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THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 24, Number 31 Thursday, August 7, 2008 Bloom Where You Are Planted by Barbara Stodola Elliott Balter was a sculptor whose wife wanted him to get “a real job,” so he went to work as a school teacher for 24 years in Skokie, Illinois. Kay Westhues is a photographer who grew up in the backwoods of Indiana. The for- tuitous pairing of these two exceedingly gifted artists, currently at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, provides evidence that the creative spirit will blossom wherever it happens to take root. For Balter, who died in 2006, this exhibit is a retrospective, spanning a six-decade career. His glimmering, large-scale bronze sculptures are dispersed about the Lubeznik Center’s front lawn and into the main gallery. “Adam and Eve,” his favorite piece, sets an underlying theme – a couple of sensuous fi gures prodding one another into an everlasting union. Further up the walk another sumptuous sculpture, “Swans,” revolves around itself and dips into the earth. Lubeznik Continued on Page 2 Elliott Balter’s favorite piece, “Adam and Eve.” Photograph by Barbara Stodola A roomful of Balter sculptures is a dazzling and discomforting sight. Center-stage is held by “Mother and Child,” a cut-away female torso carved from cherrywood, with horizontal ribs binding its womb. In one corner, an uncom- monly graceful “Crucifi xion” hangs from the ceiling, its birdlike head recalling the deities of vanished civilizations. A cluster of shiny pen- dants, viewed across the room, hint at a jollier theme; but close inspection reveals conjoined “Lovers” twirling together interminably in ac- robatic union. Their rhythmic fl ow is picked up again in “Cradle,” a small and gentle piece. (See Page 2) Elliott Balter’s “Swans,” mated for life. Photograph by Barbara Stodola THE Page 2 August 7, 2008 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also Subscription Rates delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. 1 year $38 6 months $21 3 months $13 1 month $6.50 Lubeznik Continued from Page 1 Elliott Balter, “Mother and Child.” Photograph by Barbara Stodola Elliott Balter, “Crucifi xion.” Photograph by Joel DeGrand Elliott Balter, “Lovers.” Photograph by Barbara Stodola A roomful of Balter bronzes at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts Elliott Balter, “Cradle.” Photograph by Barbara Stodola THE August 7, 2008 Page 3 Carol Ann Brown, the Lubeznik Center’s curator, and heads of bronze atop their terraced platforms, has organized this stunning show with assistance which in turn are balanced on a fi eld of stalagmites. from Shelley Balter, the artist’s son. Balter is a cli- ent of prominent Chicago arts attorney Scott Hodes, who is a friend of Rod Lubeznik – and that, explains Brown, is how the sculpture came to Michigan City. Their friendship, in fact, previously brought in the 15-foot-tall “Clouds and Trees,” a long-term loan to Michigan City, which stands on the grassy triangle opposite the police department. Elliott Balter, “Mind Field.” Balter’s fi nal sculpture, placed outside at the con- vex curve of the building, is entitled “Emerging Thought.” It is a huge spider-like fi gure, with three convoluted prongs rising and melding to produce that single, conclusive pop of a thought. “Clouds and Trees,” Elliott Balter sculpture on loan to Michigan City. As a young artist in the 1940s, Balter got off to a promising start. He studied in Biarritz, France, as a scholarship student, graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was awarded a foreign traveling fellowship, and then taught at an art museum in Majorca, Spain. After settling back in Illinois, he devoted his energies to developing the art education program at Niles North High School and bringing fi ne art to Skokie. For years he was president of the SAIC’s alumni organization, and he became acquainted with Richard Hunt, another alumnus, who offered the use of his foundry facili- ties in Chicago. Occasionally Balter’s sculpture was exhibited; but for the most part, Brown says, “He Elliott Balter, “Emerging Thought” fl ew under the radar.” Art education became central to Balter’s life. His PRIORITIES mission, as expressed in his poetry, was to develop Priorities his artistic persona and to share this knowledge To admire a bruising hulk with the world. His art drew inspiration from na- With miniscule brain dominated by its bulk ture, literature, mythology and political conditions, Idolize a steroid hero but primarily from the human form and the com- Whose intelligence approaches zero… plexity of human relationships. Ultimately his focus became the human brain, the source of imagination Priorities and creativity. Utilize our common denominator “Brain Flight,” “Brain Flower,” “Inside the Art- And recognize that ART is the prime motivator ist’s Brain,” “The Brain Also Rises” – this theme In the past, present and future pervaded the fi nal decade of his work, and stimulat- It is the true measure of our stature… ed the artist to create tangible equivalents for the inner workings of the mind. In “Mind Field,” Balter What are your PRIORITIES posed three assemblages of vertabrae and cartilage Lubeznik Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 August 7, 2008 Lubeznik Continued from Page 3 Kay Westhues’ art, by contrast, arises from the pungent territory of small-town mid- America. She spends a lot of time photograph- ing events like Animal Swap Meets, Gourd Festivals and political rallies, but can just as easily be inspired in a trailer park or a shoe repair shop. She loves the kind of signs that people post on their cars – REPENT! – or on the door of a public restroom. She devoted an entire show to patriotism, showing red-white- and-blue in its various sequined and plasti- cized manifestations. Kay Westhues, “Man Wearing A Patriotic Hat, Walkerton” Westhues’ street scenes capture the vacant look of Edward Hopper paintings, but often with an ironic twist. A laundromat with its “OPEN” neon sign has a boarded-up front door, and the only thing open is a clothes dryer. Mostly Westhues focuses on the peo- ple who still populate the back streets. You might be tempted to speak mockingly of her subjects. (“What a hoot!” said my friend.) But you’d better be careful around these folks who have so willingly let it all hang out. Nor would wisecracks be appreciated by the artist, who appears to fi nd beauty in “odd juxtapositions” and “everyday mysteries.” One of seven children from an Indiana farm Kay Westhues, “Boy With Patriotic Fan, Victory City Festival, Kingsford Heights” family, Westhues’ talent surfaced early. She studied at Rhode Island School of Design, ex- panded her horizons in travels to Cuba and Finland, among other places, then returned to Walkerton, Indiana, to care for ailing par- ents. She now lives in Elkhart, and counts this decision as one of her best. In the past three years, Westhues has received much favorable attention – awards at Munster and Elkhart juried regionals, an Indiana Arts Commission individual grant, exhibits in South Bend, Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Indianapolis, Chicago, Lexington, Kentucky, and Denton, Texas. She is scheduled to have a one-person show at the Snite Museum of Art in the summer of 2009. (Text copyrighted by Barbara Stodola) Kay Westhues, “Corner of SR 6 and SR 23, Walkerton” The Lubeznik Center for the Arts, 101 West 2nd St., Michigan City, is open Tuesday thru Friday 10 to 5; Saturday and Sunday 11 to 4. Phone 219-874-4900. Exhibits run thru Sept. 7. More of Kay Westhues’ pho- tographs can be viewed at www.fourteenplacestoeat.com THE August 7, 2008 Page 5 WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME! Located at US 12 and Karwick Road 2 bedroom 2 bath units are 1185 sq. ft 3 bedroom 2 bath units are 1473 sq ft Private garages available Less than 5 minutes to Lake Michigan On-site management Fully equipped fi tness center Clubhouse with pool 219-879-9950 www.mylongbeachvilla.com THE Page 6 August 7, 2008 Program on Victorian House Interiors Calumet Astronomical Society Kristen Patzer will present a program about “Craters of the Moon” will be the focus of the next Victorian house interiors at The History Center at public astronomical meeting of the Calumet Astro- Courthouse Square in Berrien Springs on Thurs- nomical Society on Fri., Aug. 8, and Sat., Aug. 9, 9 day, Aug. 7, at 6:30 p.m. MI time. The program is p.m.-midnight, at the Thomas Conway Observatory, part of the History Center’s “Thursdays at the Mu- Lowell, IN. seum” program series. The program will be held at CAS members will have their telescopes and bin- the History Center (1839 Courthouse Museum) on oculars set up to show you the Sea of Tranquility, Cass Street in Berrien Springs. Admission is free. where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Americans usually considered the Victorian Era to took man’s fi rst steps on the moon. In addition, view span the 1870s and 1880s, although Queen Victo- the craters of the moon, the planet Jupiter and its ria’s reign lasted from 1837 until her death in 1901.