Always Be An Emerging Artist: Krasel Art Center: Saint Joseph, MI

Fred Spaulding

After a run along Lake Michigan's eastern shore I walked past what looked like a sculpture park two blocks from where I was staying. It turned out to be Krasel Art Center. Their indoor gallery space was closed, apparently do to the setting up of a Chihuly exhibit, but I had more than enough fun strolling around the outside.

The Krasel is named after George and Olga Krasel, the centers beneficiaries. In 1980, the year the center opened, it began acquiring sculptures.

The first sculpture that really struck my attention was Fred Spaulding's Krasel Stack II. It looked like the kind of thing that a visionary outsider artist would've assembled in their backyard. It stretched upward like stacks of junk piled up and bundles together with straps. The shape and composition of it was dynamic, but one thing I did not like about it was the details. At first glance the interesting textures and worn colors drew my eyes closer. But soon I saw what appeared to be printed images on many of the cinder blocks... this I though was unnecessary and took away from the natural beauty of the material.

Another sculpture I found interesting was a heavy, bronze, minimal piece that had a rich textured patina surface. Kirk Newman's Gulwave possesses a kind of Herculean presence. Also, the rusty steel Seedpod 10 by David Greenwood curiously resting beneath the midday sun had so many exciting views to look at it from. I'm not used to 3D art as much as I am to 2D, but this piece seemed to carry the essence of sculpture within its simple and dynamic forms.