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Dinner and Dancing for the Arts

Let the celebrating begin.

During 2017, Thunder Bay Arts Council celebrates not just one but three different anniversaries. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the founding of the organization. It also marks the 40th anniversary of TBAC’s premier summer arts and crafts show, Art on the Bay, and the 30th anniversary of the TBAC Community Chorus.

That’s why the board of directors has planned an upcoming gala event not only as a means to support the arts in Northeast Michigan, but also as a celebration party. Area residents are invited to attend Dinner and Dancing for the Arts on Jan. 28 at the APlex.

“It’s our anniversary year,” said TBAC Board President Tim Kuehnlein. “We are looking at this as a birthday party celebration as well as a way to promote the arts and what the arts council does.”

Doors open at 6 p.m. with a cash bar followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and dancing at 7:30 p.m. to music provided by Wayne Kendziorski and LBA (Little Band from Alpena). Tickets are $25 per person with limited seating, so those planning to attend should get their tickets right away at Neiman’s Family Market, the APlex or TBAC Gallery/Office.

A highlight of the evening will be the unveiling of a “maquette” of a sculpture TBAC has commissioned to commemorate its anniversary and to complement Alpena’s Bi-Path, a project first championed by the arts council in 1976 during the country’s Bicentennial year.

“We want to resurrect the Alpena sculpture bi-path because originally it was an arts council initiative which the broader community helped to facilitate,” Kuehnlein said. “It was part of a bigger national initiative.”

The national initiative included a sculpture component, but Kuehnlein said that aspect of the bi-path fell by the wayside with the exception of the sculpture fountain at the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan.

“We’d like to get at least one more sculpture up, and then maybe start the momentum for other sculptures. It will complement Art in the Loft’s outdoor mural and the scrims we have up,” he said. “Since it’s our anniversary, we thought this would be a great year to do something. This is a big deal for us because we have to raise funds above and beyond our general operations to make this happen.”

Already the organization has raised $13,000 of the necessary $22,000 to create the new sculpture that will be installed along the bi-path at a prominent location in the downtown.

Artist and metal sculptor Ann Gildner of Gildner Art Gallery in Cheboygan was commissioned to make the piece that she’s titled “Departure.” When completed, the steel sculpture will depict blue herons majestically taking flight from a stand of cattails. Plans are to have the piece completed and installed by September.

Gildner has been involved in making art for the past 30 years, but began experimenting with metal sculpting about six years ago, she said. She works at Iron One Studio in Onaway, site of the Industrial Arts Institute started by owner Tom Moran. While her sculpture designs are all her vision, she seeks the expertise of Moran and other engineers there to assist with the dimensions/technical aspects of her finished pieces.

“The longest part of the process is trying to get the design down,” Gildner said, adding that she made seven sculptures last year, several of them large-scale in scope.

For the TBAC project, she did sketches of three different possible designs that the arts council board considered before settling on “Departure.”

Gildner has numerous large-scale pieces displayed in various locations around the state, including a commissioned 13×8-foot cross at St. Anthony’s Church in Mackinaw City, a 14×6-foot copper and steel abstract sculpture in Millersburg and two pieces in a Walkabout Sculpture Show in Boyne City. She has had pieces accepted into ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, including “Ernie,” a sculpture initially exhibited at the Grand Rapids Public Museum that has since been relocated to McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey.

“Ann Gildner is a local artist for us in terms of Northern Michigan,” Kuehnlein said. “Her work has gained some state recognition with ArtPrize and in other locations around the state. We thought if we could represent one of her pieces, it will help draw some attention to our side of the state and help us build a collection of large public pieces of art.”

He encourages the community to come to the Jan. 28 dinner, see Gildner’s sculpture maquette, have fun with the music of LBA and celebrate TBAC’s milestone anniversaries.

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