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Last updated on Monday, March 3, 2014
(BLOOMINGTON) - During the month of March, the City of Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District (BEAD) will showcase artworks created by Martina Celerin in the Showers Atrium of City Hall, 401 N. Morton St.
The exhibit will be on display March 4 - 31. Exhibition hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, as well as additional evening and weekend hours when City Hall is open for meetings.
Martina Celerin is a resident of Bloomington who earned a doctoral degree in plant sciences from the University of Western Ontario. In 2002, she decided to transition from science back to her roots as an artist. In her past, she focused on using oil pastels and acrylic painting. Working and experimenting independently with these mediums led her to her current choice of medium, fiber.
One of Martina's joys is spending long hours in her art studio where she gets to spend a lot of time daydreaming as she works weaving and creating art. Her inspiration for the exhibit began when she thought about her family and how photographic stills capture occasions in our lives. That thought soon prompted her to think about trees in the same way, which triggered a lot of ideas and connections that helped her develop new pieces and themes for this exhibition. The most intimate part of the show, and in all of her work, is that each piece has a personal connection to herself, her family and family tree.
The theme is family portraits, and family history is hidden in the still images of the trees. In one piece, her Grandpa's old army blankets from the 1950s are part of many of the trees. Another recalls a beautiful day biking with her family in Madison, WI. The path along the river turned onto a bridge that she recreated using her family's old Hudson Bay Company blanket. One piece, "Working Trees," has a clothesline that hangs a T-shirt made from one of her husband's well-worn, old favorites and the tiny jeans with the knees blown out from sliding on the ground belong to her son. To learn more about Martina Celerin's work, please visit her new website at www.MartinaCelerin.com.
This project is another effort under the City's strategy to leverage and expand the economic development potential of the arts in Bloomington. According to the 2012 Americans for the Arts study, Bloomington's nonprofit arts sector contributes $72.3 million to the local economy annually through direct spending by arts organizations and their audiences. For more information on the study visit www.bloomington.in.gov/arts.
The City of Bloomington is committed to providing opportunities for area artists to exhibit artwork at City Hall. For more information on the exhibition program, contact Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts Miah Michaelsen at michaelm@bloomington.in.gov or 349.3534.
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