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Remembering Suzanne Wilson’s creative mission: Friday night summer art openings resume at Lake Street Studios

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To know the history of the arts in Glen Arbor is to know Suzanne Wilson. A venerated artist and pillar of the community, Suzanne had the singular ability to translate Leelanau’s land, light, and water into work that felt both intimate and expansive. But perhaps more significantly, Suzanne did not simply depict Leelanau’s landscape—she transformed its cultural fabric. In the early 1990s, Suzanne began organizing Friday night art openings at Lake Street Studio’s Center Gallery, the public-facing component of her studio. The summer 2025 season of Center Gallery opens on June 27 with Joan Richmond, a Traverse City-based artist best known for her luminous landscapes.

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See you in September at Lake Street Studios

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William Shakespeare poignantly captured a sentiment that remains deeply resonating, particularly up here in Glen Arbor’s August: “Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” While it is difficult to witness the inevitability of yet another summer season passing, there is an upside worth acknowledging—those proverbial “silver linings.” Suddenly, the self-checkout line at Anderson’s Market is no longer a desperate option; one can actually find a table for four at Funistrada on a Thursday evening; similarly, at the iconic Mill, getting a much-coveted reservation at the bar is now a reality; Inn & Trail Gourmet’s Julie Zapoli and Liz Erdmann are back at stocking their freezer with culinary delights like homemade Beef Bourguignon and Coq au Vin; and happily, tee times are freeing up at River Club. Although the summer season of weekly art openings at Lake Street Studios Center Gallery is rapidly coming to a close, there is hope on the horizon with a new program: a special exhibit that will keep the gallery open through September. Christine Deucher, gallery manager, conceived the idea with Center Gallery co-owner Allison Stupka’s input and blessing. The exhibit is titled “See You in September,” and the format is unique for Center Gallery. This exhibit is comprised of one opening—on Saturday, Aug. 31—and it will remain on display for the succeeding three weeks.

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Moran mends at Center Gallery

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For many years now, to accompany the excitement of the Glen Arbor Art Center’s annual Plein Air paint out weekend, Center Gallery Lake Street Studios has featured an artist who works in a medium other than paint. This year we are featuring fiber artist Susan Moran, and hosting a stitching event called a “Mend In.” Moran, who hails from Ann Arbor, uses the processes of silkscreen, dyeing and resist dyeing, drawing, collage and embroidery to create her works of art. Moran’s art will be shown Aug. 2-8 and we will hold a reception for her on Friday evening, Aug. 2 from 6-8 p.m. She will also be one of the menders at our “Mend In.”

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Lost and Found Landscapes lead Lake Street Studios summer series

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Friday night art openings at Lake Street Studios Center Gallery were the ingenious creation of venerated Glen Arbor artist Suzanne Wilson who conceived of them back in 1990. Allison Stupka, Wilson’s daughter and owner of LSSCG, recalls that Glen Arbor based artist, Greg Sobran, was the very first artist ever featured at these summer openings. To commence the 2023 season, Northern Michigan artist Wendy McWhorter’s work will be on display from Friday, June 30 through Thursday, July 6. Her body of work is entitled: Lost and Found Landscapes which is comprised of 20 oil paintings of the Port Oneida Rural Historic District and the surrounding area. “These paintings portray my vision of what the original homesteaders planted, which no longer blooms, but through the poetry of painting is reimagined,” said McWhorter.

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Glen Arbor galleries hold Art After Hours

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Nine Glen Arbor galleries and artists studios are keeping the night light burning this summer as part of Art After Hours. Art After Hours takes place one last time on August 17, from 5-7 pm. It offers visitors a chance to take a self-guided walking tour of galleries located in Glen Arbor’s art district – a five-block area from Lake Street to M-22 to M-109 West.

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Lake Street Studios Center Gallery features Jeff Condon

Painter Jeff Condon will show his latest works at Lake Street Studios Center Gallery from August 16-29 with an opening reception on Friday, August 16, from 6-8 pm. The gallery is open daily from 11 am-5 pm. For information call 231-334-3179 or visit LakeStreetStudiosGlenArbor.com.

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Center Gallery features abstract impressionist Kellner

On August 3, Center Gallery at Glen Arbor’s Lake Street Studios welcomes painter Justin Kellner. Because of the extraordinary excitement for the Glen Arbor Art Center’s annual plein air paint out, we at Center Gallery were looking to exhibit something a little different during that weekend. We wanted something that had a tie to the landscape, but not explicitly so.

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Center Gallery hosts Joseph Lombardo

Center Gallery at Lake Street Studios in Glen Arbor hosts an art exhibition by painter Joseph Lombardo, July 12-18 with an opening reception on Friday, July 12, from 6-8 pm. The gallery is open daily from 11 am-5 pm. Visit LakeStreetStudiosGlenArbor.com for more information.

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Glen Arbor Arts Center announces new director

Traverse City resident Sarah Kime will become the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s (GAAC) new executive director on Dec. 3. She takes the reins of this impactful and growing Leelanau County arts organization following the retirement of Peg McCarty, who has directed the GAAC since 2003.

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Nature through Japanese woodblock printing 

Linda Beeman looks “at nature through the eyes of mokuhanga”—an ancient form of Japanese woodblock printing. And what the artists sees will be on display Aug. 17-30 at Center Gallery, 6023 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor. An artist’s reception to open the exhibition is Friday, Aug. 17, from 6-8 p.m. 

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