News Photo by Darby Hinkley Kelly Belew, Jean Stewart, and Pat Manning pose in Thunder Bay Arts Council Gallery with the new 18-month calendar which goes on sale Friday. The glossy calendar features colorful artwork by local artists who display in the gallery, as well as artist bios.

ALPENA — A beautiful 18-month glossy calendar featuring the artwork of Thunder Bay Arts Council gallery artists will be available Friday.

A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, and featured artwork will be for sale as well.

“Right now we have 24 artists in the gallery,” said Pat Manning, one of those artists. “So, you’ll see how we put some on the front, some on the back, because we sure wanted to highlight all the artists.”

“Each month has an artist with a picture of the artist and a short bio,” said Kelly Belew, another gallery artist. “So, if they’re not on a month, they’re either on the front cover or the back cover.”

Manning creates whimsical watercolor cards, paints rocks, and has a sense of humor evident in her art.

Belew makes unique handcrafted wooden tables, benches and more.

When you walk into the gallery, your eyes feast on a smorgasbord of colorful pieces, from photography, to painting, to jewelry, to handmade baskets, and much more. All the artwork is locally made and tagged with affordable prices.

Thunder Bay Arts Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting arts and quality entertainment in the Alpena area.

“The council and the gallery have such a symbiotic relationship,” Belew said. “We work seamlessly together to promote both visual and performing arts all over Northeast Michigan.”

The gallery is a collective of local artists who volunteer their time to staff the gallery during open hours. All of the profits from artwork sold goes straight back to the artist, which keeps costs to the consumer down, and gives the artists the opportunity to continue creating artwork to sell.

TBAC liaison Jean Stewart is excited about the calendar. She said each artist had input as to which month they would like to represent in the calendar.

“Some of their art indicated where they would be,” Manning added. “If they had a winter scene, we put them in a winter month.”

Adam Miller was the photographer for the calendar. A graduate of Alpena High School, Miller has traveled abroad but embraced the opportunity to photograph “the beauty that is the Sunrise Side,” according to his mini bio on the back of the calendar. Miller’s photography is on display at the gallery.

“We just think he made us look really, really good,” Manning said.

“He’s very gifted,” Stewart added.

“The purpose for the calendar was to promote Northeast Michigan local artists,” Manning said. “Because we are a co-op, so if you have your art here, you almost have to be local, because we work.”

She said many people may not even realize the talented artists who are living right alongside them in the Alpena area.

“There are a lot of talented people,” Manning said. “One thing about this gallery is we have a big variety ­– everything from baskets to pottery, to acrylics, oils, watercolor, wood-burning, woodworking, jewelry, and our new artist, Dean Huey’s Michigan-themed work.”

The calendars are $20 each, available at the gallery, open 11 a.m to 5 p.m. at 127 W. Chisholm St. in Alpena. For more information, call 989-356-6678.

Belew had the pleasure of designing and laying out the calendar, but she said “It was quite a collaborative effort.”

Calendar committee members included Belew, Manning, Stewart, Jan Herring, and Karen Cracchiolo.

“We wanted a nice calendar that people would be proud to have in their home for 18 months,” Manning said. “And that really was our goal, to have the arts in your home.”