CURRENT EXHIBITS

On display December 12, 2011-February 6, 2012

SNOWFLAKE ROYAL: FACE CARDS REVEALED
Dr. Thomas L. Clark
Ever miss the maid cards in our current deck of cards? Snowflake master Dr. Thomas L. Clark’s exhibition of royal snowflakes includes not only what we usually see in a deck of cards, but wild face cards of each suit, glorified face cards of each suit, and  the missing maids in the wild suit. A former U-M physician, Clark, a.k.a. Dr. Snowflake, has been exhibiting snowflakes at the University of Michigan Hospital since 1987. A free, how-to workshop on the making of these beautiful, pictorial snowflakes will be held on Thursday, January 5, 2012 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. in the gallery. If planning to attend the workshop, please bring scissors.  
Gifts of Art Gallery – Taubman Health Center North Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display December 12, 2011-February 6, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

BIRDS & BEASTS IN CLAY
Lilli Blackburn
Ann Arbor artist Lilli Blackburn creates functional and whimsical works in clay. She opened her studio, Grins Clay, because we all need a few more grins in life. In her work, pets in various humorous dilemmas find life in clay. The functional white ware is lighthearted, so simple tasks such as eating and drinking can be playful. Each vessel is individually handcrafted with animal companions, so the diner never eats alone!
Gifts of Art Gallery – Taubman Health Center North Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display December 12, 2011-February 6, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

K-12 STUDENT GROUP SHOW
Saline Area Schools
This annual exhibit celebrates the emerging artistry of students from Saline Area Schools and provides a great opportunity to view exceptional works by young talent. Work from students in grades K-12 who are discovering and developing their artistic approach and technique will be displayed in both 2-D and 3-D galleries. The students explore themes as presented by many different teachers from all thirteen grades. All variety of mediums from drawing and painting to ceramics and sculpture are included in this exhibit.
Gifts of Art Gallery – Taubman Health Center South Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display December 12, 2011-February 6, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

GARDENS: UN-STILL LIFE ACRYLIC PAINTINGS
Joyce Lieberman
Joyce Lieberman's “UNStill Life” acrylic paintings on canvas evoke traditional, still life flower arrangements that have grown beyond their staid vases to incorporate the space around them in a joyous, dynamic, swirling dance of color and energy. Some of her canvases retain their representational contexts, while others generate entirely new families of form and ecstatic expression. In beholding these works, the viewer leaves behind the everyday world to enter into the artist’s most exotic and fanciful daydreams. Lieberman studied with noted colorists Gerome Kamrowski and Mignonette Cheng of the U-M School of Art & Design.
Gifts of Art Gallery – University Hospital Main Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display December 12, 2011-February 6, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.   

SEEKING DELIGHT, CREATING MAYHEM: WOODBLOCK PRINTS
Marian Short
Whether showing penguins alighting for far destinations or cake-loving monsters seizing desserts from innocents, Marian Short’s woodblock prints depict figures who are searching. Short explores the search for momentary pleasures and deeper meanings with bold lines and an off-kilter sense of humor. The playful prints reflect her fascination with picture books – especially the interplay between image and text, and her obsession with food! Over 10 years ago, she turned to printmaking as a low-tech antidote to a high-tech life. Short has shown her work in both local and national exhibitions.  
Gifts of Art Gallery – University Hospital Main Corridor, Floor 2
1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display December 12, 2011-February 6, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. 

ADORNMENT & INSPIRATION: JEWELRY
Beth North
Beth North creates jewelry in metal, precious stones, wood, and acrylic that inspires and empowers the wearer. Her designs are often stamped with words and phrases of encouragement, hope, and inspiration, so her jewelry is worn, read, and lived. “Few things in life are ever as rigidly structured as they might seem, and it’s this fluidity that really interests me,” says North. Using some of the earth’s most treasured elements, her work celebrates individuality and freedom, openness and intimacy – all things that are key to her way of life.  North has been making jewelry for 14 years and is based in Birmingham, Michigan.
Gifts of Art Gallery – University Hospital Main Corridor, Floor 2
1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display December 12, 2011-February 6, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

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On display December 12, 2011-April 9, 2012

ARTISTIC TRAPPINGS: FIBER & BEADWORK
Madeline Navarro
Brighton, Michigan based artist Madeline Navarro expresses herself through the exploration of color, texture and space. Her wearable art is meant to blend and enhance the persona of the individual. She sees creativity as the sport of life, and animal fibers and other products of the earth as the best choice of medium. Navarro believes that engaging with the elements of Mother Nature, such as, silk, wool and stone on a daily basis helps the wearer to be nourished by artistic beauty.
Gifts of Art Gallery – Comprehensive Cancer Center, Level B2
1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display December 12, 2011-April 9, 2012
Open M-F from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

INSPIRED BY THE MASTERS: FIBER ART
Aussome Study Group
The Aussome Study Group is a collaborative forum used to exchange ideas, give critiques, and study materials and techniques. These Ortonville area artists are award-winning, international artists whose work has been commissioned, published and exhibited worldwide. This exhibit is a collection of diverse ideas and techniques inspired by master artists such as Van Gogh and Hundertwasser. Group members are Mary Andrews, Lois Ann Fulton, Karen Kiley Olson, Robbie Payne and Carol Tamasiunas.
Gifts of Art Gallery – Comprehensive Cancer Center, Level 1
1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display December 12, 2011-April 9, 2012
Open M-F from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

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On display February 13-April 9, 2012

WHERE FURROWS RUN DEEP: BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY
Jeffrey Sauger
Jeffrey Sauger has been a professional photojournalist for 22 years. In 2000, he was named Photographer of the Year by the Michigan Press Photographers Association. He was given honorable mention for the same award in 2003. Sauger, who is based out of Royal Oak, has a master's degree from the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University. He also attended the Eddie Adams Workshop and Maine Photographic Workshops with William Albert Allard. His ongoing project, Where Furrows Run Deep, documents the plight of African American farmers and their disappearing lands in the rural South. 
Gifts of Art Gallery – Taubman Health Center North Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display February 13-April 9, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE: PORCELAIN
Heidi Fahrenbacher
Although Heidi Fahrenbacher’s designs look like mere decorations, there is a story behind every piece. When creating her work, Fahrenbacher’s primary influences stem from the environment around her. One day it could be the picket fence around her strawberry patch or the simple structure of a fire escape along the outside of a building. Each of these viewing experiences is essential to capturing a moment in time, and Fahrenbacher’s work embodies that initial fascination.
Gifts of Art Gallery – Taubman Health Center North Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display February 13-April 9, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

MIND MAZE: COMPUTER MANIPULATED PHOTOGRAPHY
Donna Cyrbok
Dearborn artist Donna Cyrbok creates photographs that are visual puzzles. These images are based on the concept of image constancy. Her work is inspired by the idea that the human brain is hardwired to make sense of the world around it by seeing recognizable forms, such as seeing images in the clouds or in a piece of marble. Using urban scenes with linear patterns, shadows, reflections and multiple textures, she doubles, repeats and reverses one image to create a group of four final photos. Each piece contains four to 36 images. 
Gifts of Art Gallery – Taubman Health Center South Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display February 13-April 9, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

FOLDED PAPER TRAINS
Rodger Despres
Rodger Despres was a small child when his father first loaded him into the car to chase locomotives rolling out of Big Rapids, Michigan. "We didn't have the money to buy a model train for me when I was little, so I decided to make one of my own from paper," Rodger explains. He made his first folded paper train at the age of 10 out of popcorn boxes from the movie theater. Now, almost 50 years later, Despres’ intricate craftsmanship astounds viewers. His folded paper trains and tracks, each a structural design, are engineered entirely with folds and interlocking paper tabs. Despres does this without glue, tape or any other kind of adhesive, utilizing a technique he developed himself.
Gifts of Art Gallery – Taubman Health Center South Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display February 13-April 9, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. 

COLORS AT PLAY: TEXTURED ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
Brian Zupanick
Michigan and New York based artist Brian Zupanick explores textured acrylic on canvas that allows you to feel the art. The work produces different effects depending upon the placement of light and the location of the viewer. At first glance, the work as a whole will reach out to you, and upon further study, the textures seem to rise off the canvas, imploring you to touch them.
Gifts of Art Gallery – University Hospital Main Lobby, Floor 1
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display February 13-April 9, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. 

BEYOND THE VELVET: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC
James Fassinger
In classic documentary style, Michigan based photojournalist James Fassinger has assembled a collection of black and white images that span the 16 years (1992-2008) he spent living and working in the Czech Republic after the country’s Velvet Revolution and during the presidency of Vaclav Havel. These scenes depict the interesting and often overlooked lives of ordinary Central Europeans and the places that surround them during the years following the fall of communism. Fassinger’s work has been published in the Guardian, Times of London, European, National newspaper, the Czech Lidove Noviny and El Pais of Spain.  
Gifts of Art Gallery – University Hospital Main Corridor, Floor 2
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display February 13-April 9, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

FRIENDS: FOUND OBJECT SCUPTURE
Karen K. Gallup
Karen K. Gallup adapts common and uncommon found objects and materials into metaphors for human attributes. Finding inspiration in the form and shape of found objects that suggest human features, Gallup utilizes her training as a metalsmith to create delightfully whimsical yet beautifully crafted “people.”  These fabricated and constructed "people" are manifestations of her three-dimensional explorations of shape and design, finding connections between the expected and unexpected. Gallup, from Ann Arbor, has an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and works from her studio at home.
Gifts of Art Gallery – University Hospital Main Corridor, Floor 2
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
On display February 13-April 9, 2012
Open daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

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