Kate Welke
Kalamazoo, MI
Paintings

Artist Information
Born in Kalamazoo, Kate Welke was raised in Stevensville, Michigan and Varese, Italy. She studied fine art and graduated from Kalamazoo College. After living and working in New Zealand and Seattle, she returned to Michigan where she began sweeping the floors of a wood shop. Generous time and instruction by mentors gave her experience in the design and craftsmanship of furniture, in addition to training at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. The pursuit of beautiful form and function grew into a design studio, founded alongside her twin sister Karly. Theave Design is the point of intersection between Kate and Karly’s work in craft, interiors, textiles and art.

Artist Statement
Kate’s work is preoccupied with ritual, balance, the dream of time. The habit of line and consideration of color is an exploration of place— the width and depth of it. Recent work is interested in layers and interruptions. Just as in life and craft, Kate’s paintings are adorned by Karly’s embroidery.

Denise Tackett
Stevensville, MI
Quilting

Artist Information
I’ve been a quilter for nearly 25 years, but during the recent pandemic I was able to take the time to study Abstract Expressionist painters. I thought I could try to translate some of the principles of that art form to quilts. Obviously, fabric doesn’t move like paint, but using improvisational piecing, which is a form of using flexible patterning, instead of traditional fixed patterning, I think I was able to come pretty close.

Susan Henshaw
Union Pier, MI
Multi-Media

Artist Information
As a lifetime resident of Union Pier, Michigan, Susan resides with her husband and her pets in her childhood home which has been her inspiration for many of her works. As a child, she had free reign to explore the fields, woodlands, waters and plant life that surrounded the property. On solitary journeys, she would also venture to the Galien River and Lake Michigan.

Susan knew she always wanted to be an artist and is still striving to achieve that dream. She is grateful to her parents who were always encouraging and allowed her to make artistic messes! Susan has extensive body of work including photography, oil, pastel, drawing and acrylic.

A self-taught artist, Susan has taught numerous classes and held many solo shows. She is part of several permanent corporate and private collections. Over the years she has received many juried awards for her Pastels and Paintings. Recently, she received Best of Show at Midwest Museum of American Art in Elkhart, IN. Susan’s pastel titled “Primordial River” was the first ever pastel to be chosen in the show’s 35 year history, and is now part of their permanent collection. Susan has also had the honor of being chosen as an Artist-in-Residence at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Porcupine Mountains State Park and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Artist Statement
After many years of painting aspects of nature in oils and pastels I hit a creative wall. For 2 years I did not paint anything seriously but began to experiment with acrylics and abstract – without any expectations. What I discovered blew my mind! I saw shapes and figures within the abstracts. I can only describe it as a cross between the Rorschach Test, Where’s Waldo and Dot to Dot. Like seeing images in the clouds the characters took shape forming complete stories. Some pieces had stories on multiple sides of the canvas but when the piece named itself that would be the image I painted.

I have not added any characters nor have I modified their actions. Every line and shape formed organically within the abstract background acting as a road map to the story.

I refer to these pieces as “Real Life in Story Book Fashion” They are a reflection of the interactions with ourselves and others. The stories range from sweet to tongue in cheek to very dark, mirroring our achievements and failures as a society…

Every day the world changes. Every day I am a different person. Every day I am a different artist.

Greg Constantine
Berrien Center, MI
Mixed Media

Artist Information
Greg taught painting, drawing, and art history at Andrews University for forty-three years (1963-2006) while conducting fifteen art history summer sessions for students in Europe. He began exhibiting nationally in in 1969, and since 1975, numerous one man shows including eighteen in New York City. The focus of his professional career has clearly been the exhibiting of his art in New York City, and as a result, a moderate reputation developed.

Born in Windsor Ontario, attended Andrews University and Michigan State University he’s been married to Sharon for 63 years.

Artist Statement
The license plate format is that of utilitarian objects transformed into functional objects wearing the mantle of “High Art”. They open another territory in the development of Text Art. Most viewers, when confronted by these groupings, will at first see a random juxtaposition of weathered automobile plates from various countries and states. They refer to the phenomenon of ubiquitous so-called “vanity” plates, with the exception that these have been grouped together to form full statements. While it may appear that Constantine has simply collected old, rusted license plates to create this text art, he actually fabricates them from vacuum-formed styrene (plastic), then paints and rusticates the pieces.

The Michiana Annual Art Competition, MAAC, is a local juried fine art exhibition intended to recognize, foster, and reward excellence of artists in Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana. The MAAC is held annually at the Box Factory for the Arts in St. Joseph, Michigan and is supported by our association members, area businesses, and corporate sponsors.

The Community was invited to this free and public gallery exhibition located throughout the Box Factory for the Arts’ 4 Galleries. Works of Art Categories are: Photography, Watermedia, Oil, Fiber Arts, 3D, Drawing and the 2023 Pop-up Category: Zine/Poster/Illustration (Digital- Book Arts/Letterpress).

The Category winners are:

• Eliza Sarra, St. Joseph – Drawing – “Birds of Flight”
• Julie Koch – Benton Harbor – Fiber Arts – “Flower Garden”
• Matt Payovich – St. Joseph – Oil Painting – “Ellis”
• Sara Sokol – Stevensville – 3D – “Intuition”
• Sherry Saenz – South Haven – Black and White Photography – “Natural Abstract”
• Mary Whalen – Richland, MI – Color Photography – “Summer Garden”
• David Baker – St. Joseph – Water Media – “Between the Water and the Sky”
• Mary Whalen – Richland, MI – Pop-Up/Zine/Poster/Illustration – “World of Wonders”

Second Place awards go to:

• Laurie Rousseau – South Bend, IN – Drawing – “Vanate”
• T.J. Schwartz – St. Joseph – Fiber Arts – “The Stories I Was Told”
• Robert Williams – Stevensville – Oil Painting – “Bella in Green Shirt”
• Michele Corazzo – Chesterton, IN – 3D – “Sextet”
• Nolan Tackett – St. Joseph, – Black and White Photography – “Tetons”
• Surekka Ninala – Berrien Springs – Color Photography -“Sandstone Palace”
• Nathan Margoni – Benton Harbor – Water Media – “Golden Boy”
• Betsy Gill – St. Joseph – Pop-Up/Zine/Poster/Illustration – “Nevertheless Blooming”

The Elementary Art Exhibition and Middle & High School ‘Community Student Art Exhibitions’ provide important opportunities for school children from Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren Counties to exhibit their artwork at The Box Factory for the Arts.

Together with Krasl Art Center (KAC) and the Berrien Regional Education Services Agency (RESA) we annually celebrated these young artists and award many for their excellence.

The 2023 ‘Community Art Exhibition’ were sponsored by Stonegate Plastic Surgery of Corewell Health with contributions additionally provided by Barrett & Driscoll Pediatrics, Vail Rubber Works, and Pepsi Bottling Group. Framing sponsored by Waterfront Framing & House of Fashion.

Program support additionally provided in part by Michigan Arts and Culture Council, National Endowment for the Arts, and Frederick S. Upton Foundation.

Materials from the natural world surrounding the Northwest Indiana home and studios of Jon Hook and Andrea Peterson find their way into their clay art and works on paper. “stories from the soil” was the theme of the couple’s exhibit which originally opened January 20 in the Robert Williams Gallery at the Box Factory for the Arts, 1101 Broad Street, St. Joseph, MI.

In addition, the family of the late Box Factory studio artist K.V. Rathnam honored their patriarch with an exhibit of his photography and paintings in the Whitlow Gallery.

Orphaned artwork which has been unclaimed by artists and accumulating in various storage spaces at the Box Factory were offered for sale in the Sky Level Gallery.

And Box Factory studio artists showcased their work and bios in the Riverwalk Gallery.