It will be the art within that goes on display, but shipping the pieces has required creativity and hard work, too.
A total of 38 paintings by Delbert Michel,
professor of art at Hope College, are destined for
Groeneveld Almelo, the Netherlands, where they will be
featured in a one-person exhibition opening on Sunday, May
2, at the "GalerieandSkulpturenpark."
The works being shipped include an eight-foot by
14-foot painting, 25 other large-scale works and a variety
of smaller paintings. They are all contained within three
giant plywood crates weighing hundreds of pounds each.
The crates were custom made for Michel by the
college's maintenance department. According to plan, Michel
disassembled his work somewhat to store it within the
containers. They left campus on Wednesday, Feb. 24, and
after they've reached their destination, crossing the
Atlantic by ship, he'll fly over in April and put his work
back together.
It was during a visit to the Netherlands two years
ago that Michel was invited to have a solo exhibition of his
work in the gallery. Works by internationally known Dutch
sculptor Cyril Lixenberg will be displayed on the grounds of
the sculpture park at the same time as Michel's show.
The concept for their concurrent solo exhibitions
is to feature work by artists from "the two Hollands." The
exhibition will run until October 3.