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SAGINAW ART MUSEUM GEARS UP FOR
the 2003 'ALL AREA SHOW'

By Bob Mastroiani

If you are interested in a wide variety of artistic styles and
intrigued to discover the visionary talent of artists throughout the
area, then the Saginaw Art Museum, located at 1126 N. Michigan is the place to
be.

Currently on display at the Museum is the annual All Area Show, a
statewide juried exhibition of works in various media from artists all over the
state of Michigan that awards six areas of competition.

According to Mary Malocha, Curator of Exhibitions & Collections at the
Museum, over 100 artists entered the 2003 competition and only 32 were
accepted. "From there six are chosen winners in various categories."

The top prize is $1,000 and a one-person show at the museum.  Last
year's top prizewinner, Mike Torre, will be exhibiting his work in the lower
level of the museum at the same time the current crop of artists are featured.

The other five awards handed out consist of Best Painting, Best
Sculpture, Best Photo, Best Works on Paper, and Best Mixed Media. Each of these
honors is worth $400.

For the 2003 All Area Show top honors went to Mary Rousseaux of Royal
Oak, who won the Best of Show/One Person Show honor.

The Museum itself displays artwork ranging from ancient pottery dating
back to 2000 BC to contemporary Avant-Garde, which is French for 'cutting
edge'.

For those unfamiliar with the Museum, Clark Lombard Ring, a Saginaw
lumberman and his wife Lizzie had a famous New York City architect,
Charles Adam Platt, design the museum (formerly the Ring home built between
1904-05 and currently undergoing extensive renovation and addition.

Following Lizzie's death in 1912 and Clark's death in 1933, the Ring
daughters lost interest in the house, got married, and sold the house to
a family named Kirkham. By 1947, however, the daughters purchased the
house and donated it to the City of Saginaw. The museum promptly opened its
doors in 1948.

"Originally, it featured art & history and was just called 'The Saginaw
Museum," notes Malocha. "Then in 1967 when the Saginaw Historical
Society was formed we changed the name to Saginaw Art Museum."

Currently, the Museum has about 1,500 pieces of different types of
artwork on display, 99 percent of which comes from private donation.  Most of
the donations come from people who have lived or worked in the area.

John Booth, who started the Booth Newspaper Company out of Detroit,
donated many of the Asian sculptures and a T-ang Dynasty Buddha.

The artists featured at this year's All Area Show are in strong company,
as occasionally the museum will see exceptional artwork that even surprises
Malocha. Such was the case in 1988 when the museum received a grant to
inventory the entire collection and start a new database. Malocha's job
was to take pictures of every piece of artwork in the collection and update
the files.

Best photographer went to Shaun Adams

of Saginaw for 'El Cuarto Vacio', a silver gelatin print.

"I was amazed we had some very big names and really extraordinary
pieces," she notes. "One of the pieces I remember was the 'Portrait of a Court
Lady' by Carle Van Loo who was the court painter for King Louis XVI of
France."

Admission for the All Area Show is $3.00. The Saginaw Art Museum is open
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10-5, Thursday from 10-8,
and Sunday from 1-5. It is closed on Mondays and Holidays.

For more information call 754-2491.

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