A reception will be held in their honor from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday at the TBA Gallery, 127 W. Chisholm St., Alpena. The reception is free and open to the public.

About Mark Behmer

Mark Behmer is an artist and fisherman from Northeast Michigan, specializing in original oil paintings of the outdoor sporting experience and wildlife art.

Mark started drawing at a young age. He grew up in Detroit, and after graduating from high school in 1968, he enrolled in the commercial art program at Oakland Community College. After a semester of core design classes, he became increasingly interested in painting, drawing, and fine art classes he needed to take. He transferred to Northern Michigan University as a fine art major for a year, and transferred again to the Art School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts (Now the College for Creative Studies, CCS) in Detroit.

Lucia Behmer

He has exhibited in Mullaly’s 128 Studio and Gallery in Elk Rapids, Art In The Loft in Alpena, Thunder Bay Arts Gallery in Alpena, the Ann Arbor Art Center in Ann Arbor, and the Broadmoor Galleries in Colorado Springs. He is currently represented by the Beartooth Gallery Fine Art in Red Lodge, Montana.

He earned honorable mentions in the 2009 and 2019 Juried Art Exhibitions at the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan in Alpena.

In 2021, his painting “Flyfishing the Lewis River — Yellowstone” won second place at the Mountain View Americana Art Show in Easley, South Carolina. The juror was Seth Hopkins, the director of the Booth Museum of Western Art located in Cartersville, Georgia.

He was also exhibiting artist in the 26th and 27th Wildlife Arts Festivals. His work has appeared in Gray’s Sporting Journal, Michigan Trout Unlimited Magazine, and the Ruffed Grouse Society’s Covers Magazine.

About Lucia Behmer

Lucia Behmer is an artist creating one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and objects. She graduated from the University of Illinois with B.F.A. in Painting and continued on at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago toward an M.F.A. She earned art teacher certification at National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois (now National Lewis University).

She was raised in a family that embraced all the arts. Her father was an artist and educator. He supplied her with materials and encouragement in her early years.

Lucia has taught art to children ages 4 thorugh 14 in private schools in Chicago. She enjoyed the years spent encouraging children in their art and introducing them to many processes. She has found that some things can only be known through the hands.

Lucia has explored many materials and processes in her own art. After leaving a job as a designer, Lucia attended jewelry and metals classes at The College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She studied with internationally known jewelry artist Suzan Rezac. Lucia learned the marriage of metals technique from Suzan. It is probably her favorite technique, and she often incorporates it in her work. Lucia’s work in painting and assemblage has influenced her jewelry pieces. Her work has been included in group exhibitions, galleries, and publications.

About Thunder Bay Arts Gallery

Located in the heart of downtown Alpena, Thunder Bay Arts Gallery is a program of the Thunder Bay Arts Council, Inc., fostering access to local art in our community. A cooperative gallery, it features local artists’ fine arts and fine crafts on view and for sale year-round. The TBA Gallery serves as a venue for a number of Thunder Bay Arts programs, including Youth CORE and Featured Artist rotating exhibits and open houses. The gallery is open to the public, so come see for yourself what local talent has to offer.