Artist Bio

Originally from St. Joseph, Foster is the son of Barbara Willey and the late Foster Willey. He received a B.F.A. from Grand Valley State University and expanded his education at Andrews University where his mentor was British sculptor Allan Collins.  He also attended the Naguib School of Sculpture in Chicago where he worked with Egyptian sculptor Mustafa Naguib.

Foster has participated in numerous design settings including large-scale projects throughout the State of Minnesota where he worked for more many years. Since moving to Detroit with his wife Valerie, he has completed commissions for the City of Oak Park, MI and Pincanna in East Lansing MI.

Artist Statement

The exhibit represents an overview of the past twenty years of Public Art and Commission work including documentation, models and drawings. Also on display are a series of small sculptures reflecting the artist’s interest in the figurative, architectural ornament, and the early modernists.

“Utilizing negative space to create forms that express both mass and transparency have been the focus of many of my sculptural investigations,” said Willey in his artist statement. “These formal concerns inform the symbolic content of my work, which often involves the search for something archetypal, innate, and universal. As a sculptor I am very interested in the built environment. Public Art and large-scale sculptures are exciting fields because of their range of expression and impact on our surroundings and the experience of daily life.”

Artist Statement

The jigsaw puzzlers at the Whitcomb Senior Living Community Center have prepared a one-man show of about 45 framed puzzles based on the artwork of Detroit folk art painter Charles Wysocki. “American Folk Art painting is in a class of its own and in these unusual works of art, Wysocki has given the common man visions of a new country bursting with immigrant energy to build a new nation,” said Lou Deshantz, who coordinated the Whitcomb puzzle exhibit.

Lou will speak at the opening reception about the Whitcomb puzzle group and their quest to update the Whitcomb’s aging collection of jigsaw puzzles by purchasing puzzles of several renown American Folk Art painters. He also will announce how those who love puzzles will have the opportunity to obtain one of the framed puzzles on exhibit at no cost at the close of the exhibit.

thru the lens

“thru the lens,” an exhibit by photographers of all ages will be in the Riverwalk Gallery. Photographers entered their work in the categories of people, still life, animals or landscape.

The exhibit will be judged by local photographer Tom Tackett.

The photo displayed to the right is by Jennifer Tomshack titled, “Crown of Life”.