the fond memories of the cereal-eating, pajama-wearing Saturday morning cartoon days. An exhibition featuring the art of Warner Bros. Cartoon is running now until Feb. 21 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (314 South Park St., Kalamazoo) displaying a collection of some of the most favorite cartoon characters from "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies."

Stephen Schneider, the exhibition curator, has offered up his private collection of Warner Bros. art to tour the nation.

"I've been amassing materials on WB toons since I was a tyke," he said. "My dream always has been to create something like an archive for Warner animation and the exhibition has been touring for over a decade by now."

This two-room exhibition walks through the history and making of Warner Bros. cartoons with more than 160 drawings, paintings, publicity prints, comic books and cels made in the 1930s-1960s. It discusses the silence of the critics (Warner Bros. cartoons didn't receive acclaim in the early years) and the growing popularity of the cartoon comic books and animated programs. Over time, Warner Bros. earned six Academy Awards and produced more cartoon stars than any other studio. From Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig to Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Speedy Gonzales and many more, Warner Bros. creations have become a part of our lives and have engrained a historical mark in 20th Century American folklore.

Though these characters are most associated with childhood, ironically, Warner Bros. cartoons stepped away from the innocence of youth presenting savvy, cute characters with violent plots of revenge, forbidden romances, crime, theft, street-smarts, cross-dressing and hard-living. The popularity of the cartoons lie in the storylines, according to Warner Bros. storyman Michael Maltese who said, "We wrote cartoons for grownups, that was the secret."

The KIA exhibit reveals the creative process and evolution of Warner Bros. cartoons. From a cute pencil sketch, to cels, to hand-written exposure sheets, to cartoons made between 1946-1960 on television, all the while discussing the profound impact Warner Bros. has made on American culture, especially in animation.

Many of the drawings have handwritten notes discussing how the character should be drawn as they experience different emotions; one drawing of Bugs Bunny explains how his big cheeks make him more childlike, but also allows artists to draw big teeth for him when he is angry.

In addition to the exhibit, guests have a chance to win a Warner Bros. art piece. A raffle is being held and the winner will be announced in February when the exhibition ends.

Other Art Events

By S.A. Díaz

Calder Jewelry Exhibit
The Grand Rapids Art Museum
Jan. 29-April 18
artmuseumgr.org, (616) 831-1001

Before La Grande Vitesse was anchored in downtown Grand Rapids, Alexander Calder had already experimented in creating spectacular works i. Starting as a child with the small scraps of metal he fashioned into accessories for his sister's dolls, Calder mastered the craft of casting magnificent jewelry that has been adorned by luminaries such as Joan Miro and Jeanne Moreau as well as his own wife and mother. Calder shapes silver wire, and morphs gold and minerals into an insightful and inspired display of some of his finest, lesser known, work.

There and Back Again
Sanctuary Art Gallery, Grand Rapids
Opens Jan. 8
myspace.com/sanctuaryfolkart, (616) 454-0401

Something special is happening between Lake Michigan and the Atlantic Ocean. Drawing (or rather, painting) on a spirit of friendship years in the making, the exhibit features a dialogue between artists living and working in New York, and artists living and working in West Michigan. This collective has managed to blur borders and showcase significant works art patrons may not have had the chance to see in either region. The show makes its way to Grand Rapids on the heels of its successful runs in Holland and Grand Haven this month.


Winter Invitational
Jan. 4-27
Gallery Uptown, Grand Haven
galleryuptown.net, (616)846-5460

Artists from every imaginable medium will feature their works when Gallery Uptown hosts its Winter Invitational. Boasting a diverse lineup of undiscovered talent, Gallery Uptown's talent pool consists of many local artists, and the annual event is a showcase where those on the gallery's roster get to show off something besides their masterpieces. The eclectic group has personally invited one artist apiece to showcase new works from their lesser known contemporaries.