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Art galleries in hibernation

By Alonso del Arte, January 2, 2016

Some of Detroit's art galleries will keep going pretty much all year, but many others will take it easy for the rest of the winter, with minimal or no activity at all. But don't forget about these galleries when they re-open in the spring.

Sometimes the problem is heating. Already in October at Liberal Arts Gallery one could feel that warming the place could be a problem even in a weak winter. And what the pipeline is to be done at What Pipeline, which gives the impression of having formerly been a garage for a now long-gone house?

For galleries that can be properly heated during the winter, there remains the concern that a major snowstorm, or even just a little bit of coldness, could keep people away from winter events, especially for galleries that are not in Midtown.

There can also be unforeseen problems. For example, artists can work in their studios at Corktown Studios all year. For the Capture exhibit back in February 2014, I had this idea in January to include a painting by Lisa Poszywak titled Hot Mama, accompanied by a similar photograph.

The scene, from a hot summer day, proved rather impractical to re-enact during one of the coldest Michigan winters any of the artists in the show can remember. I had to choose another one of Lisa's paintings; they're all of high quality but some are easier to re-enact as photographs.

Notwithstanding 2014, you should generally expect the first show of the year at Corktown Studios to be the anniversary show on the same day as the St. Patrick's Day parade in March.

Rebuilding, not hibernating

But there are also some galleries that are closed for the winter, and maybe spring as well, but they're definitely not hibernating. Namely: