You may have looked at our logo and often wondered, “Why does it say Art & History Center?” Well, we are excited to explain that part to you now. It was our original intent to remodel the upstairs and add second floor rooms above the old racquetball courts. However, the delays in supply chains and back-ups in construction projects have caused us to put that on the back burner for now. Yet we still want to introduce Phase II of our business, since we are excited to share it!
Below you'll find information about the Art in Art & History Center and the History in Art & History Center. Best of all, read about how you can participate in making art and local history!
The ART in the Art & History Center
We decided to add the “ART CENTER” to our business for many reasons. While attending auctions, garage sales and estates over the years we have gotten to know just a little about a lot of different pieces whether pottery, paintings, sculptures, jewelry, or folk art. In addition, the condition of many of these items found us seeking ways to restore, repair or repurpose what we found. This lead to an interest in being able to identify art, restore pieces and share our creations with others. The history of a piece is as interesting if not more interesting than the form of the art itself. Therefore, a natural addition to the Emporium (a large store selling a large range of goods) was to provide our customers with the chance to expand their knowledge of such items as well. This includes identifying art; restoring, repairing, or repurposing pieces; learning their origin and history; and sparking an interest in various forms of art.
Many of the items purchased at the Southend Emporium become decorative or functional additions to a new home or business. Customers have often asked for suggestions on how to personalize an item to match their taste. This could be reframing a print, adding accents to a table, refinishing a dresser, or converting an old strainer into a flower pot. Everyone of these ideas involves different forms of art. We want to provide our customers with the knowledge and tools to do these projects themselves.
In addition, art is a great passion of mine. As one of the four owners of the Southend Emporium Art & History Center, it was my desire to provide not only the tools to complete projects as noted above, but also provide our customers, friends, families, and neighbors with an opportunity to experience ART in many other forms. Although we may have an interest or desire to “TRY” a certain form of art, we often feel that the expense or extended time commitment is too great to allow ourselves those opportunities. I feel everyone should have a chance to experience art in any form they have always wished to pursue.
Thus, we would like to provide several different approaches for providing access to as much art as possible. This means not only Fine Art, but also the Creative Arts and Performance Art. In order to effectuate this, I am creating experiences in several forms:
FORMS OF ART INSTRUCTION WE WILL BE OFFERING
Informational art presentations: 1 hour or less, which would be FREE and provide a wide range of topics such as the origin of many forms of art, history of great artists, using art to help children, or as therapy.
Instructional Art Presentations: 1 hour at a cost of $10.00 or less which would provide instructional presentations where the students can apply what they are learning to better understand. This would include topics such as mixing paints, types of brushes and when and how to use them, how to shade or create shadow, what different types of paints are used for what type of result, etc.
Art Classes: 2 to 3-hour classes on a wide variety of topics. Offered morning, afternoon, and evening when possible. Each class would be $25-$30.
Workshops: 2-day workshops giving students the chance to learn, apply and become comfortable with an art form, process, topic etc. These workshops at this time are estimated to run $40-$50 per workshop plus cost of materials. This will will vary depending on the workshop.
Series Classes: These would be classes held over a period of weeks, perhaps of 4-6 weeks to fully immerse a student in a specific form of art. Cost of these classes will vary a great deal depending on the form of art.
One-On-One Instruction: If you find you really enjoy one form or art or another and would like further instruction in the area, many of our instructors may be willing to teach one on one, and/or small group classes for intermediate and advanced instruction. We would help facilitate these options.
We currently have several instructors to help us kick off our program. Many are accomplished artists themselves and some have have completed education to teach art instruction. However, we are not looking to provide a person with an art degree, or certification. It is our aim to make a variety of art instruction options available to those seeking them. So, if your next door neighbor is an expert in quilting and wishes to teach a class or you or your friend is a seasoned crafter or scrapbooker, feel free to talk to us or suggest they talk to us about teaching, Anyone who has knowledge and experience in a specific form of art they might like to share at our Art Center can contact me through one of the methods below:
Cindy Ranshaw, Southend Emporium – Art Center Director
2490 US 23 South, Alpena, MI 49707
989-464-6022 or 989-340-0968
Email:
or through our Facebook page: Southend Emporium
TYPES OF ART & ART EDUCATION WE HOPE TO OFFER
FINE ARTS
Oil Painting
Acrylics
Watercolor
Pen & Ink
Charcoal
Chalk
Pencil Sketch
Drawing & Painting
Sketching vs. Drawing
Urban Art
Movement
Plants as Paint/Dye
Drawing Plants
Drawing Figures
Colored Pencils
Oil Pastels
Portraits Caricature Animals Scenery Multimedia Mixed media Abstract Art Modern Art Pop Art Cubism Contemporary Impressionism Surrealism Fantasy Graffiti Art Conceptual Computer Renaissance Art Nouveau Still Life
CREATIVE ARTS
PERFORMANCE ARTS
INFORMATIONAL/INSTRUCTIONAL TOPICS
And much more! Remember if you have a topic you would like to teach come see me or contact me.
The HISTORY in the Art & History Center
Our intent for starting and Alpena & Area History Center is to provide a central place for people to bring items from their families, businesses, attics, basements, etc. that help “show” Alpena and Area Past and Present (and perhaps glimpses of the Future) that would otherwise end up in landfills. This is NOT intended to be a collection of high-end items that have great historical value – those items belong at the Besser Museum. Nor is it for items that need to be in safe storage at the Alpena County Library. These are everyday items, such as logoed matchbooks, rulers, calendars, or advertising of businesses from years past. Also personal family memorabilia from attending or participating in area activities such as The Brown Trout Festival, Thunder Bay 250, The Alpena County Fair, parades, sandcastle building and more. Perhaps your relatives have taken pictures of building fires in the community from years past or major snowstorms. You don’t really want these pictures – but you think they are cool to look at – and so will others.
While cleaning out and packing up garage sales, estates and in our own travels we have found many unique items that others have shown an interest in looking at. Maybe it’s pictures of the Ice Festival activities, Queen, and winter fun of many years past, or a program from one of the many Red Stocking Revues that were held as a fundraiser for the Girls Club many years ago. We have also unearthed books written by Alpena natives, folk art, post cards, letters, handwritten sales receipts and ledgers, old rulers, and calendars. We’ve found clothing for special events, posters, signs, directories, copies of plays from the 1920 and so much more.
We would like to provide a place for those items to come together and help SHOW the story of Alpena, where everyone can come look and touch the items. We will NOT BE SELLING these items, nor do we intend to purchase any of them. As noted above this is a way to preserve many items that might otherwise end up in a landfill, but instead can help paint a 3D picture of the past. So, if you have anything that you didn’t know what to do with but didn’t want to throw away and you think others might find it “cool” to look at – bring it down to the Southend Emporium and help us create the Alpena & Area History Center.
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