Adrian College Presents First Art Exhibit of New School Year posted 8/12/09
Addison native Patricia Opel and husband Timothy Norris display paintings

ADRIAN, Mich. - Addison native, artist Patricia Opel, will have her paintings exhibited with those of her husband, Timothy Norris, at Stubnitz Art Gallery on the campus of Adrian College August 24 through September 19.

Opel’s and Norris’s artwork have been exhibited at public museums, college galleries and commercial gallery spaces throughout the Midwest for the past 20 years. They continually experiment in a variety of alternative media and techniques in their own individual work. Patti’s long-standing interest in psychology often informs the content of her artwork whereas references to regional and global history are found in Norris’s work. These interests merge in their series of large-scale collaborative paintings dealing with Michigan history and Great Lakes shipwreck narratives. This body of work has been touring throughout Michigan and the Midwest for several years as the traveling show “Through a Crack in the Lake.”

Significantly, the Adrian College exhibition, “Wrestling Natures: Solo & Collaborative Works by Patricia Opel and Timothy Norris” represents the first time in the couple’s career that their solo work has been displayed alongside some of their collaborative pieces. This unique opportunity offers viewers rare insight into the artists’ creative processes both as individuals and as an artistic team.

Ms. Opel attended Addison schools through her high school graduation in 1980 whereupon she moved to Kalamazoo to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting at Western Michigan University. After graduating cum laude from WMU in 1984, she attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, obtaining her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1988. While at NIU she met her future husband.

Norris received his Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts, and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Northern Illinois University. After graduate school, Opel and Norris relocated to Kalamazoo where Patti worked in the WMU Art Department and Tim served as the Curator of Exhibitions and Collections at the Art Center of Battle Creek. In 1996, the couple moved to Muskegon when Tim accepted an art instructor position at Muskegon Community College.

In addition to her career as a professional artist, Patti has also worked for Grand Valley State University as a special programs counselor and has been an adjunct counselor and art instructor at MCC. She is also the owner of Kook’s Eye Gallery in Pentwater. In 2003, she was selected by the WMU art faculty as one of the top 100 alumni of the past 100 years as part of WMU’s Centennial Celebration.

Meet the artists at the reception and gallery talk Thursday, September 17 from 5:45 – 7:30 p.m. The artists will speak about their work at 6:30 p.m.

Stubnitz Gallery is located in Downs Hall. Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday 9 a.m. -4 p.m. and Thursday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. The gallery is closed Labor Day, September 7. For more information, contact Catherine Royer at 517-264-3903 or via e-mail at croyer@adrian.edu. Gallery events are open and free to the public.