Our September 2022 show focused on Tribal Art and Culture. It displayed pottery by Ed Gray, paintings by Deanna LaLonde, and photography by Scott Laursen.
Scott Laursen is a fine and documentary photographer who holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the New Hampshire Institute of Arts. He spends time in both urban and rural environments documenting life and telling stories.
Laursen combines his love for traditional film photography, digital and alternative processes in his digital studio and darkroom. He has exhibited his photography from the West Coast to the East Coast and Internationally.
It is difficult to describe Ed Gray and his work because he was many things and worked in many materials. Ed was a potter and bead maker and worked extensively in copper. As an artist he was a purist, beginning with the rawest materials and making all the components that comprise his art including the pit or kiln used for firing his work. The colors Ed used on his clay pieces often came from stones collected on the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior.
Ed embraced his ancestry on his mother's side - Sami and Native American - which drew him to creating art from earth's elements of copper and clay. Ed is remembered fondly by the many generations of people with whom he shared his passion for the arts.
Deanna LaLonde is a member of the Sault Sainte Marie Tribe's Mackinac Band with ancestral roots from Mackinac Island, St. Ignace and Cheboygan areas and also from Canada up into the Gaspe region. She is of the Crane Clan. Deanna came to the Sault Sainte Marie and Bay Milles area to teach Art and the learn more of the Anishinabek teachings, culture and language.
Dean currently teaches K-12 Art in Brimley. Her paintings come from her experiences with nature. When Deanna paints, she hopes to uplift her spirit and the spirits of the animals and habitats....believing that it is good when, for a moment or two, we can experience the beauty and power we have been gifted through nature.
