First half of 2018 schedule finalized for Finlandia University Gallery

Continuing a long tradition of celebrating the Finnish roots that define the culture of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, the Finlandia University Gallery has put together an incredible mix of talent for the first half of 2018. Get out your calendar, and mark down these key dates!

“I’m proud of the lineup we have scheduled for the first half of 2018,” Gallery Director Carrie Flaspohler said. “These artists have put together some incredible work, and the Finnish themes throughout their work will be evident to all who make time to enjoy the art in person.”

First half of 2018 at Finlandia University Gallery

Kristin Pavelka (through 1/13)

• 27th Annual Contemporary Finnish American Artist Series Exhibition
• Coffee, sweets with butter, visits with relatives, eating fresh fish caught, fried and served by the lake during the midnight sun…these quintessentially Finnish moments are the inspiration for a series of ceramic pieces on display for the 27th Annual Contemporary Finnish American Artist Series Exhibition. Using multiples of the same form, Pavelka plays with botanical themed surface design to pay homage to her Finnish ancestry.

Onni Nordman (1/18-2/17)

• Opening Reception: Thursday, January 18, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
• Onni Nordman’s Sauna: Divine Comedy is a series of paintings that set Dante’s Commedia, the 14th century Italian narrative poem, in the sauna. “The Commedia, for all its world-building, is also an interior drama,” notes Nordman. “The sauna is a pressurized space coequally infernal, purgatorial, and paradisiacal, built on three levels, housing figures who are naked and vulnerable, as well as serene and exalted.” The Sauna: Divine Comedy series has emerged as a continuing response to the possibilities of splicing together fertile ideas. Rather than illustrate the Commedia poem, Nordman’s paintings use it as a matrix to tell a story with a cast of figures.  His language of materials informs our viewing experience.  “My job as a painter is to find a pattern, to create abstract loveliness and order, to find a design with which to create a dynamic, satisfying flatness.”

Alumni Exhibit (2/22-3/10)

• Opening Reception: Thursday, February 22, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
• Finlandia University International School of Art & Design Alumni Exhibit
• Over the 19 years since the inception of the BFA degree program at Finlandia University, the International School of Art & Design has graduated 172 students in five concentrations including Ceramic Design, Fiber/Fashion Design, Integrated Design, Graphic Design and Studio Arts. This exhibit will spotlight the continuing work of these alumni artists active in the arts profession.

Student Juried Exhibition / Fashion Show (3/29-4/18)

• Opening Reception: Thursday, March 29, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
• Finlandia University International School of Art & Design Juried Student Exhibition / Fashion Show
• The annual juried exhibition includes work by International School of Art & Design students studying the fine art and design disciplines of intermedia, drawing, painting and illustration, ceramic and glass, fiber and fashion design, sculpture, product and interior design, and graphic design and digital media.

2018 Diploma Works Exhibition (4/28-5/31)

• Opening Reception: Saturday, April 28, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
• Finlandia University International School of Art & Design, 2018 Diploma Works Exhibition
• Presented annually, the Diploma Works exhibit features the work of International School of Art and Design graduating BFA students. The exhibit pieces represent each graduating student’s final body of work and take the form of intensive research projects, series of individual artworks, or design prototypes.

Terhi Asumaniemi (Beginning June 7)

• Opening Reception: Thursday, June 7, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
• Photographing the changing forests and mire landscapes of Southern Finland, Terhi Asumaniemi examines our relationship with nature and how it is shaped by the cultural attitudes of the times and the moral and spiritual connections humans have with the environment. As forest industry has expanded in Finland, the forests of the artist’s childhood look different and mysterious to her now.  Her poetic landscapes delve deeply into the interwoven relationship of humans and their environment.

About Finlandia University Gallery

The Finlandia University Gallery is in the Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street, Hancock. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. , Thursdays 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Saturdays 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. For more information, call Gallery Director Carrie Flaspohler at 906-487-7500.