The Box Factory reception

This evening the Box Factory for the Arts in St. Joseph, Michigan held a reception for its latest exhibit, the Michiana Annual Art Competition (of which I am a part). There was lots of food and a few awards. I managed to consume the food, but did not receive an award. Oh well, it was rewarding enough just to be in the show after having experienced previous rejections!

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of the size of the place and the enthusiastic crowd that attended.

 

This is the huge old building (formerly an actual box factory) that houses the Box Factory for the Arts

This is me and “my shadow”, er, painting. One of two. This one was in a better spot than the other one, so even though the other was my favorite I posed with this one.

Lots of people eating lots of free food!

Crowd circulating through the gallery, near my painting.

After the awards ceremony my faithful art opening reception companion and I decided to take a little stroll through downtown St. Joe. It’s right on the shore of Lake Michigan and is quite a touristy place. We came upon some interesting store fronts, including this one–

A totally unmodernized old fashioned five-and-dime store. Good for a nostalgia trip should you need one!

I knew that an artist friend of mine had painted a sculpture to be placed with others along the downtown sidewalk this summer season, so I made it my business to locate it. I hope you can get an idea of the size of this thing from the photograph. I will say that it took up most of the bed of a large pickup truck to get it from her house to its new location.

Midnite’s painted duck, which she named “Fancy”. The plaque gives her official credit for this complex paint job.

Here’s another view of the duck which shows the incredible detail of the painted feathers.

After our stroll down the main drag, we stopped for a beer and burger at a place aptly named Buck Burgers and Brew. You never know what to expect when ordering a hamburger in a place you’ve never been to and have never had anyone recommend. But I have to say that we both agreed they were super in both beer and burger departments. And to make it even better, we got to eat outside on an upstairs patio. A nice start to a long-awaited summer season!