Silent Disco |

PHOTOS: BRYAN ESLER

Last Saturday, Stellafly hit Live Coverage, UICA‘s largest fundraiser of the year. Live Coverage presented some of the regions most talented artists creating live on site, performances by AOK and We Draw Together, and a terrace dance party thanks to Silent Disco.

Each year Live Coverage celebrates UICA’s role as a leader and supporter of contemporary arts, and features dozens of artists creating works for sale in both live and silent auctions. The event is the organizations’ centerpiece fundraising event. Each artist donates 70% of art sales to UICA, and 100% of all other proceeds go toward the programs and exhibitions of UICA year-round. Guests also had the opportunity to bid on completed art pieces, all while getting to know the artists behind the work, and enjoying food, drink, and entertainment. This year’s event brought in 350 attendees.

SF had a unique opportunity to sit chat with a couple of the participants, to learn more about their lives as working artists and the pieces they were creating for this year’s Live Coverage.

Michael Peoples, a conceptual artist who creates text-based work, likes playing with material like lemon juice and beer to write secret messages in his pieces. Michael finds Grand Rapids to be an art-focused community and it is because of this support that he got back to working on his art again. He had stopped showing his work in the early 90s but 5 years ago, starting with ArtPrize, he re-entered the scene. He loves Live Coverage because it brings all the artists together and you have the opportunity to meet people you haven’t met before.

Loralee Grace created a small watercolor and gouache painting for the event, a mountainous landscape with patterns hovering in the sky. She creates oil paintings as well, but decided on a gouache and watercolor piece for the event. It’s a faster working process and she was able to progress the piece from an earlier stage live at the event.

Her inspiration for her piece came from recent travels to Wadi Rum, Jordan. Loralee’s husband is a filmmaker and photographer, the photo reference for this piece is a photo-stitch he made while we were walking through Wadi Rum desert one day. The patterns in the painting are local to Wadi Rum and represent otherworldly and spiritual forces which she feels are all around us.

She has been an artist since she was a child. She believes all children are artists, but she never stopped creating. She knew she would be some sort of artist when she grew up. She is a 2010 graduate of Kendall College and has been growing her art career since.

“The art scene in Grand Rapids is vibrant, I thoroughly enjoy how many artists are busy creating in this little city! I only wish there were more, reliable art collectors,” she said.

Loralee decided to participate in Live Coverage for a variety of reasons, primarily the exposure, but also the energy. She spends most of her days alone in her painting studio, so she enjoys the energy at the event with many so artists creating live, and art lovers swarming around.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Lisa Ambrose
Cindi Ford
Kelly Allen
Ann Cole
Deborah Mankoff
Jeff Kraus
Stephanie Wooster
Rachael Van Dyke
Rick Beerhorst
Garrett Brooks
Michael Peoples
Monica Lloyd
Meridith Ridl
Nicholas Szymanski
Missy Marrow
Dianne Carroll Burdick
Michele Bosak
Jamie Miller
Meghan Shimek
Daniel Elisevich
Darryl Love
Lisa Walcott
Chris Gray
Ryan Wyrick
Bob Marsh
Alynn Guerra
Brett Haberkorn & Robyn Kane
Loralee Grace
Matthew Schenk
Damian Goidich
Rosemary Mifsud
Sarah Knill
Trevor Stone & Natalie Berry (We Draw Together)
Dana Freeman
Bill Hosterman
Jacob Zars
Steven Vinson
Mandy Cano
Sheryl Budnik
Tommy Allen
Elizabeth Hawkins
Casey Huizenga
Catherine Richards & Anh Tran
Matt Ruiter
Steven Rainey
Maggie Bandstra
AOK
Silent Disco
Channing & Quinn
Marissa Voytenko
Toni Michael Miller