The exhibition “Collective Inquiry: Self-guided Walkshops” by Sara Alsum Wassenaar of the Hope College art faculty is being featured in Art Reach of Mid Michigan’s Morey Family Gallery in Mt. Pleasant from Thursday, Feb. 1, through Monday, Feb. 26.
Her artwork utilizes traditional craft methods to uncover relationships between the built environment and the handmade. In “Collective Inquiry: Self-guided Walkshops,” the walkshops are invitations for the public to participate in the endeavor. Gallery visitors are invited to take a booklet containing directions for three different walkshop experiences, with materials to complete the activities provided in the gallery. One walkshop asks participants to draw a map of their surroundings and invites them to place their maps in the exhibition. The others ask people to email photos of their walkshop excursions that will be printed and hung with the exhibition.
In the summer of 2012, Alsum Wassenaar rode the Empire Builder train from Chicago, Illinois, to Portland, Oregon, and organized stops along the way to meet with local historians and ceramic artists. During this trip she conducted object-based research and interviewed train passengers. This project resulted in a collection of objects, journals, images and videos. She was selected to conduct programing at the MDW Fair in Chicago and at the CAA Conference in New York City, and her work has been published in Plot magazine and the Pro Rege Journal.
A 2002 Hope graduate, Alsum Wassenaar is a visiting assistant professor of art and design at Hope. She holds an M.Ed. from Grand Valley State University, and an MFA from the University of Illinois Urbana.
Art Reach of Mid Michigan is located at 111 E. Broadway St. in Mt. Pleasant. The Morey Family Gallery is open Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.