July 30, 2004
Sunset on North Beach
South Haven's Indian name was Nik-a-nong, which meant beautiful sunset in Algonquin.
Posted by Kristin at 01:01 AM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2004
Jason Webley & Andru Bemis
Jason Webley from Seattle, Washington is an amazing musician on tour this month, and lucky for us making a stop in South Haven. Jason plays the accordion like nobody's ever played before and has a voice and performing spirit to match his unique style. Come hear him play in an incredibly intimate setting, on my deck in my own backyard, Sunday, August 1st at 3:00 in the afternoon.
South Haven's own Andru Bemis, who has been called while he was on tour this year, a "Midwest miracle of music." He will be sharing the spotlight with Jason. Andru plays the banjo with lightning fingers and plays the guitar with equal zest. Come hear Jason and Andru in a rare intimate concert on my deck overlooking a Guadi-style mosaic garden in progress.
We are asking for a $10 donation to cover the cost of the concert. Please bring a folding chair or blanket to sit upon, and a snack to share if you like.
Sunday, August 1st, 3:00 PM
On Kristin's Deck
Call 637-2209 for Details
and to Reserve a Spot
Posted by Kristin at 08:25 PM | Comments (2)
Gail Fraser Concert
Come hear the blues, ballads and folk music at the South Haven Center for the Arts Saturday, July 31 at 8 p.m.
There will be a coffeehouse concert with a blend of folk, blues and bluegrass music Saturday, July 31 to celebrate the SPACE Revisited exhibition at the South Haven Center for the Arts.
The concert is at 8 p.m. in the Center’s upper gallery. It will feature Canadian singer-songwriter Gail Fraser, who sings ballads and blues, Peter Sinclair, a folk musician with a Woody Guthrie style, and South Haven’s own singer-songwriter Andru Bemis on banjo and guitar. Musicians from the SPACE era are welcome to jam with them. The concert is collaboration with the South Haven Center for the Arts and the Paul Dickerson Studio Art Museum in South Haven.
Tickets are $12 for non-members and $10 for art center members at the Center office and at Wolverine Hardware in South Haven. For more information, call the Center at 637-1041.
Posted by Kristin at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2004
RMS TITANIC on Lake Almanor
This is a picture of the 23-foot Titanic replica on Lake Almanor in California. The small Titanic landed in South Haven in early July and now graces the front of the Michigan Maritime Museum, located 260 Dyckman Avenue in South Haven, Michigan.
Read all about the Titanic Replica >>
Posted by Kristin at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2004
Space Revisited Exhibition - Opening Night
People who looked at this chair compared it to a medieval torture instrument. But actually, it was quite comfortable to sit upon and lots of fun.
Posted by Kristin at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)
Dyckman Park Trees Threatened
I drew this tree in 1991 when I saw it being cut down. I was in a drawing class at the time. I wrote the poem that complements the drawing in April 2004 after the South Haven City Council voted to cut down a beautiful stand of evergreens and rare ginko tree in Dyckman Park, the downtown's only pocket of green in all season.
Trees
The trees were sentenced tonight
to their execution.
They are just trees, evergreens,
the only green spot on a grey winter’s day.
The axeman cometh.
Civilizations begin to decline when man cuts down his forests history proves.
I remember the last time
tall evergreens fell.
My friend the glass blower was in the hospital.
When I saw the great limbs fall, in the lot across from his hospital bed,
I knew he was going to die.
What’s dying now?
Beauty, a green refuge for birds and people.
The trees spread their arms,
lifting them heavenward though ringed by asphalt and tar.
It appears Nature has lost the battle here.
Lovely evergreens that waved to me,
raising their green wings when I passed by,
will be lopped off, their bark stripped and trunks hacked to stumps, leaving only the roots to push up dandelions.
With the park’s crown jewel plucked out,
what will be left to turn our eyes upwards?
Gothic cathedrals with their points and steeples
pierce the sky, forcing us to look up,
just as these trees do.
When the trees are no longer there to lift our gaze, our hearts, our spirits, our eyes will fall upon concrete and asphalt.
Where once roots plumbed the depths for a drink and limbs stretched to the sky,
there will be a void,
a hollow space filled by the wind whispering “What you do to the trees, you do to yourselves.”
Kristin Hay – April 2004
Posted by Kristin at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)
South Haven Gardenwalk
Flowers and people mingle at the South Haven Garden Walk.
These chicks have already learned about life's pecking order.
They were one of the delightful sights on the South Haven Garden Walk July 10.
Posted by Kristin at 04:36 PM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2004
Space Revisited Art
This frog hat and black rubber chair are by Chicago artist Helen O'Rourke, one of the artists in the "SPACE Revisited" exhibition.
The SPACE Revisited exhibition is at the South Haven Center for the Arts July 16 through August 15.
Posted by Kristin at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2004
Space Revisited Exhibition
This is Suzi Lattner, one of the original SPACE era artists who still maintains a studio in South Haven. Artwork that she did in the 1960s and '70s will be in the "SPACE Revisited" exhibition. This skyscape is typical of the paintings she is doing today.
"SPACE Revisited" Exhibition Explores Artists Who Pushed Limits and Kicked Art off the Pedestal.
In July, you’ll want to leave space in your life for the opening reception and a concert in connection with the exhibition “SPACE Revisited: 1964-‘78.” which will be at the South Haven Center for the Arts from July 16 to August 15.
The reception for the exhibition is Friday, July 16 from 7 to 9 p.m. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Paul Dickerson Art Studio Museum of South Haven and the South Haven Center for the Arts.
(Continued...)
In the 1960s, South Haven’s beaches were littered with alewives and real estate prices were at rock bottom. These conditions attracted an influx of artists seeking a beautiful and affordable place to live and work. Between the years 1964 and 1978, about 200 artists found South Haven to be a fertile ground for their creative explorations. They made a major impact on this community by initiating a flurry of activities ranging from art exhibitions and concerts to dance programs and puppet theater. These events were held all over the community in schools, churches, banks, and even on the beach.
According to Barbara Houlberg, curator of this SPACE exhibition, these artists “kicked art off the pedestal.” Several of them traveled to Europe where they shared ideas with artists there who later became involved with the Fluxus movement, which embraced a scope of activities that were innovative and interdisciplinary. Fluxus also took art out of the museums and institutions and showed it in alternative places.
“SPACE Revisited” will be held within the hallowed walls of the art center, but the exhibition which includes artwork, films, music, posters and memorabilia will give folks an idea of how these untraditional artists broke down the barriers between themselves and the greater community, dispelling the belief that art is for the elite. This group started the Farmers’ Market, the Michigan Maritime Museum and laid the groundwork for the evolution of the South Haven Center for the Arts. SPACE Inc. was also the first organization in the city to receive grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts.
The exhibition will have work from the founding father of SPACE, South Haven native Ted Dickerson, Helen O’Rourke, Chicago artist and a professor of art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago;, Klindt Houlberg, retired director of the College of Art and Design of Chicago; Suzi Lattner, one of the original SPACE artists who still maintains a studio in South Haven, among others. The public can get a taste of SPACE at the reception Saturday, July 16 from 7 to 9 p.m. See savant garde films made of that group’s activities and listen to sound recordings of jam sessions. Visitors may see the exhibition Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.
One of the peak events in connection with the exhibition will be a concert which will bring together musicians icians from the SPACE era with contemporary artists. The concert is Saturday, July 31 at 8 p.m. in the Center’s upper gallery.
Canadian singer-songwriter Gail Fraser who sings ballads and blues is the main performer. She will share the stage with folk musician Peter Sinclair, who was a friend of Ted Dickerson’s, and who represents the SPACE era. Houlberg says that Sinclair plays the banjo in a Woody Guthrie style. South Haven singer-songwriter Andru Bemis will join them on guitar and banjo. Former members of SPACE who are musicians are welcome to jam with them.
Fraser expressed her feelings for her close friend Paul Dickerson by producing a compact disc in memory of him entitled “He.” The song she wrote for him is titled “New York Stole Your Smile.” The CDs will be on sale at the concert. Fraser is donating all of the proceeds to the Paul Dickerson Studio Art Museum. Tickets for the concert are $12 to non-members and $10 to art center members. The public can buy them at the Center or at Wolverine Hardware, 420 Phoenix Street, South Haven.
For more information, call the Center office at 269-637-1041, or visit www.southhavenarts.org.
Posted by Kristin at 08:37 PM | Comments (1)
Big Car
This big car was in the South Haven July 4th parade. The streets were lined with spectators, gawkers and thrill seekers.
This s-t-r-e-t-c-h limousine from a bygone era brought cheers.
Posted by Kristin at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
South Haven Art Fair
This is a photo from the South Haven Summer Art Fair which took place Sunday, July 4. Despite ominous clouds hovering over the fair all day, it was a success for the artists and the South Haven Center for the Arts.
The work displayed is by Larry Zengel of Hot House Glass, Bowling Green, Ohio.
Posted by Kristin at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)
July 02, 2004
The Titanic to Float Again
This 23-foot replica of the RMS Titanic is now in South Haven in front of the Michigan Maritime Museum. The small ocean liner will be in South Haven’s July 4th parade, which steps off at 2 p.m. Sunday. Don't be surprised if you see it floating near the Michigan Maritime Museum next week at the Classic Boat Show July 10.
(Continued...)
A replica of the Titanic, the famous British luxury liner that sank in the Atlantic Ocean before it reached the port of New York, is now in South Haven.
The 23-foot fiberglass ocean liner did not arrive in South Haven by water; it came over land from New York City where it had been part of an exhibition and auction of the Titanic memorabilia. The owners of the boat, Pat and Cecil Gates of Lake Almanor, California, are longtime friends of South Haven resident Herbert (Skip) Crabtree, who towed the small ship on a trailer back from New York City.
At one time, the Gates owned a fleet of miniature ships that they called the Friendship Fleet. The flotilla included four 18-foot battleships, one 20-foot carrier, a 36-foot replica of the USS Arizona, a battleship lost in the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Titanic. At age 17, Cecil Gates was an eye witness to the Pearl Harbor bombing, which accounts for his lifelong interest in naval vessels. He said that he built the Titanic after he had constructed the fleet of naval ships to try his hand at building a different kind of ship.
The Gates are former Los Angeles teachers who in their retirement continued to teach history through their traveling fleet of miniature ships that Cecil Gates built. The Titanic, which was built in 1983 in the scale of 40:1, is one of two ships remaining of their fleet.
Crabtree, who holds a 100 ton captain’s license, was the captain of the mother ship of the Friendship Fleet for six years. He was captain of the ship that pulled the 36-foot battleship Arizona. Pat Gates said they showed the Arizona at 150 different ports in 6 years.
Gates wrote a book. ”You Can’t Go Incognito in a Battleship,” which chronicles their adventures while taking their ships to various ports in the Unitized States. Several chapters are devoted to their experiences while Captain Crabtree was at the helm of the ship that was towing the replica of the USS Arizona.
Pat Gates said that Crabtree made it possible for them to accomplish their dream.
“We could not have done it without him,” she said. “He had the skills and the smarts to handle any situation.”
Crabtree said crowds would always meet them at the ports that they visited.
“We traveled the Eastern Seaboard stopping at ports along the way where we would show the Arizona.”
The miniature Arizona is on display in a government building in Phoenix, Arizona. The Titanic now graces the front of the Michigan Maritime Museum located at 260 Dyckman Avenue in South Haven. The model has a 25 horse power engine and is completely seaworthy. Crabtree is making plans to put it in the water during the upcoming holiday weekend. He said the Titanic’s homeport will be South Haven until it is sold.
Posted by Kristin at 09:31 PM | Comments (2)
July 01, 2004
Kristin's Blog
Welcome to Kristin's blog. Kristin is a journalist, photographer, pr representative for the South Haven Center for the Arts, artist herself and much, much, more. If you don't know her, stick around and see. She knows everything that is happening in South Haven.
Everything: gallery exhibitions - events - entertainment - meetings - classes - parties - brunch.
She'll tell you what's coming and how it went once its past. Come back often.
Posted by Denise at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)