While America’s coasts have long been destinations for artists, the interior of the country has played a huge role in helping define American art, and that is certainly evident in the Midwest. The 12 states that populate the Midwest have a rich history and background that includes Native American culture, the first inhabitants of the area, as well as European colonization, industrialization, immigration and exploration by way of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. And art played a role at every step.
With history also comes a trail of prominent artists that found refuge and inspiration from within the Midwest, including major cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Omaha and Indianapolis. Each city has its own flourishing art scene, peppered with world-renowned art and cultural institutions.
A view of Indianapolis. Courtesy Visit Indy.
Chicago, a classic art destination, is home to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Hyde Park Art Center; and the Art Institute of Chicago, home to the famous Edward Hopper (1882-1967) painting Nighthawks, among many others. St. Louis has the Saint Louis Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum and the popular Laumeier Sculpture Park. In Ohio is the Art Academy of Cincinnati, one of the most acclaimed art and design colleges, with historic ties to the Cincinnati Art Museum.
The academy is responsible for some of the greatest American artists in the country, with prominent alumni stretching back to the 19th century. Graduates include illustration artist Charley Harper (1922-2007), Western and landscape painter Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953) and realist painter Elizabeth Nourse (1859-1938). “Her interest in the peasant themes so popular among the salon painters of her day was simply an extension of her preoccupation with the simple subjects she had painted in the Midwest—the daily routine of rural folk, especially women at work...and country landscapes,” notes the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Iconic artists that taught at the institute include Josef Albers (1888-1976), Roy Cleveland Nuse (1885-1975) and Frank Duveneck (1848-1919), to name just a few.
Sculpture outside the Art Institute of Chicago. Courtesy Choose Chicago.The Cincinnati Art Museum, which cut ties with the academy in 1998, upholds a significant collection of more than 67,000 works spanning 6,000 years, one of the most comprehensive collections in the Midwest. Needless to say, the museum’s permanent collection is extensive and encompasses some of the most noteworthy pieces of American art of the 19th and 20th centuries, some of which were created by the institute alumni previously mentioned. Visitors are privy to iconic works like Duveneck’s Girl in a Black Hood, Mary Cassatt’s (1844-1926) Baby in Dark Blue Suit and Nourse’s A Mother (Une mère).
As you continue to read through this section, you’ll hear from additional institutions, galleries and artists that are keeping the art scenes alive in this culturally bountiful region of the United States. They boast beautiful works of art and share stories that are inspired by their Midwest surroundings.
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J. Petter Galleries
161 N. Blue Star Highway
Douglas, Michigan 49406
www.jpettergalleries.com
info@jpettergalleries.com
“There’s just something about the finer things in life,” says Juli Petter, owner and namesake of the combined Petter Art Galleries and Petter Wine Gallery in the lakeside town of Douglas, Michigan. The southwest city and its neighbor, Saugatuck, are annual summer destinations for many art lovers, and J. Petter Galleries has long been a staple of this region’s cultural landscape.
J. Petter Galleries, Liftoff, oil and gold leaf, 16 x 20", by Kimberly Beck.
The interior of J. Petter Galleries.
Joyce Petter, Juli’s mother-in-law, brought her gallery in 1973, and it has since become known as the art coast’s finest eclectic collection of fine art, including sculpture, glass and paintings.
The gallery boasts 23 individually curated spaces with 1,400-plus pieces of fine art on display. Two decades later, eager to broaden the gallery experience, Petter opened a wine and small plates bar, with indoor and outdoor seating, giving art lovers a new medium to enjoy during their visit. It truly is the perfect place to enjoy a glass of wine while looking for the perfect piece to add to your collection.
J. Petter Galleries, Up All Night, cast bronze, 24 x 10 x 6", by Laura Teste.The gallery hosts artist demos and receptions with live music every other Saturday from Memorial Day Weekend through the end of October. Visit the gallery event page for an up-to-date listing of which of their 109 artists will be on hand to meet and greet.
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Saugatuck Douglas Area
Convention and Visitors Bureau
95 Blue Star Highway
Douglas, MI 49406
(269) 857-1701
www.saugatuck.com
Nestled along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, amidst a backdrop of stunning natural beauty, Saugatuck/Douglas has long inspired artists and captivated the art lovers who visit. Dozens of working painters, sculptors, ceramicists and other artists call this area home, enriching the community with an open-minded outlook and an appreciation for creativity in all its forms.
Interior view of Button Gallery. Photo by Craig Watson.
Carol Miron, Smile! You’re in Saugatuck, mural. Photo by Craig Watson.
“Visitors strolling through our many galleries can discover fine art in every medium from a mix of local and national artists,” the bureau notes. “In addition to numerous galleries, art aficionados will find much to appreciate here, including artist studios, exhibitions and public art installations. Come discover the creative culture that’s at our heart and soul and why we’re known as the ‘art coast of Michigan.’”
Upcoming art events include The Art on Center Gallery Stroll on July 16 and September 10. Participating galleries, all located on Center Street in downtown Douglas, collectively host gallery strolls throughout the year that feature new works of art, special exhibits, demonstrations and refreshments. Explore Button Gallery, LebenArt Gallery, Mixed Media Gallery, Mr. Miller’s Art Emporium, Water Street Gallery and Krista Reuter Studio to discover one-of-a-kind paintings, digital art collages, ceramics, glass, sculpture and unique mixed media paper creations.
Clay throwing at Jeff Blandford Gallery. Photo by Jill Devries.Also mark your calendars for the 45th annual Fall Gallery Stroll from October 8 to 9. This highly anticipated art event held in downtown Saugatuck and Douglas will also operate much like the summer stroll.
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African American Artists Collective
1522 Holmes Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
www.aaackc.org
African American Artists Collective, Four Sisters, acrylic on canvas, 33 x 22", by Jason Wilcox.
African American Artists Collective, Sisters, textile, 56 x 42", by Wendy Kendrick.
The African American Artists Collective is an organization run by artists in Kansas City, Missouri. The mission of the collective is to support African American and Black artists in Kansas City, both regionally and nationally. Its members cover a multiplicity of roles in the arts and cultural community, and they represent a broad range of disciplines within the arts including painters, muralists, sculptors, public artists, arts educators, curators and performers. The organization serves to advance and encourage the professional development of artists as well as share networking opportunities.
African American Artists Collective, Take me Away Zora, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40", by Remy Wharry.Pictured here are works by three exceptional artists: Remy Wharry, Wendy Kendrick and Jason Wilcox, all of whom are supported and uplifted by the organization.
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Flint Institute of Arts
1120 E. Kearsley Street
Flint, MI 48503
(810) 234-1695
info@flintarts.org
www.flintarts.org
The Flint Institute of Arts promotes the power of the visual arts by providing lifelong learning opportunities to engage and educate a diverse regional audience. The museum has 25 galleries in a 171,000-square-foot space and is home to a world-renowned collection that has more than 9,000 objects. It’s significant for its depth of important European and American paintings and sculptures, 15th century to the present, and its extensive holdings of decorative and applied arts including significant ethnographic study collections dating back five millennia. The collection also features 237 works from Black American artists. The FIA Art School is among the largest museum art schools in the country and serves more than 2,000 students of all ages annually, in a variety of artistic mediums.
The Flint Institute of Arts, Untitled, 1981, acrylic on paper, 43 x 48", by Keith Haring (1950-1990). Courtesy Rubell Museum. Exhibition organized by the Flint Institute of Arts and the Rubell Museum.
The Flint Institute of Arts, Untitled (Self Portrait), 1982-1983, oil on wood, 20 x 20", by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988). Courtesy Rubell Museum. Exhibition organized by the Flint Institute of Arts and the Rubell Museum.
The Flint Institute of Arts, Mother. Saint. Rebekah, 2020, mixed media, 72 x 72", by Genesis Tramaine. Courtesy Rubell Museum. Exhibition organized by the Flint Institute of Arts and the Rubell Museum.Upcoming exhibitions for The Flint include Being Human: Contemporary Art from the Rubell Museum, on view through August 28; The Power of Print, from June 18 through August 21; and Walk in the Wild Side, August 6 through February 5, 2023.
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Robert MaGaw
robertmagawart@aol.com
www.robertmagaw.com
Robert MaGaw has been fortunate enough to have traveled and painted all over the world. His paintings have found homes in private collections, corporations and galleries.
“After painting so many beautiful places in the world,” says the artist, “I am asked the question, ‘Why return to Ohio?’ This is where I began and the passage of time has not diminished my memories of the skies, woods and waters of my hometown. The shifting temperament of the seasons allow me to fill paintings with quietness and solitude, or wild potency with bold streaks of light and shadow that spill across the open stretches, carving their own strong, beautiful furrows over the land. So, this place and I…we simply rekindled our love affair. I began here and I will end here.”
Robert MaGaw, Summer Overture, oil on panel, 12 x 16"
Robert MaGaw, Scarlet Oaks, oil on panel, 11 x 14"
MaGaw also notes that there is always something new to learn from his immersion into the landscape.
“I paint, not merely to record the scene, but to capture the sense, the emotion, the poetry of the place,” he says. “I have been blessed with a nearly photographic memory and can carry those images with me to the studio. The creative process for me is always intense, determined, experimental.I see every painting whole, complete in my mind—as I once, as an architect in New York City, saw buildings complete—before setting about to make the drawings realize my vision.”
Robert MaGaw, Secret Place, oil on panel, 11 x 14"
MaGaw continues, “Many times, observers of a finished work tell me ‘I have been there’ or ‘I want to walk into that scene.’ Then I know that they feel it, too, and carry their own version of the story found there. The act of painting is intimately personal for me. It is never soothing or relaxing. No, this is not a pastime. It is a necessity.”
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Debra Joy Groesser Fine Art Gallery
5615 S. 77th Street, Ralston, NE 68127, (402) 592-6552
gallery@debrajoygroesserfineart.com
www.debrajoygroesserfineart.com
Debra Joy Groesser Fine Art Gallery is located in the heart of downtown Ralston, Nebraska, in the metro Omaha area. In addition to the oil paintings of nationally acclaimed artist and gallery owner Debra Joy Groesser, and the beautiful wood creations by her husband, Don Groesser, the gallery features the work of nationally renowned, award-winning guest artists in two to three invitational group exhibitions each year. From Don’s decorative segmented vessels, and functional turned bowls, wine stoppers and charcuterie boards to Debra’s landscapes, seascapes and portraits, to artful gift baskets, wine glasses, coffee mugs, tote bags and more, the gallery has unique, artistic gifts in price ranges to fit every budget.
Debra Joy Groesser Fine Art Gallery interior.
Debra Joy Groesser, Late Day Reverie, Narada Lake, oil on linen panel, 16 x 20"
“We invite you to stop by and enjoy our ever-changing collection,” says Debra. “We can also create a special painting or wood piece specifically for you—commissions are always welcome.”
Please visit the gallery website for current hours. They’re always open online or by appointment. —
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