Exhibit by creative trio opens

A creative trio is featured in a new exhibition at the Grand Valley State University Art Gallery, 1121 Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus.

“Putting It All Together: A Collaboration Between Ann Baddeley Keister, Patricia Nelson, and Patricia Clark," is ongoing through Friday, September 21. An opening reception with the artists will be held on Thursday, September 6, from 5-7 p.m. The exhibition and reception are open to the public with free admission.

Contemporary, mixed-media textile collage and jewelry collaborations by artists Ann Baddeley Keister and Patricia Nelson will be showcased. The exhibition will also include written work by Patricia Clark, Grand Valley State University poet-in-residence and professor of writing.

Keister is associate professor of art at Grand Valley and a fiber artist, known for her richly patterned and surfaced tapestries and quilts. Many of her pieces in this exhibit were inspired by visits to three Eastern European cities:  Prague, Budapest and Vienna, where she drew inspiration from the design and architecture of a group called the Wiener Werkstatte.   

Nelson is professor of art in metalwork at Ball State University in Indiana. Keister and Nelson became friends while teaching together at Ball State in the late 1970s and early 1980s. “We share many of the same interests in the history of the decorative arts and the use of pattern and decoration as imagery in our work,” said Keister.

The two have collaborated on a series of pieces for the exhibition, incorporating Nelson’s disks or other metal shapes into Keister’s fiber hangings. Additionally, Nelson’s brooch/neckpiece combinations, comprised of enamel and fabric elements framed in metal and embellished with semi precious stones, will be paired with clothing designed and made by Keister.

For more information call the GVSU Art Gallery at 616-331-2563.