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Summer Solstice 2008

The second annual Summer Solstice celebration took place on Friday June 20, and was a good time had by all in attendance.  The skies were sunny allowing the Annual Ring sculpture by Nancy Holt to welcome in the solar noon on the day of the solstice at precisely 1:37 PM.

Music was provided by Stephen Nyquist, Mike Wardynski, Dustin Mallory, Drew Parent, and John Vincent. They formed a drum circle and kept playing great free-form rhythms as we drank lemonade, munched on cookies and basked in the sun.

Marc Beaudin read some great poetry along with a few others in attendance.

Thank you everyone that attended and we will see you next year.

Photos: Geoffe Haney

From the Archives: “My First Meeting with Carl Milles” by Marshall M. Fredericks, Part II

He was working away in a white smock and when he heard the door open, he turned and motioned me to stay and he would come right down, which he did. You can imagine, however, my reaction when I saw this famous, great man up there on the scaffolding working on a figure ten times the size of any I had ever seen before and ten times as marvelous. Actually there working, like some sort of superman or god or something. I was so impressed and overwhelmed that I almost fainted. I was just speechless and stood there until he crawled down a big ladder and came over toward me. He came over and offered his hand and we shook hands and he said, “I’m Carl Milles, and I know you’re Marshall Fredericks. Welcome to Sweden and welcome to Lidingo. You are very welcome and this, of course, as you see, is my studio. I don’t imagine you have ever seen a studio like this before, have you?” Of course, I had to say I hadn’t. He said, “Well, this is a good work place and I have done many things here. As you can see, I am now working on the big Poseidon in water clay. It will go down in Gothenberg in the big fountain that will be built there in the square.” But he said, “Enough of that. You will see many things while you are here. Come, let’s have a cup of coffee, it’s just about that time.”

So, we went out into the loggia outside of his studio. There was a marvelous fountain there with the “Four Tritons.” Duplicates of these now are at Cranbrook and those were duplicates of those at Hamsted, together with the bit “Europa and the Bull.” But, there in the garden, he had the big “Four Tritons” in a rather concentrated pool with lots of water playing. The sound of it and the sight of it was more than I could stand. I had never really had first hand contact with a fountain before. Never, never one as beautiful as this one. Exciting, original, it was unbelievable what was going through my mind and what was happening to me. It was sort of a birth process. As I think about it today, I get chills because it was so exciting and just unbelievable thrilling to me. But, at any rate, a man came out and brought some coffee and little cakes and we sat by the pool and enjoyed them.

We talked for quite awhile and he asked me many, many questions about my family, my childhood, about my reasons for coming over there and about my schooling. All kinds of things. He seemed to be really interested and very aware that I had gone to all that distance just to meet him and to work with him. Several times he said he couldn’t believe that I would go to all that trouble just for him or to work just with him. Then he asked various questions which intrigue me now. He said, “You write poetry.” I said, “Well, I guess all young people do. Once in a while I write some just when I’m alone or somewhere I have never been before, or see something I have never seen before. I put it down on paper — my reaction to it.” He said, “Do you have any with you?” I said, “Yes, I do. It’s just a little notebook.” “Let me see it.” So, I gave it to him. He read part of it and said, “This is very interesting.” He said, “I love poetry. I love all written things, good things.” He said, “This is good, it is your real heart speaking. It is not a trained writer’s poetry, but it is the writing of somebody who was feeling at the time. Do you have a copy I can have of these things?” I said, “No, but please take that.” He said, “You can’t give me your only copy.” I said, “I have some notes at home, original notes, and that is sufficient for me. Please, take it.” He said, “I will, and I will put it in my library.” And it is there today.

Anyway, it was a marvelous, marvelous experience. The thrill of it will never leave me. The pictures as I sit here now are just as clear as though it were yesterday or sooner. It is all in color. It was in early June. Sweden is beautiful at that time of year. The birds were singing, the flowers, many of them wild. The fountain was spraying, and here was this striking looking man in his working smock, his strong hands, his handsome hair, combed down over the sides of his head, quite long, and his kindness was so evident, his voice so interesting and strong. His English was limited but understandable. Well, well it was something.

Then, of course, before long he said, “Come, come, we will go into the house. I want you to meet my darling Olga.” So we got up and went into the residence which is now a museum and, of course, I had never seen a place like that with all of his treasures from the olden day: marvelous antiques, sculptures, wood carvings, furniture, and many, many small sculptures which he had made and which he kept insides because they were too fragile or too small to be outside. Mosaics on the floors which he had designed and made by hand. Even the lamps in the ceiling were carved alabaster which he had made himself. He had a music room with wonderful carved figures from the Middle Ages and a beautiful piano with a huge flower arrangement on it. Suddenly, in came Olga — this diminutive little darling blonde woman with her hair done up in the back of her head in sort of a coil, a long dress almost to the floor and little square-toed shoes. She spoke almost no English at all, she was Austrian, came from Graz. But this darling little thing, with her clear blue eyes and firm little hands, really welcomed me with sort of a little bow, which I imitated. I could see right away that we would be friends for the rest of her life. It was a moment always to be treasured and which occurred many times later on as I worked there.

Summer Art Camp Session 2, Painting

“Art is messy” was the theme to session two of the MFSM Summer Art Camp! The week was filled with painting and the students got to experiment with watercolor and acrylic paints. After a tour of the museum, the students began the week off with a lesson on the color wheel. We went over primary colors and learned how to mix them to create the secondary colors. The concept of complementary colors was introduced and we practiced mixing complements to create earth tones. The watercolor assignment allowed the students to experiment with a different medium and it also reinforced their new knowledge of color mixing. They got very familiar with different values, which came in handy during the monochromatic self-portrait project. The assignment started with a lesson on tints and shades and proper placement and proportion of features. Before long, we had twelve beautiful self-portraits painted with a wide variety of tints and shades, all created by using one color plus white and black. The week ended with another watercolor painting, but this time the students picked a favorite sculpture from the museum for their inspiration. Much like the first week the t-shirt design was a big hit and everyone enjoyed seeing one of their masterpieces framed in a picture frame once owned by Marshall Fredericks, himself! While art may be a little messy, it is most certainly a lot of fun!

Feel free to leave any comments you like. We love getting comments!

Please click images for larger view

In the classroom

Group photo

Young Jackson Pollocks

The students showing off their final framed works!

Written by: Patricia Bry

Photos by: Geoffe Haney

Summer Art Camp Session 1, Drawing

The first session of the MFSM Summer Art Camp was a success. The week started off with a tour of the museum where the students got a chance to learn a little about Marshall Fredericks and the fine art metal casting process. Back in the classroom, we shared things about ourselves with a “Body Double” project. The children picked a partner and traced each other’s outline on large craft paper. Then they were instructed to fill it in with drawings of things they liked. We learned a lot about each other and discovered we all had something in common. Throughout the week the students were introduced to a variety of concepts; basic knowledge and proper use of art supplies to more challenging projects like one point perspective drawing. The still life assignment introduced many new skills including how to measure objects, duplicate angles, shading techniques and shadows. Drawing the sculptures in and around the museum appeared to be a favorite for many students and everyone got to have one of their drawings matted and framed, using picture frames that belonged to Marshall Fredericks. The week ended with a fun lesson on Op Art and then we created one of a kind T-shirts. Definitely a high point for the week!

Click on the images for larger view.

Written by: Patricia Bry

Photos by: Geoffe Haney

Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition Awards

The first Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition opening reception was held on Saturday, June 14, 2008. The exhibition was sponsored by the Maxwell K. Pribil Memorial Fund, administered by CITIZENS BANK Wealth Management. Nine award winners were announced:

$5,000 First Place, sponsored by Heinz and Marliss Haller was given to Dustin Joseph Farnsworth for “Brunette”

$2,500 Second Place, sponsored by Doll-Loesel Foundation was given to Richard Bennett for “Cosmic Bambi”

$1,000 Third Place, sponsored by Peter and Barbara Carras was given to Scott Slocum for “The Fall of Icarus”

$500 Fourth Place, sponsored by Chris and Donna VanSteenhouse was given to Ann Kirby Rubin for “Full autumn moon to my gate comes rising crested tide”

$250 Honorable Mention, sponsored by Chris and Donna VanSteenhouse was given to John Schwarz for “Tribal Medusa”

$250 Honorable Mention, sponsored by Chris and Donna VanSteernhouse was given to Ray Katz for “Loops 3”

$250 Honorable Mention, sponsored by Guy and Nancy Greve was given to Thomas Aitken for “A Boomer’s Nike”

$250 Honorable Mention, sponsored by John and Judy Lore was given to Mark Beltchenko for “Katrina Response”

Purchase Award, sponsored by Lois Ann Reed was given to Kathyrose Pizzo for “Send”

Well known sculptor Sergio De Giusti juried the exhibition. De Giusti has taught art history and studio classes at Wayne State University and sculpture at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit for over 20 years. His work has been widely exhibited in the United States and Europe in such places as The Detroit Institute of Arts, The Smithsonian Institution, and the British Museum in London. De Giusti has had numerous public and private commissions, many of which were for major public art projects.

The exhibition can be viewed from June 13 through September 20, 2008, Monday to Saturday from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm.

Photos by: Geoffe Haney