Visiting Artist, Lulu Zheng at WSG

Visiting artist Lulu Zheng shows her exquisite paintings, many of them using water as muse, at WSG currently. This piece was sold to the folks filming "Scream 4" in town last summer. We are pleased to be able to supply the movie industry with top-quality artwork, either through purchasing or renting pieces for the set design.

"Be the Tree" continues at WSG

Martha Keller's exhibit continues through Feb. 13, 2011 at WSG Gallery downtown Ann Arbor. Whether you stop in at lunch or make the trip specially from your home or hotel, you will be treated to an oasis of color in the monochromatic days of winter!

This piece captures two pines on the shore of Lake Michigan - a favorite subject matter of Martha's. The trees look like they're dancing on the bluff, or discussing the view in front of them. Martha's brushstrokes animate the trees in a way that we can almost feel the breeze coming through the boughs.

At a lecture she gave a few years back, she shared that her aim is to say as much with one brushstroke as possible. She loads on the paint, and translates what she sees and feels in front of her to the canvas. Viewers beware! You'll fall in love with at least one of her paintings in the show!

"Be the Tree" opens Friday, Jan.14, 5-7pm

I had the pleasure of hanging out with Martha Keller last Friday night, as I worked at the gallery. I always feel lucky just to be in her presence! I describe her to people who've never met her as "a woman on fire". She is a painting dynamo! She paints canvases much larger than herself and the power of nature that she captures is barely contained within the 4 sides of each canvas.

Her works on paper are equally as strong, but the pieces at WSG right now are all acrylic on canvas. You can see Martha's driven energy come through the pieces in her brush strokes, however, each piece has a meditative quality about it. Check out the blue coming through the pine boughs of the piece above.

In the piece to the left, she put the evergreen in the foreground, giving you the sense that you're standing just above the tree, on a hill (dune?) looking out over the lakeshore. Classic Martha Keller - looks fresh every time!

WSG artists at BBAC

WSG artists Nora Venturelli and Norma Penchansky-Glasser are in a show right now through Feb. 4, 2011, at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center. "Collective 7 - Trace Point" is a show exploring the human figure. Venturelli's paintings, along with Penchansky-Glasser's sculpture are sure to help make a powerful show. Don't miss it!

WSG artists exhibit in Birmingham, MI

WSG Gallery presents gallery artists - Norma Penchansky-Glasser and Nora Venturelli in: Collective 7 - Trace Point at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center 1516 S. Cranbrook Rd, Birmingham, MI 48009 Kantgias/DeSalle Gallery January 7 - February 4, 2011 Opening Reception: January 7 6-8 PM Suzanne Boissy Ruth Henkel Molly Marie Nuzzo Norma Penchansky-Glasser Nora Venturelli Barbara Elizabeth Williams Fran Wolok

BBAC Gallery Hours: Mon-Thurs, 9a - 6p, Fri-Sat, 9a-5p, second Sundays, 1-4p free and open to the public ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Be The Tree at WSG

Martha Keller is the featured artist to kick off the 2011 exhibit year at WSG. How appropriate! She was one of the founding members here at the gallery and it is an honor to start something new, full of possibility, with a painter who continually finds something new to love about painting and seeing.

This piece, Evergreen Overlooking Lake Michigan, is indicative of her energy, her zeal, her approach to looking and putting it down on canvas. I've heard her speak many times about her work and how she works. She is searching for the essence of an object, but also the essence of a paint stroke. She tries to simplify what she sees into the power of 1 paint stroke. How much can she say with 1 load of paint and 1 stroke? Come by the gallery to experience it for yourself!

Martha Keller at WSG

We're so pleased at the gallery to host Martha Keller as the featured artist for our first show of 2011! She was a founding member of the gallery and has been a long-time art supporter and cheerleader here in Ann Arbor and around the state of Michigan. Come by the gallery and fall in love with her work! Not a bad way to start the new year in the heart of winter!

WSG artists on billboards

Adams Outdoor Advertising Donates Advertising Space

To Local Area Artists In New “Art In The Sky” Program

Ann Arbor, Michigan – Driving down US-23 or I-94 in the Ann Arbor-area, commuters may be surprised to see a work of art on a billboard which normally carries advertising. A local Ann Arbor company, Adams Outdoor Advertising (AOA), has launched an “Art In The Sky” program that transforms traditional public service space into a public art gallery (photos attached). AOA has a long-standing initiative to invest back into the local community by providing public service advertisements to non-profit organizations. The “Art In The Sky” program is an extension of this service.

AOA Real Estate Manager Shannon Bellers, in partnership with artist Elizabeth Schwartz, launched the initiative to bring art to the masses via the medium of outdoor advertising. The project, called “Art In The Sky,” debuted December 20, 2010 in multiple locations around Washtenaw County including Chelsea, Milan and Belleville. To date, AOA has provided donated space to three local artists: Elizabeth Schwartz, Connie Cronenwett and Lynda Cole. All three artists are affiliated with the WSG Gallery located in Ann Arbor, which can be visited on-line at www.wsg-art.com.

“We would like to potentially expand the program throughout our Ann Arbor market counties and even further into our otherMichigan markets,” said Bellers. “The feedback we have received from artists and the Ann Arbor community at large has beenoverwhelmingly positive.”

Robert M. Beckley, Professor and Dean Emeritus Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University ofMichigan, commented on the project through an unsolicited email, “I was both surprised and delighted…This effort by your company has made me see the potential for combining public art and commerce in a new way. I hope this initiative will carry on.”

The project’s goals are two-fold. First, project coordinators seek to bring art to those who may not have the opportunity to visit a traditional art gallery, in a new and unexpected way. Second, the project provides a showcase for Ann Arbor’s artists and thriving cultural community. Should the project expand as desired, AOA hopes to host a juried “mobile art show” later in 2011.

“Seeing my work on such a large scale, and knowing that others will see it as well, is quite a thrill,” said artist Elizabeth Schwartz. “I'm thankful to Adams for this exciting public art project, and look forward to seeing more ‘Art in the Sky.’"

“We're looking to see billboard art by local artists wherever we drive in Michigan,” added artist Connie Cronenwett. “We hope it catches on all over the state."

Artists in the Washtenaw County-area interested in being considered for this program are invited to send an e-mail to Shannon Bellers at sbellers@adamsoutdoor.com. Please be sure to include full contact information along with a website photo of your original art.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Adams Outdoor Advertising is committed to providing a return on investment (ROI) for every dollar spent on out-of-home advertising in our markets. Adams Outdoor Advertising operates in 17 markets with more than 12,000 billboard, poster and digital displays in eight states. To learn more about outdoor advertising solutions, visitwww.adamsoutdoor.com or call Shannon Bellers, Real Estate Manager, at

(734) 327-8999.