Brian Schorn

ALPENA — Thunder Bay Arts proudly hosts Brian Schorn as the Featured Artist for November and December 2022.

TBA will host a reception in his honor from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11 in the TBA Gallery. The event is free and open to the public. The TBA Gallery is located at 127 W. Chisholm St. in downtown Alpena. Schorn’s work and that of 21 additional local artists is located inside the TBA Gallery.

Schorn is a multi-disciplinary artist working out of his Studio Rubedo workshop in Alpena. He grew up on the wild shoreline of Lake Huron, attained the rank of Eagle Scout, was a National Honor Society member in high school and, after graduation, attended college as a biology major/pre-med student. His interest in nature, science, and photography eventually led him to study fine art in a variety of media.

His college education includes a BFA in fine art photography and MFA degrees in fine art photography, graphic design, creative writing and electronic music. Since the 1990s, he has taught visual art, photography, comparative art, digital art, sound art, graphic design and creative writing at institutions including Alpena Community College, Interlochen Arts Academy, The University of Michigan, Brown University, Eastern Michigan University, and Grand Valley State University. He was awarded an Arts Education Grant in New York through Arts Mid-Hudson where he worked with 3rd through 5th graders developing a collaborative, environmental art installation. He frequently contributes to art exhibitions and publications as a curator, juror, and designer. Most recently, Schorn curated “Modern Art at The Besser” from the permanent collection of the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan.

Schorn’s visual art has been exhibited and published widely throughout the country since the early 1980s. Recent solo exhibitions include “Comstock Wabi-Sabi” in Nevada, “Lost and Found” in New York and “Magnum Opus: A 25 Year Retrospective” at the Besser Museum in Alpena. Other recent group exhibitions include “ArtPrize,” “Practice, Rhythm and Ritual: Meditative Minimalism” and “Tinker, Tailor, Welder, Weaver: The Art of Assemblage” at Crooked Tree Arts Center in Michigan; “The New Digital Art Biennale,” a virtual gallery organized in Brazil; “Snap to Grid” at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art and “An Homage to Kurt Seligmann” at the Seligmann Center for Surrealism in New York.

He has attended artist residencies across the country, including Iowa Lakeside Lab in Milford, Iowa; Resident Artist Program in Silver City, Nevada; I-Park Artists Enclave in Connecticut; and Ox-Bow Artist Residencies in Michigan. Work from his residency in Nevada is currently touring the state in a variety of business and educational locations.

Schorn’s art is or has been represented by Tricera, Art Curator Japan, Michigan Artists Gallery, Crooked Tree Arts Center, and Rogue Nevada. His art is also in numerous private collections as well as the public collections of Seligmann Center for Surrealism, Berkeley Art Museum’s Pacific Film Archive, University of Michigan Art Museum, Besser Museum, and the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science.

Thunder Bay Arts Council, Inc. programming is made possible in part by funding from Michigan Arts and Culture Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Besser Foundation, various granting organizations such as the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan, corporate sponsors, local governments, and from contributions by patrons. Thunder Bay Arts Council provides a variety of arts and cultural programming to the community of Northeast Michigan, including performing arts events, YouthCORE initiatives, TBA Gallery, Art on the Bay, Art Vision Alpena Bi-Path Sculptures, the Alpena ICE Fest, and more. Visit ThunderBayArts.org.