Padzieski Gallery Curator Sasha Corder (left) and Emmajean Woodyard, executive director of the Dearborn Community Fund, talk Jan. 15 at “Resilience,” a collection of artists’ pandemic work on display through Jan. 28 at the Padzieski Gallery at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn. Amar Haidar’s “Self Aware,” a mixed media work, is at left.
Show runs through Jan. 28
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – “Resilience,” an all-media show of pandemic-produced art, is on display through Jan. 28 at the Padzieski Gallery in the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.
The show evolved from a group of artists sharing words and work online in the Facebook group “Art in the Time of Corona-V.”
The Padzieski Gallery is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with a closing reception 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 28 for “Resilience.”
Artist Martine MacDonald of Allen Park, whose work is on display at Rivers Edge Gallery in Wyandotte, said the Facebook group formed early in the pandemic, on March 14, 2020, to allow artists to share their feelings and art online in the face of COVID-19.
She said within a week, the group had 600 members and continued to grow, with participants hailing from all over the world.
“I truly believed that the group would last only a few months, maybe until June, since we would surely be back to ‘normal’ by the summer of 2020,” MacDonald said. “You know how that turned out.”
She said the group now has 1,300 members from 10 countries.
Artist Laila Kujala’s “In Her Hands,” a mixed media creation, and Theresa Lannen’s “Wyandotte Sunrise, Spring 2021,” an oil on panel work, are part of “Resilience,” a collection of artists’ pandemic work on display through Jan. 28 at the Padzieski Gallery at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.
MacDonald said that while artists often work alone, it was frustrating in the beginning of the pandemic to not be able to come together or to be able to show their work at an exhibit.
“People like to be in their studio and work, but we artists are of dual nature – we like to be alone and work, but they also like to be with other artists and share and get feedback on their work,” she said.
MacDonald said the pandemic may have given some artists the time to try a new media that they might not have explored otherwise.
She said there is a vast variety of work, in different media, on display in “Resilience.”
“We have work that is all over the spectrum,” MacDonald said.
Included are digitally created art, woven wall hangings, sculpture and traditional painting, drawings and prints.
“For me, it matches my vision of building a community,” she said. “What you see here is a community of people who came together at a very difficult time, and they hung together and still want to be with one another.”
MacDonald said they were able to tap into the challenges of the pandemic and produce creative, appealing work.
Emma Jean Woodyard, executive director of the Dearborn Community Fund, said the resultant art on display at “Resilience” is both enlightening and encouraging.
“It’s fantastic, and the whole idea that this started as an online project, just boggles my mind,” she said. “It was a lot of work and there were a lot of hiccups, but it’s here, and we are very proud of it.”
Woodyard said they are excited that the Padzieski Gallery is back in action.
“Every time that I come in, I find a different one that I like,” she said.
Woodyard said the show is online, through the City of Dearborn TV programing online, and at padzieskigallery.org.
“You can see a lot of the work online, but we want you to come in, too,” she said.
Curator Sasha Corder said the Facebook group “Art in the Time of Corona-V” has been inspiring artists to keep creating vibrancy in the arts community.
“It kind of created a support group to help with the loss of our opening receptions and our drawing classes and our co-creating spaces, and just sitting down and having coffee with another artist,” she said. “The community just kept growing and growing, and so much beautiful art came out of this, that we really wanted to celebrate all the hard work that they had been doing at home, to stay inspired.”
Corder said the world is not conducive for artists right now, with venues closing due to the pandemic, and classes being limited.
“You have to draw your inspiration from somewhere,” she said. “Some artists just really like getting out into nature, and some artists just really like musical performances to inspire their visual art, so when you lose that experience, the art may not be what you want it to express.”
Corder said there is so much talent on display at the Padzieski Gallery.
“To celebrate all this amazing talent on the walls, especially after we haven’t had openings in so long, is just a great way to kick off 2022, and hopefully this year will be one full of art.”
MacDonald said there have been times when she wondered if the Facebook group had outlived its lifespan.
“From time to time, there’s been a hint that we have fulfilled our mission,” she said. “But I promised we would keep the group active as long as members found hope in the community we built, and here we are, still on a shared journey.”
The art of 50 artists is on display, including the work of Diana Alva, Sylvia Bandyke, Boisali Biswas, Cathy Bockel, Gail Borowski, Jan Brown, Sandra Cardew, Barbara Melnik Carson, Erica Chappuis, Winnie Chrzanowski, Joseph Crachiola, Stephen Czapiewski, Barbara Dorchen, Deborah Friedman, Lisa Grix, Amar Haidar, Terry Hastings, Dennis Jones, Dora Kelley, Janet Kondziela, Laila Kujala, Eno Laget, Theresa Lannen, Rose Lewandowski, Tom Livo, Martine MacDonald, Daniel Maiga, Sue Majewski, Robert Maniscalco, Loretta Markell, Irene Mokra, Theresa Moore, Carol Morris, John Mullinax, Lucinda Parsons, Robert Piatek, Heather Mary Quaine, Danny Rebb, Barry Roth, Corey Scillian, Kyle Sharkey, Steve Simon, Donita Simpson, Shelley Stevens, Deborah Sukenic, Vasu Tolia, Sharlene Welton, Lisa Wright, Cheryl Zemke and Paul Zonca.
“Resilience,” a collection of artists’ pandemic work, is on display through Jan. 28 at the Padzieski Gallery at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.