The Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff isn’t the 5th finest art fair in the nation by pure happenstance. The work that goes into the great event which has been going on for more than half a century is nothing short of remarkable in every regard. In fact…despite the fact that only about 200 artists will make the cut, more than 930 world-class artists have applied for the privilege. The field will be narrowed later this month.
On July 8 and 9th the Krasl Art Center will welcome 200 artists to the Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff. In its 56th year the event continues to receive national acclaim including #5 ranking in Sunshine Artist Magazine.
The Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff Jury Day is slated for Thursday, February 16 from 9:00am to 6:00pm in the north training room of the Mendel Center on the campus of Lake Michigan College in Benton Township. The public is welcome to observe this fascinating and rigorous selection process.
With a total of 931 artists applying for the 2017 fair, the Krasl Art Center has announced a professional panel of jurors who will score applicants during the full day jury. Corrie Wolosin is Director of the Art Fair. She says, “We are thrilled with the level of knowledge and talent that this year’s jury brings to the table.” The five jurors are Catherine Doll, clothing designer, Karen Garlanger, architect and interior designer, Gray Lyons, photographer, Brandon Pierce, instructor of art and design and Steven Skinner, potter.
Catherine Doll has worked over twenty years creating collage clothing. She is currently the owner of Fashion for Green Living and is in the process of creating a Spring/Summer fashion collection from recycled material.
Karen Garlanger, a native of St Joseph, studied interior design at Western Michigan University and received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in architecture from Andrews University. She has merged her passion for architecture and design and opened her namesake firm, Karen Garlanger Designs in 2010. Her work has appeared in Woman’s Day Magazine, Distinctive Kitchen Solutions, Food Network Magazine and on the HGTV website.
Gray Lyons is a photographer and installation artist whose work addresses themes of memory, history, sexuality and self. She has received degrees from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Savannah College of Art and Design and Towson University. Her work has been exhibited and published nationally and internationally. She is on the faculty at Indiana University South Bend. Her studio is in South Bend, Indiana.
Brandon Pierce is currently working in conceptual art using elements of performance, self-experimentation and drawing to explore the limits of rationality in the understanding of the self and its place in society. Since his BFA in 1991 he has worked in diverse fields; interactive media, fine arts, fashion and furniture design. Having finished his MFA at the Maine College of Art, Pierce is the chair of the art department at Lake Michigan College.
Steven Skinner is an artist, potter and co-owner of BlackTree Studio Pottery. His career as an artist spans more than 25 years, and his passion for pottery began recently in 2006. While making art he has worked at the Field Museum of Chicago, the Shedd Aquarium and the Chicago Children’s Museum as a preparatory, artifact mount maker and project coordinator. He has taught painting and drawing at Columbia College Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as well as Indiana University at South Bend.
As a prestigious fine art/fine craft fair, the Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff relies on the expertise of the jury to provide a fair and objective review process; ultimately selecting 200 excellent artists who will exhibit during the event.
