On February 3, from 5:00 to 8:00pm, join us for a First Friday opening reception as we introduce the newest exhibitions at Lubeznik Center for the Arts. Admission is free. Enjoy light bites, like-minded conversation and a cash bar as you peruse the galleries.

Seeking Location: Mapping & Borders in Art is a twelve-artist exhibition of works that investigate issues of location and dislocation. Borders and boundaries, while always arbitrary and constantly shifting, now must contend with geo-political spheres of influence and cultural orientations that go way beyond geography. This exhibition is on display in the Hyndman, Brincka/Cross and Susan Block Galleries, and runs through June 3.

Tom Brand‘s paintings are about the pleasures of traveling, but specifically about arriving. His abstract images are full of color and texture and attempt to investigate the inner thoughts that one brings to travel, past and present. (Pines, IN)

Michele Corazzo's work is primarily autobiographical. Her drawings refer to trails she has hiked around the world. Walking for her is like meditation – similar to the repetitive strokes she uses in her drawings. (Chesterton, IN)

Hector Duarte‘s studio and mural paintings speak about borders through barbed wire, butterflies, finger prints and maps of North and South America. (Chicago, IL)

Gary Duehr creates “MapScapes”, derived from satellite imagery, which explore the boundary between mapmaking and landscape photography and address how we perceive the world, how we make sense of it, and how we try to bring it under our control. (Somerville, MA)

Ruth Esserman's deconstructed and reconstructed environments emphasize the constant changes and energies surrounding us. Ruth writes, “Energies exist well beyond planet Earth. We are constantly seeking mapping landmarks in new realms of space and time, and have only begun to target these new frontiers.” (Chicago, IL)

Victoria Fuller creates sculptures using wood and appropriated objects. For this exhibition, she will be utilizing a “bathymetric map” to demonstrate the depth range of bodies of water. She is also creating works that look at constellations above and subdivisions below. (Chicago, IL)

Deidre Lewin is an artist and educator who works with materials that have become outliers: book forms, found, invented or reconfigured text and decontextualized objects and assemblage. (Chicago, IL)

Priscilla Lynch's work often chronicles the transcontinental journeys of her life as well as those of her ancestors. Lynch says that “The four pieces in my Road Trip series are in response to a road trip my husband and I undertook last winter traveling almost 8000 miles to the west coast and back.” (Saugatuck, MI)

Dan Mills' paintings and collages often reflect loss of history through erasure and painting over old school maps. This series includes his unique take on world wide wars and conflicts painted directly on antique maps. (Lewiston, ME)

Michael x. Ryan creates drawings, maps and wood reliefs that focus on patterns made or discovered while traveling places he has lived and visited. (Chicago, IL)

Joel Sheesley sees visual metaphors everywhere. His oil paintings explore maps, gloves and ladders as characters the way a novelist might develop and explore characters in a story. (Wheaton, IL)

Mel Watkin often creates drawings on out-of-date maps. The original map is still recognizable, but erosion, flooding, overgrown plant life, flowering vines and multiplying fungi have replaced humanity as the determining force on land. (Cobden, IL)

The NIPSCO Art Education Studios, on the lower level of LCA, is exhibiting Inspired to Inspire, an annual show featuring artwork by Michigan City Area Schools art teachers. This show runs February 3 through March 18.

Also opening in the NIPSCO Art Education Studios is Area Artists' Association member, Carole Stodder and her group of acrylic-on-canvas wall-hangings from her series, Origins, running through February 24.

We are excited to announce on the second Saturday of each month, from 12:00-1:00pm, LCA will be offering curator-led Gallery Talks to discuss the works behind the exhibition Seeking Location: Mapping & Borders in Art.

Dates: February 11, March 11, April 8 and May 13. Admission is free.

After the Gallery Talk on February 11, bring the entire family to a fun hands-on workshop and gallery tour led by Education Director Hannah Hammond-Hagman from 1:00 to 2:30pm. Admission is free.

Lubeznik Center for the Arts is located at 101 W. 2nd St., at the lakefront in Michigan City, IN. Weekday hours are from 10AM to 5PM (CST)*. Weekends are open from 11AM to 4PM (CST). *Thursdays, the Hyndman Gallery opens at 2PM. For more information, please visit lubeznikcenter.org or call 219.874.4900.