Mosaic Arts International 2024
Society of American Mosaic Artists
Annual International Juried Member Exhibition
Janice Charach Gallery, West Bloomfield Twp, Michigan: August 25 – September 22, 2024
Belger Crane Yard Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri: October 4, 2024 – January 4, 2025
The exhibition series will be comprised of two segments: Fine Art and Site-Specific & Architectural Art and includes a special redisplay of selected works from the 2021 Mosaic Arts International virtual exhibition and additional invitational works. The collection elevates new perspectives of mosaic and architectural art in numerous contexts and celebrates established and emerging artists working in this traditional medium today. All segments combined represent 41 artists from throughout the United States.
The Fine Art and Site-Specific & Architectural Art segments were juried by a distinguished panel including Dr. Vince Carducci, Cultural Critic and Dean Emeritus for the College of Cultural Studies, Detroit MI, Yulia Hanansen, Artist and Educator, Baltimore, MD, Jumaane N’Namdi, Gallery Director, N’Namdi Contemporary Fine Art, Miami, FL. Over several days, they selected 43 works for inclusion in the Fine Art and Site-Specific and Architectural Art segments.
“Mosaic is an ancient art form with origins dating back some four millennia. It is a medium that continues to evolve and explore new creative possibilities, as this exhibition demonstrates. The 2024 Mosaic Arts International presents a broad spectrum of practice, from the classic representational techniques of finely assembled tesserae to contemporary approaches using a wide range of manufactured, handmade, and found materials in many shapes and forms. These diverse methods are applied to free-standing, wall-mounted, and site-specific works in which the individual artists address purely formalist, personally expressive, and community-based concerns, as appropriate to the creative context.“
“We Are Woven” by Laurie Frazer is constructed of 54 mosaic “swatches” that simulate textiles, a material with a prominent place in the artist’s personal experience and aesthetic practice. The swatches are sourced from a variety of people and places and brought together in a modular composition in which each individual unit functions as a compelling visual element on its own, as well as within the nine larger, equally compelling elements of which each is a part, and ultimately into the exquisite visual whole that comprises the finished work. It is a tour-de-force of technical expertise and aesthetic sensitivity, using the warp-and-weft weaving technique as a method and metaphor for knitting together a tapestry of complex visual and interpersonal associations. It should come as no surprise that it was recognized by all three jurors nearly from the start of the adjudication process as the piece that would ultimately be deemed Best in Show.” Dr. Vince Carducci.
Yulia Hanansen shared her approach to jurying the exhibition, “To appreciate the mosaic medium, I focus on the three aspects that are of most importance to me as a viewer: artwork concept, aesthetic appeal, and technical perfection. All three aspects must be balanced in a way that forms a harmony that allows for the artist’s voice to emerge. The overall goal of the MAI exhibition is to display the diversity of the contemporary mosaic medium. As jurors, we found that this art form is as diverse as the number of artists practicing it. This year’s selection has offered a variety of artworks, ranging from large-scale installation pieces to portable wall pieces, and very intricate mosaics made from beads and pulled glass rods.”
Ms. Hanansen also noted, “The artworks that stood out the most to me are: “We are Woven” by Laurie Frazer, “The Long View” by Anabella Wewer, and “Tear to Open” by Kelley Knickerbocker. All three pieces are abstract, yet they could not be more different in their appearance. Frazer’s piece is a chorus of textures, layouts, and colors that are quite masterfully integrated to form a quilt composition that you want to keep on exploring. Wewer’s mosaic is an eloquent tale of andamento and perfectly composed color fields which speak of the environmental disaster on the rise, a proverbial “roadside picnic” that humans are leaving on their own planet. The notion of dangerous beauty is strongly present in this artwork. Knickerbocker’s piece is where traditional andamento and her experimental treatment of tesserae collide in a visual statement that fully supports the artist’s concept. I enjoy looking at this piece because it’s a perfect balance of the idea, colors, composition, and impeccable technical skills.”
The jurors were also tasked with selecting 5 awards from the work selected for the exhibition. SAMA is proud to announce the following awardees and congratulate them on this incredible achievement.
Laurie Frazer, “We Are Woven”, 2023, ceramic, glass & stone on handmade dimensional substrates with tinted adhesive.
MAI 2024 Best in Show
Anabella Wewer, “The Long View”, 2023, marble, found plastics, smalto
2024 Technical Achievement Award
Kelley Knickerbocker, “Tear to Open”, 2024, crockery from which glaze has been chipped, india ink (drawn lines), epoxy putty (red shapes and edge “”frame””), metallic glass beads, and pigmented cement mortar
2024 Contemporary Innovation Award
Helga Maribel Sanchez-Seda, “The Ruins Boots”, 2023, Coal, shale, slate, red dog, taconite, Marcellus slate, malmischiato filati, smalti, gold smalti and copper. Installation Location: The Ruins, 549 River Road Perryopolis, Pennsylvania USA
2024 Best Site-Specific Mosaic
Kim Emerson, “Kaleidoscope of Butterflies”, 2024. Tesserae made up of high-fired ceramic tile on cement backerboard. Installed Adams Recreation Center, City of San Diego Parks & Recreation in Normal Heights, 3491 Adams Avenue, San Diego, CA 92116.
2024 MAI Best Community Project
(larger images available upon request for publications)
Mosaic Arts International 2024 Artists
Melanie Berry, Jolino Beserra, Cherie Bosela, Todd Campbell, Melanie Christie, Darcel Deneau, Barbara Dybala, Kim Emerson, Jolynn Forman, Laurie Frazer, Barbara Galazzo, Eileen Gay, Lenni Gilbert, Sandra Groeneveld, Shug Jones, Kelley Knickerbocker, Jessica Liddell, Laurie Mika, Dianna Orth, Gila Rayberg, Julie Reilly, Laura Rendlen, Cindy Robin, Helga Maribel Sanchez-Seda, Karen Sasine, Joan Schwartz, Michelle Sider, Mary Smart, John Sollinger, Kathy Thaden, Marguerite Trail, Ruth Tyszka, Donna Van Hooser, Anabella Wewer, Kim Wozniak, Wilma Wyss.
Additional work from the 2021 Virtual Mosaic Arts International will be redisplayed for the first time by SAMA in-person by the following artists: Melanie Berry, Todd Campbell, Julie Dilling, Jacki Gran, Sandra Groeneveld, Beth Klingher, Gila Rayberg, Michelle Sider, Kathy Thaden and Donna Van Hooser.
Yulia Hanansen, “Pale Blue Dot”, 2023, archival paper, stone, marble, smalti glass on panel
SAMA is also honored to debut new work from MAI 2024 Juror, Yulia Hanansen and additional special presentations of work by Kelley Knickerbocker and Kim Emerson.
SAMA is grateful to return to Janice Charach Gallery, a featured gallery in the greater Detroit region. Named for a gifted artist and art teacher who dedicated her life to promoting the arts in Michigan, the Janice Charach Gallery serves not only as a platform for new and established artists, but also as a center for community art education and outreach. Located in West Bloomfield, the gallery has been an integral part of the city’s cultural landscape, showcasing a diverse range of artistic styles and mediums from local, national, and international artists.
Since 2000, the Belger Arts Center has encouraged viewers to explore, question, and deepen their understanding of art and the world around them. Drawing upon the extensive Belger Collection, as well as a rich variety of local, national, and international artists, the Belger Arts Center has staged over 100 large-scale exhibitions that represent some of the best in contemporary art.
Belger Crane Yard Studios, an arts complex dedicated to providing studio and exhibition space for artists, opened in 2013. A range of programming in ceramics education, in addition to an Artist in Residence program, has made Belger a center for contemporary art.
The Belger Glass Annex is the third Belger Arts location and opened to the public in October 2021. It is the first public glass-blowing studio in Kansas City of its scale and scope. The new facility boasts state-of-the-art glass-blowing equipment and tools, a furnace that holds 300 pounds of molten glass, and three workstations. The Belger Glass Annex is primed to be a Midwest hub for glass art, education, and appreciation, strengthening Kansas City’s reputation as an arts destination.
The 2024 Conference—The American Mosaic Summit— Artist Immersion will be held at the Somerset Inn, Troy, MI, September 19-22, 2024. SAMA Partners in the Arts, The Stained Glass Association of America (SGAA) will hold its annual conference, Sand to Sash at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, Kansas City, MO, October 2-6, 2024.
The Society of American Mosaic ArtistsThe Society of American Mosaic Artists is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating, inspiring, and promoting excellence in mosaic arts.
##