Nearly a century ago, steamers plied Lake Michigan between Chicago and the towns along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Some carried lumber, some grain. And a few carried art students.
Come again?
Well, yes-art students. Many of them were from the then-fledgling School of the Art Institute of Chicago and were heading to the Saugatuck area, which by the turn of the century was establishing a reputation as a summer haven for artists. As early as 1910, painting classes were begun near Saugatuck by some faculty members from the school.
These continue to the present, expanded and modified somewhat, as part of the summer arts program offered through the School of the Art Institute at the Ox-Bow artists` camp. Ox-Bow is the most venerable of the art centers that dot the coast of Lake Michigan from Indiana 70 miles north to Saugatuck and open their gates to the public when summer rolls around.
Make no mistake: These are not simply venues for Sunday painters from down the street, though local artwork and artists are by no means shunned. Ox- Bow boasts of instructors and artists-in-residence such as Ed Paschke and Ellen Lanyon. The Lakeside Studio in Lakeside, Mich., has an international scope, establishing an artists` exchange with the Soviet Union in the earliest days of glasnost.
Pace has quickened
And as more Chicagoans, many of them of an artistic bent, have found summer quarters on the other side of the lake or live there year-round, the
”local” artist has undergone a change. Painters and sculptors from Chicago have been filtering in to areas such as Beverly Shores, Ind., for years, but the pace has quickened of late and the city`s artists have extended their reach further up the coast.
The automobile long ago transformed overland travel such that steamers were rendered obsolete. It`s now about 2 1/2 hours to Ox-Bow, across the Kalamazoo River from Saugatuck in Douglas, Mich. Yet the camp`s 110 acres of forest, marshes and beach are remarkably secluded, and the resort atmosphere of the towns seems far away.
Ox-Bow gets its name from the shape of the lagoon that lies next to it, once the end of the Kalamazoo River where it flowed into Lake Michigan. A channel was dredged in 1907 to straighten the river, and the Riverside Hotel- now the building called the ”inn” at Ox-Bow-found itself cut off from lake traffic.
But artists already had discovered the area, and in 1910 two Chicago painters and graduates of the School of the Art Institute, Frederick Fursman and Walter M. Clute, founded a Summer School of Painting nearby and later moved it to the Riverside Hotel on the now-deserted lagoon.
There has been a loose affiliation between Ox-Bow-as it was renamed in 1920-and the school ever since. Ties were strengthened three years ago when the school took over the administration of Ox-Bow.
Ox-Bow opens up
Recent years have seen Ox-Bow open itself up more to the surrounding community and to visitors. According to E.W. Ross, director of non-degreed and summer programs for the school, ”We welcome people to come in during the day- some of them can even buy lunch here when there`s room. But we want people to be able to walk around and poke their heads into the studios. It`s really not a mysterious place at all.”
But it does have its share of intriguing natural sites that over the years have inspired hundreds of artists-places like the Crow`s Nest, a spot high on the bluff that overlooks the lagoon, Lake Michigan beyond the dunes, and every once in a while an enterprising landscape painter who has set up an easel nearby. Or The Temple, a grove of trees deep in the woods surrounding Ox-Bow, where the founders` ashes were scattered.
This year, more public events have been planned than ever before, including a benefit garden party at Button Gallery in Douglas, featuring the landscape paintings of George Liebert, co-resident director of the camp and an instructor at the School of the Art Institute. The $25 admission includes cocktails and hors d`oeuvres.
On July 20, the public is invited to a performance by the Fontana Concert Society at Ox-Bow. Tickets are $12 and include cocktails and hors d`oeuvres. An open house, with tours of the grounds, art demonstrations and student gallery displays, takes place Aug. 3; admission is free.
Lakeside Studio established
Just off the Red Arrow Highway north of New Buffalo, the Lakeside Studio was established in 1968 by John Wilson-who has given the Lakeside name to the group he founded that each year stages the Chicago International Art Exposition-and printmaker Jack Lemon.
According to director Joyce Jablonski, ”the main building was originally a farmhouse built early in this century, and it was eventually added on to and became an inn, since Red Arrow was one of the main roads going up to Benton Harbor from Chicago.”
The studio houses a gallery showing contemporary, old and modern master prints, sculpture and ceramics. Says Jablonski, ”Every month we have a new opening, and each month is a kind of update on the artists staying here. It`s work that`s fresh out of the kiln, fresh off the press.”
On seven acres across the road from Lake Michigan, the complex includes an ever-expanding sculpture garden, ceramics and printmaking studios and smaller buildings that serve as residences for artists visiting from all over the world. ”Our international exchange is growing even more,” says Jablonski. ”This year will be the first time that we`ll have Chinese artists, and two more from India will be here this summer as well.”
Visitors to the Lakeside Studio can choose to stay in rooms and suites that are themselves art installations and sculpture galleries. Rooms start at $60; suites with full baths go for $95.
And on the Fourth of July, the studios are open to the public for those who would like to learn how to make clay sculpture, silkscreen T-shirts and other art activities.
A retreat from Saugatuck
About midway between Lakeside and Saugatuck is South Haven. ”It`s still kind of like a retreat from the retreats like Saugatuck,” says Kathy Bundy, director of the South Haven Center for the Arts.
The center, an outgrowth of the South Haven Art Association, celebrated its grand opening just one year ago. It was lucky enough to snare Bundy, who just happens to teach glass-blowing up the coast at Ox-Bow.
Bundy says the center stresses ”the three E`s”: events, education and exhibitions. The exhibitions change monthly, there are educational
opportunities for virtually all ages year-round, and the major event we sponsor in the summertime is our annual summer art fair, which this year is July 7.”
The current exhibition at the center is the Directors` Invitational Show, organized by Bundy with the Holland Area Arts Council. Also in South Haven is the Lake Michigan Maritime Museum and a fine art and craft space called the Lighthouse Row Gallery, owned by Rosemary Thurber, daughter of American humorist James Thurber.
For directions to Ox-Bow and more information on public events and classes, call 616-857-5811, or call the Office of Summer Programs at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 312-899-5130.
Lakeside Studio is at 15251 Lakeshore Rd.; 616-469-1377. The South Haven Center for the Arts is at 602 Phoenix St., South Haven; 616-637-1041.
ART FAIRS IN SW MICHIGAN
In addition to events at Ox-Bow and the Lakeside Studio there are numerous arts and craft shows and fairs in Michigan towns lining Lake Michigan and nearby. Here`s a partial listing of some of those scheduled for later this summer.
Also, though it`s better known as a music camp, the Interlochen Center for the Arts has new student exhibits opening every week through Aug. 16. For more information on their arts festival, which continues through Aug. 26, call 616-276-9221.
July 6: Lakeside Arts & Crafts Festival (Lakeside Park).
July 6-7: Ludington, West Shore Art League Fine Arts Fair (Ludington City Park).
July 7: South Haven, Fine Arts Show.
July 12-13: Grand Haven, Up-in-Central Park Art Show.
July 13: Charlevoix Craft Fair.
July 13: Pentwater Arts & Crafts Fair (Village Green).
July 13-14: Baldwin, Arts & Crafts Festival (St. Ann`s Community Center). July 13-14: St. Joseph, 30th Annual Art Fair.
July 24: Traverse City, Annual Downtown Art Fair.
July 25-28: Portage Arts & Crafts Show.
July 27: Traverse City, Traverse Bay Outdoor Art Fair (Northwestern Michigan College).
Aug. 2-3: Grand Haven, Coast Guard Arts & Crafts Fair.
Aug. 3-4: East Jordan, 29th Portside Arts Fair (Elm Pointe).
Aug. 10: Fremont Outdoor Art Fair.
Aug. 10: North Muskegon Arts & Crafts Fair (Walker Park).
Aug. 17: Norton Shores Arts & Crafts Fair (Ross Park).
Aug. 17: Frankfort Art Fair.
Aug. 24: Saugatuck, Village Antique & Craft Show.
Aug. 31-Sept. 1: South Haven, All Crafts Fair.
