Enhanced by Guest Exhibitions - Steady Gaze

The ACWL- Nuveen’s gallery schedule is truly enhanced by our sponsored Guest Exhibits. The generous financial support from our sponsors enables us to showcase a wider range of artists from outside the White Lake area and provide a venue for them to share their creative stories with our community.

Our current Guest Exhibition, Steady Gaze, on display May 8 – June 27, is sponsored by Howmet Aerospace and features Holland-based artist and Assistant Professor of Art Instruction at Hope College of Art and Art History, Amelia Mendelsohn and five of her students; Anna Snader, Nico Kazlauskas, Carlee Shafer, Ava Kramer and Grace Barnes. 

We invited Ms. Mendelsohn to exhibit at the ACWL-Nuveen because we were fans of her painting style having met her when she won the First-Place award in our 2024 Juried Exhibit. As we started talking about a potential exhibition, we mentioned showing some of her student work alongside her painting. We felt that in combination this dynamic would inspire our younger students who are striving to improve their artwork and wondering whether to pursue art in college. Because of the strength of Ms. Mendelsohn’s focus as an artist and the creative demands she places on her students to find their voice; the Steady Gaze exhibit captures a unique dialogue between the artists and the entire group of paintings and drawings.

On Friday, May 8 we held an opening reception for the show welcoming a crew of representatives from Hope College, artists, their friends, family and White Lake area community members. Ms. Mendelsohn started the artists’ talk portion of the reception with a very thoughtful description of her artwork and what motivates her studio practice. She was followed by Anna Snader, Carlee Shafer and Nico Kazlauskas. All three students shared personal insights on what inspires them and why they feel it is important and necessary to create art. Afterward the crowd had a chance to mix and mingle and get into deeper conversations with Ms. Mendelsohn and her impressive students.

In conjunction with the Steady Gaze exhibition, Ms. Mendelsohn gave a workshop on Saturday, May 30 from 12:00pm – 2:00pm. In the workshop entitled – Narrative Memory: Visual Methods for Accessing Personal History Within Your Studio Practice - Ms. Mendelsoln shared tips and techniques on how participants could engage in a more personal dialogue with their artwork and tap into their own unique stories. They were given some helpful guidelines and various art mediums to experiment with. This workshop was sponsored by the Howmet Aerospace Foundation and the White Lake Community Foundation of the Community Fund of Muskegon County.

We encourage you to stop by and check out the Steady Gaze exhibit which will be on display at the ACWL-Nuveen until June 27. We are located in the heart of downtown Whitehall - 106 E. Colby Street and our business hours are Tuesday - Friday 11:00am - 5:30pm and Saturday 11:00am - 3:00pm. Any questions please call or email - 231-893-2524 or nuveen@artswhitelake.org.